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The Jeff Davis 4-H Leader Letters are published monthly throughout the school year. Each issue contains information about upcoming contests and activities as well as other educational materials. For a complete list of activities for Jeff Davis Parish, visit the online calendar.
Highlights from October Issue:
• Upcoming Activities and Dates - See attached file
• October Club Meeting Schedule - See attached file
• 4-H Project Versus 4-H'er
• Volunteer Leader's Role
• Louisiana Health Report Card - "D"
• Dead or Alive Environmental Lesson
• Visit The 4-H Museum With Your 4-H Clubs
• Preregistration for Fall Contest Day Demo's
• Overnight Chaperone Training
• National 4-H Youth Science Day
• Kids' Science Challenge
• Sharing Your Club's Success
4-H Project Versus 4-H'er -- Which is More Important?
Let's ask ourselves, what is more important - the 4-H project or the 4-H member? The 4-H member is, of course! 4-H is a people program. Its objective is to develop boys and girls. Projects are tools for teaching youth by stimulating their interests. Our ultimate goal is for 4-H'ers to know more and be able to do more at the end of the year. A commonly stated example of the 4-H philosophy is, "A blue ribbon 4-H'er with a red ribbon project is more desirable than a red ribbon 4-H'er with a blue ribbon project". (Publication 2865-A)
Volunteer Leader's Role
Your responsibility is to help 4-H members learn specific projects skills. 4-H members have fun with projects while "learning by doing." Most people remember more if they actually experience something and have an opportunity for some "hands-on learning."
Learning takes place within the learner. It is not something that is done to the learner. We encourage skills that will be useful to the young person now and in the future. We help each member develop good habits, experiment with new ideas and practice problem-solving skills. By doing this, we help them become self-directed, productive and contributing, compassinate members of society.
A major goal is to teach 4-H members how to think, not what to think. We help develop creative thinking in yourng people by giving them a chance to make decisions on their own. They'll learn from their own choices. Another goal is to recognize and encourage each 4-H member so he or she feels noticed and important. The most significant recognition that can be given to members is praise and attention. Let them know they are important and what they have done is worthwhile. (Publication 2865-A)
La. Health Report Card - "D"
Louisiana's Report Card on Physical Activity and Health for Children and Youth was present in Baton Rouge recently.
The primary goal of the report card was to assess the level of physical activity and sedentary behaviors in Louisiana's children and youth, the level of facilitators and barriers of physical activity, and their related health outcomes. To view the report visit http://www.pbrc.edu/report_card/2009/ . There are a short version and a long version of the report.
Dead or Alive Environmental Lesson
This month's lesson will cover the Living and Nonliving of an Aquatic/Marine Ecosystem. The key concepts to be covered: definition of ecosystems, types of ecosystems in Louisiana and abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem. The 4-H'ers will be able to describe how abiotic components influence biotic components of an ecosystem, identify the characteristics and life cycles of organisms in an ecosystem and explain the relationship of organizations to each other.
Visit the 4-H Museum With Your 4-H Club
Visit the Louisiana 4-H Museum where you can explore the history of 4-H in Louisiana from its beginnings in 1908 as a "corn club" for rural boys to what it is today - an informal educational program with a wide variety of projects, camp experiences and curricula affecting more than 225,000 boys and girls across the state each year. During the first 100 years of 4-H, it is conservatively estimated that more than 4 million youth became involved in 4-H, either as an enrolled member or part of a 4-H program. The museum is located in Mansura, La., in Avoyelles Parish. Contact Rose Anne St. Romain, 4-H Museum Coordinator, at 318- 964-2245.
Preregistration for Fall Contest Day Demo's
Registration for demomonstration will begin on October 22. Call the 4-H office to get registered for your demonstraton during Fall Contest Day.
There are lots of ideas for demonstrations and illustrated talks. As you plan your demonstration you will need to:
- Select a single, simple ideas on which to build your demonstration. Pick a topic you are comfortable with and know best (hobbies, work-related, etc.)
- Plan the body of your demonstration.
- Plan the conclusion, include handling questons.
- Then plan your introduction and select the title.
Remember the parts to a demonstration:
- Introduction - Introduces subject. Use "catchy title and theme". Outlines Demonstration.
- Body - Lists materials and process
- Summary - Wrap up demonstration by reviewing points of demonstration. List References.
For a list of demonstration topics visit the 4-H Web site!
Overnight Chaperone Training
Leaders, volunteers and parents who want to become overnight chaperone trained to be able to chaperone for overnight camps and whatnot, mark your calendar for October 19 at 6 p.m. The training will be held at the Jeff Davis Parish Extension Office. This training is good for five years. Our 4-H program is always in need of more volunteers who are overnight chaperone trained. Please call at the 4-H office at 337-824-1773 by October 16 to sign up.
National 4-H Youth Science Day
National 4-H Youth Science Day will be held on October 7. You can find everything you need to participate in 4-H National Youth Science Day online at www.4-H.org/NYSD , including the experiment facilitator's guide, interactive tools, event planning kits and much more. A news release template, media advisory and sample scripts are available for you to customize for your event. "Biofuel Blast" National Science Experiment kits are avialable at only $20 each; the kit provides enough experiment material for five youth to work independently or up to 15 youth working in small groups.
Kid's Science Challenge
KSC is a nationawide competition for third- through sixth-graders to subnmit experiments and problems for REAL scientists and engineers to solve. For the second year, 4-H is partnering with Kids' Science Challenge to extend this NSF funded opportunity to 4-H groups across the country. This year's topics are BIO-INSPIRED DESIGNS (using nature to give us ideas for new inventions), SPORTS ON MARS (what would, or COULD you play on the red planet?), and DETECTIVE SCIENCE (using the science of detection to solve everyday mysteries). The Challenge begins October 1.
Sharing Your Club's Success
This year in the Leader Letter we'd like to share your success with other 4-H leaders in the parish. Send information on your club's programs and activities, workshop ideas, ideas for working with officers, community service projects, fun ideas and so forth to us. If your club is conducting an activity you feel has been successful, please let us know by e-mailing Kori at kmyers@agcenter.lsu.edu . We believe this will help others pick up some ideas they can use with their clubs.