Welcome to the 2022 -2023 4-H Year! We are so excited to get things kicked off in District 1!

Our District 4-H Council Officers have met and planned a very exciting year! The theme for the year is: Find Your Groove in District 1 4-H

 

September 1 – November 30 – “Pages of The Plains” service project brought to you by the District 1 4-H Council. 

This Fall the District 1 4-H Council will focus on and promote Literacy. We have created a service project, “Pages of the Plains,” that will promote competition amongst the counties in D1 to collect books to be locally donated, as well as encourage members to read to their community and create free libraries! The winning county will be announced at the D1 4-H Winter Social. More information coming SOON!

September 16 – 24 – D1 4-H Council Booth at the Tri State Fair

Come visit our District 1 4-H Council Officers, as well as various Texas 4-H Ambassadors from D1, at the D1 4-H Council booth! It will be located in the Rex Baxter Building! The booth will have games, 4-H Flyers, promotional items, and a photo booth prop! For more information about Tri State Fair click here: https://www.tristatefair.com/

October 1 – Youth Task Force Applications Due

Youth Task Force is an opportunity for high school aged 4-H members to help facilitate contests at Big Fun in D1. It is an excellent one-day leadership opportunity! Click here for the application: https://forms.gle/2aYD7yrrtJ1UJBxm6

October 3-7 – National 4-H Week

Check out this list of challenges the District 1 4-H Council members have for you! We have also created a template script for you to use for “Talk Tuesday.”  Click here for resources, press templates & scripts: https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/events/national-4-h-week/

 

 

October 24-26 – Fall Big Fun in D1

CHECK WITH YOUR COUNTY AGENT FOR REGISTRATION DEADLINE! Contests will include Food Show, Consumer Decision Making, Ag Product ID, Food Challenge, Livestock Quiz Bowl, Horse Quiz Bowl, and FCH Quiz Bowl. All information can be found here: https://d14-h.tamu.edu/d1-events/district-1-4-h-contests/

December 1o – District 1 4-H Winter Social

Come socialize and ice skate with us at the Amarillo Civic Center! We will also have a District Council business meeting, complete a service project for the Ronald McDonald House, and enjoy snacks and hot chocolate. Register by December 4th! Only $5!

 

 

Sneak Peek of the Spring:

March 31 – D1 Meat Judging Contest

April 1 – “4-H Beyond the Project” A leadership seminar for volunteers and intermediate and senior 4-H members. An opportunity to learn more about district, state, and national 4-H opportunities!

April 20-22 – Spring Big Fun in D1

 

 

 

For most, this time of year is filled with holiday cheer, delicious meals, enjoying time with family, and making plans for the new year, but for graduating seniors (and their parents) the reality of a higher education, and the financial commitment that comes with it, is lurking in the back of their minds.

A college education does not have to be a financial burden. In fact, on average 1.7 million scholarships are awarded every year, totaling to over $6 billion, according to the Washington Post. Approximately 1.9 million graduating high school seniors will attend college starting in the fall of 2022, making your odds of securing a scholarship reasonably high. Even better, Texas 4-H gives away $2.2 million dollars in scholarships every year, meaning that 4-H members have an even higher chance of receiving a scholarship for higher education.

In honor of this Holiday Season, or as I like to call it, “Scholarship Season,” I am going to gift you with my top 5 tips for successfully taking advantage of scholarship opportunities. 

1. FAFSA If you have not already completed the FAFSA process, RUN. Most scholarship applications require a completed Student Aid Report (generated by FAFSA). The sooner you complete this step, the sooner you can begin applying for scholarships. The deadline in Texas for priority consideration for financial aid is January 15, 2022. It may sound intimidating, but once you start the process and have the required additional materials, it takes less than 20 minutes to complete. You will need student and parent social security numbers, and 2020 tax returns including W-2’s.
2. Make a list and check it twice! Do your research and create a list of potential scholarships that you can apply for. Make sure you read the requirements and qualifications carefully, you do not want to waste valuable time applying for a scholarship that does not apply to you.  Organize your list in order of deadline priority. Mark these deadlines on your calendar and set reminders for yourself. Look through the applications and give yourself plenty of time to to complete the application. Lucky for you, I already have a list started.
3. Identify 3 references! Chances are that at some point during scholarship season you are going to need to be able to list references and/or supply recommendation letters. It is best to secure these references and letters at the beginning of the process! Here’s the hard part, who do you ask? Ideally, your references would be adults outside of your family, who know you, your work ethic, and character. Examples could be teachers, coaches, advisors, church leaders, employers or supervisors, or even your county extension agent. It is best to reach out in person or call these individuals to ask them if you can use them as references on your scholarship applications. When asking for recommendation letters you should give no less than 2 weeks notice, and give yourself a few days between the time you ask for the letter to be returned and the deadline to submit your application. You should also supply the people writing recommendation letters with a brief summary/list/resumé of your involvement and accomplishments. In some cases it might be worth asking the people writing your letters if you could use their letter for various applications you will be submitting throughout the year.  Make sure you stay on the nice list by sending a personal, handwritten thank you note to the individuals who serve as your references. 
4. Get your tool box ready. Although scholarship applications can vary greatly, there is a basic list of information you can prepare ahead of time to help you fill out the application. The good news is, that if you are a 4-H member you probably already have a list of the below completed from your record book!
   1. Leadership Activities/Involvement – create a list with a description of leadership roles you’ve held, activities/organizations/teams you have been a part of, leadership trips/camps/trainings you have attended. Examples: 4-H, FFA, Student Council, Band, Sports Teams, etc.
   2. Community Service Projects/Involvement – Examples: Canned Food Drives, Donating Clothes, Trash Clean-ups, Church involvement, etc.
   3. Awards & Honors – A Honor Roll, Top Math Student, Basketball MVP, etc.
   4. Personal Narrative – this is something that I believe deserves some real time and effort. The point of this personal narrative is not to be able to use it for every essay on every application, but as a starting point and place to pull bits and pieces for the various essays you will need. This narrative should include background information about yourself, brief overview of your involvements and accomplishments, how your involvements relate to your passions and how those passions will translate to your college education and career. You should also include paragraphs regarding your college choice and career choice, goals, and financial need. This narrative will be broad and all inclusive. You may find a couple scholarships that this narrative will fit, but as fore mentioned you will hopefully be able to utilize different paragraphs and sections of this narrative for various essays. Hint: a creative theme for your essays can help you stand out.
5. Find people you trust. Scholarship applications can quickly become overwhelming and you can quickly become “blind” to mistakes and redundancy. I encourage finding a couple (the more the merrier doesn’t always hold true in this case) people you trust to look over your applications. Some ideas might include a parent, older sibling, English teacher, counselor, or even your county extension agent.

Merry Scholarship Season,

-Bailee

1. Donate lightly used clothing.
2. Make blankets or pillows to donate to a shelter
3. Host a Canned Food Drive
4. Reach out to your local Meals on Wheels and see how you can help
5. Make table/door decorations for your local nursing home
6. Put together goody bags for your first responders or nurses
7. Park/Community clean up
8. Choose a charity and host a fun run with proceeds benefitting the charity
9. Write letters or make cards for youth in foster care. Reach out to your local CASA or CPS.
10. Write letters or make cards for nursing home residents or hospital patients
11. Volunteer to read at your local Library or lead a craft
12. Create a community garden or volunteer at an existing one
13. Plant flowers in public areas
14. Donate to local animal shelters or make dog toys out of old fabric scraps
15. Crochet Plastic mats for the homeless
16. Collect coke tabs for Ronald McDonald House
17. Sew a walker caddy for the elderly
18. Host a Book Drive
19. Volunteer with Snack Pak 4 Kids
20. Make First Aid kits for the homeless
21. Launch a recycling competition
22. Host a Tree planting event
23. Send cards/care packages to soldiers
24. Host a car wash and donate the proceeds to a chosen charity
25. Volunteer to paint park benches or other public areas that need to be re-painted
26. Donate baked goods to the teacher’s lounge
27. Host a community-wide Easter Egg Hunt
28. Cleanup at the cemetery
29. Get involved with Special Olympics
30. Build & donate birdhouses

As wonderful as the holidays can be, we also know this season can be especially tough for lots of people! Here is a list of 10 impactful community service ideas for the holiday season!

1. Operation Christmas Child- this is a project coordinated by Samaritan’s Purse. Shoe Boxes are packed with essential items and toys to be sent to boys and girls around the world. If you are unable to go out and get items to pack a box, this year they have a virtual packing option! The deadline for this is November 23rd! Go to the website to learn more & find a drop off location near you!
2. Cards for Hospitalized Kids- FREE! This is another service activity you can do from home. Make cards for hospitalized children, mail them to the organization, and then they send them to hospitals around the country to be distributed. Check out the website for more info!
3. Closet Cleanout– This time of year many people are in need of coats. Do a closet cleanout and donate your warm clothes to local homeless shelters, or find a local organization hosting a coat drive.
4. Pantry Cleanout/Food Drive– Many shelters are also in need of canned food items, or donate to your local food pantry!
5. Care Packages for Troops- This can be a very lonely time for our troops, as they sacrifice time at home with their families to protect us. See if there are any local troops you can send a care package, or check out this website to find organizations to go through. 
6. Goody Bags- Holidays can also be tough on our Law Enforcement and Healthcare Workers. Consider dropping off goody bags at your local hospitals and law enforcement agencies. Another fun idea would be to look up a homemade lotion or shower steamer recipe on Pinterest.
7. Fleece Blankets- There is a huge need for these during the winter season! Consider donating to your local Good Samaritan, CareNet, CASA, Homeless Shelters, CPS, etc.. Here is a tutorial to make these!
8. Nursing Home Decorations- Assisted Living & Nursing Homes could be gloomy during this time, call to see if they would accept homemade decorations! Making wreaths or doorhangers for the residents could add some cheer to their days!
9. Pen Pal- This year especially, nursing home, assisted living, and hospital residents can feel lonely. Be a Pen Pal! This is a free activity that can be done from home!
10. Panhandle Gives- This is a local push to help raise funds for various non-profits across the Panhandle! You could consider donating to your favorite non-profit, or raising funds for it. Check out the website for more info! There are NPOs from Amarillo, Claude, Hereford, Borger, Bushland, Cactus, Canadian, Canyon, Dalhart, Clarendon, Dumas, Perryton, Pampa, Shamrock, Spearman, Stratford, Wellington, and White Deer all participating!

Happy Holidays to all of our 4-H families, we hope you during this time that you can find at least one way to serve others!

 

-Bailee

Who doesn’t love a good science experiment? With STEM being one of our (4-H) fastest growing project areas, it is no wonder that many of us are looking for new experiment ideas to implement in our clubs and project meetings!

Check out these websites to find free, easy, age appropriate, experiments to try out at your next 4-H meeting!

https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

https://4-h.org/parents/stem-agriculture/youth-stem-activities/  THIS ONE IS MY NEW FAVORITE!

 

-Bailee

One of the BEST things about 4-H is that there are constantly new and exciting project experiences/activities, community services, club meeting programs, and games!

One of the HARDEST things for agents and leaders/volunteers is trying to constantly come up with NEW activities.

While there are many resources on the Texas 4-H Website, including lots of new explore books, https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/resources/

I have also creating pinterest boards that I will continue to add to, full of activities, games, and ideas! Check them out, create your own pinterest and follow along! https://pin.it/dqwNQt2

-Bailee

With a few stock show sales under your belt, hopefully you’re starting to think about thank you notes; an age old tradition, that still represents true gratitude.

If you’ve ever received a thank you note, you know this to be true: there are good thank you notes and there are bad thank you notes.

Check out these resources to make sure you are writing the best thank you notes you can!

http://thrivingonordinary.com/2018/03/24/4-h-buyer-thank-you-tutorial/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FAs4zmCcC5tzEK21Xgw6S5N87Zu7VHmf/view

Thank you notes can and should be utilized in ALL your 4-H projects, not just your livestock projects!

-Bailee

“4-H has been recognized by the Texas Education Agency as a legitimate school-related extracurricular organization. 4-H members may apply for excused absences in order to participate in 4-H activities. It is the responsibility of the local school district to determine whether or not any student is eligible and may be excused from classes to participate in any extracurricular event or activity. 4-H members are not automatically excused upon request, but are subject to all regulations of the Texas Education Agency and their local school district as they may apply to extracurricular participation. “

As stated in the Texas 4-H Rules and Guidelines, Section 5 http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/19-20_TX4H_RulesGuidelines.pdf

With the end of another “six-weeks” quickly approaching (for most school districts) right in the middle of stock show season, many questions about eligibility arise. Thankfully there is a guide to help answer some of those tough questions for 4-H, please reference the TEA – UIL Side-By-Side Document

https://www.uiltexas.org/files/policy/TEA_UIL_Side_by_Side_19-20.pdf

Key Take Aways:

1. If a student passed the previous grading period, but is failing a course at the time of a livestock show or other non-UIL activity, is the student prohibited from participation? No. The student is academically eligible until the end of the grading period unless the district has imposed stricter criteria for eligibility.
2. At what point in time is an ineligible student prohibited from working with the show animal for competition? After the animal has been delivered to the show barn or competition area, the ineligible student may no longer tend, groom, or in any other way prepare the animal for competition. A student may assist in transporting the animal to the competition site provided no school time is missed.
3.  May a student who is ineligible to compete in a livestock show participate in the sale or auction portion of the show? No. The sale would be considered an extracurricular activity in that it is held in conjunction with another activity that is considered to be extracurricular. (19 TAC §76.1001 [a] [1] [B]) Whether or not the animal may be sold by another individual is the decision of the school officials or determined by rules of the sponsors of the show.

-Bailee

Buzz Word Alert!

MakerSpace: A makerspace is a room that contains tools and components, allowing people to enter with an idea and leave with a complete project. The best part is that makerspaces are communal. The goal is to work together to learn, collaborate, and share. A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate public/private facility for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools.

Sound familiar? The goals of a makerspace seem to align with many of the goals of a local 4-H Programs.

In fact, many 4-H programs probably have a makers space; they just aren’t identifying them as one! Read more about the role MakerSpaces can have in Extension Education and 4-H.

https://od.tamu.edu/makerspaces-do-they-have-a-role-in-extension-education/

Here’s a couple resources to help you create a makerspace for your 4-H Program:

https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/makerspaces/

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/11/the-case-for-school-makerspaces-according-to-those-who-use-them/

Let’s brain storm together different ways we can be utilizing MakerSpaces,

-Bailee

Interpretation: the action of explaining the meaning of something. 

When trying to “interpret” your county 4-H program to your community, it can get a little overwhelming.

Who do you interpret 4-H to?

How do you do it?

What are creative ways to interpret?

Check this piece out to help answer some of your questions about interpreting the local 4-H program to the community and to get some innovative ideas for interpretation!

https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/4H_Interpretation.pdf

-Bailee