Time to register for the
4-H Issues Conference
The 4-H Issues
Conference is a four-day program for student leaders from across the
Commonwealth of Kentucky. The conference is open to any high school
sophomores and juniors who display leadership potential and who will
make a commitment to implement what they learn back home. At the
conference participants learn the process skills needed to plan and
carry out community programs which address local youth issues.
Participants also have a chance to share their thoughts about those
issues with other young people from across Kentucky. The conference is
held at the Kentucky Leadership Center on Lake Cumberland from November
20-23, 2008.
The goals of the
conference are to help young people: become more involved in
shaping public policy regarding youth issues; believe that they
can be resources for bringing about positive change in their
community; acquire the skills they need to give leadership to
local change efforts; and learn and become knowledgeable about
the issues that affect them. At the conference delegates
participate in action groups which focus on contemporary issues
affecting young people. In previous years, action groups have
focused on the following topics: dealing with sex, teen stress,
teen image, it’s your life, and character and ethics. Action
groups work together toward designing programs that address the
issue on which they are focusing. Also at the conference, guest
speakers and workshops deal with topics such as team building,
working with adults, and developing an action plan.
Of course, the
conference has a lot of fun activities planned such as dances,
costume contests, and a bonfire, to name a few. If this sounds
like your kind of conference please call me at 845-2811. I will
be glad to answer all of your questions and mail you an
application form. Henry County past participants rate this
program as outstanding.
9/10/08
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Jakob Beckley recently participated in
the District Communications Event.
4/23/08 |
District Communication
Event
The 4-H District Communications Event was
held at Trimble County Middle School on March 28th. Those that participated
in demonstrations from Henry County were: Jakob Beckley in the breads
category, Lily Tipton in the foods category, and Ashley Renwick in Animal
Science. Jakob demonstrated how to make cornbread muffins and received a
blue and champion. Lily prepared delicious dirt cups that were a big hit and
received a blue ribbon. Ashley shared with everyone how to take care of an
orphaned lamb, which the audience found very interesting, she received a
white ribbon.
In the Specialty Acts Renee Toole sang “The
Colors of the Wind” for the audience. She received a blue and champion. She
is now eligible to perform in Cloverville during the Kentucky State Fair.
Jakob is now eligible to compete at the
Kentucky Communications Event that will be held in July. All of the
participants received a $10.00 gift certificate from the Henry County 4-H
Council to help offset camp costs. Congratulations to you all.
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4-H Results from
the Kentucky State Fair
If you are making plans
to visit the Kentucky State Fair make sure to stop by Cloverville in the
West Wing. It is full of wonderful items entered from 4-Hers across the
Commonwealth. It is a great place to gather ideas for future projects. I
am always amazed at the talent the youth in our great state possess.
Of course, I think the
best 4-Hers are found right here in Henry County, so let me fill you in
on some of their accomplishments this past week.
The following are the
results of the items found in Cloverville:
in clothing, Micah Lineman
received a blue for the pants she made. Megan McCoun received a blue and
champion for the skirt she made. Renee Toole made a jacket and received blue
and champion of her class as well as Grand Reserve for the junior division.
Kayla Quire received a red for her two piece outfit and Jessica Dunaway
received a red for her dress and jacket. Heidi Smith had five entries on her
tobacco and all of them received blues. Heidi also received a red on her
painting. Abbie Nelson brought in a wonderful assortment of vegetables as
well as a garden display. Abbie’s display, tomatoes, cabbage and largest
tomato all received blue, while her peppers received a red. In the wood
craft from a kit Morris Schlenker received a white on his birdhouse. In the
arts and crafts division Clarissa Schlenker received a red for her painted
gourd, Kaitlyn Quach received a red for her woven wall hanging in the junior
category and Cody Pike received a red for his woven wall hanging in the
senior division. Dillion Owen received a red for his leather craft. In the
ceramic classes Nathan Carroll and Kayla Smith both received reds for this
original design pieces. Andrew Pollard received a blue for his acrylic
painting of a pheasant. Nathan Carroll received a blue for his drawing in
the junior age division and Shiven Harris received a blue in the senior
division. In the black and white drawing Andrew Pollard received a blue as
well as Kayla Smith. In the photography division Corbin Jeffries received a
blue for her animal picture. Dillon Owen received a blue for is collection
of three pictures. Clarissa Schlenker received a red for her landscape
picture. Megan McCoun received a blue for a picture of her community. Dillon
Owen received a white for his horticulture picture in black and white and
Clarissa Schlenker received a red for her colored horticulture picture. In
the foods division Dillow Owen received a blue for his brownies. In the home
environment division Sean Armstrong received a blue for his accessory for
the home and Misty Vanlandingham received a blue and champion for the
accessory she created.
On this past Thursday we had
three young men, Connor Toole, Jordan Campbell, and Patrick Cravens, compete
in the Ham Project Speech Contest. This is a culminating event for the Ham
Project. In January the youth began the curing process of two country hams.
The better of the two hams is judged for the quality of the meat at the
fair. Each participant is required to give a speech to complete the project
and the two scores are used to determine the overall winners. The judges
gave Connor a red on his ham while Jordan and Patrick both received blues.
Patrick’s ham actually came in third from a class of over thirty. Patrick
was also chosen as the best speech for his age division. Way to go Patrick!
On Friday, the Henry County
Dairy Club members took to center ring showing their animals. I have not
received all of the specifics of the class placing, but I can tell you that
in the Senior Showmanship Division Curtis Coombs received first place, Matt
Taylor received second and Justin Coombs received third place.
On Saturday, Renee Toole
performed in the 4-H State Specialty Show at Cloverville representing
District #3. Renee sang “Colors of the Wind” from the Disney “Pocahontas”
movie. There were twelve acts in all which included a young man who played
bagpipes and a young lady from Eastern Kentucky who clogged for the
audience.
Also, on Saturday, Derek and
Jackson Jeffries were busy in the show ring with their Boer goats. I spoke
with their grandparents on Sunday and they said that the boys had done well
with several high scores. As I was leaving on Friday I overheard that this
was a large show for goats this year with over four hundred registered, so I
was glad to hear Derek and Jackson were doing so well. I will follow up on
their scores when they are made available.
The next event to take place
representing Henry County will be the large tractor driving competition that
will be held on Thursday. Cody Heightchew will be competing in this
competition not only representing Henry County but also as our
representative from District #3. Good Luck Cody!
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Patrick Cravens
won the ham speech contest in his age division.
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Coombs in the show ring during
the dairy show. |
Renee Toole’s jacket won class
champion and Grand Reserve at the state fair. |
8/20/08
Summer Fun Photos
This summer is flying by
at a high rate of speed for Henry County 4-Hers. I would like to share a
few of the pictures I have taken this summer to let you in on some good
times. The first week school was out over ninety of us from the county
headed to Lake Cumberland 4-H Camp. The theme for the week was 4-H Camp
Hollywood. The first evening we were there everyone was asked to come
dressed as their favorite movie star or movie character. The “Gregory
Gang” pictured below in full costume are represented by the ring leader
Barbara standing in the center as a movie lot security officer.
Barbara’s granddaughter Sarah is on her left dressed as “King Kong” and
“Scarlet O’Hara” is her granddaughter Julia. Don’t they take a lovely
family picture? I tried to get grandson Blake in the photo as well but
since he was dressed as Dolly Parton he passed. The other young lady
pictured is a teen leader from Marion County.
The second week of June five
teens and I headed for Lexington and the UK campus to attend the State Teen
Conference. Sarah Sutherland attended as a State Teen Council
Representative, while Curtis Coombs fulfilled his obligation as past state
vice-president. Henry County delegates were Maggie Ward, Taylor McCleary,
and Sarah Lineman. The jam packed week was not only busy, but a lot of fun.
This picture was taken on the last evening when the grand ball is held for
the newly elected state officers. It has been a tradition of our county to
take a picture on the steps leading up to the ball room since I have been an
agent. This tradition was started when Steve Moore was my 4-H agent many
years ago. Some day, probably when I get ready to retire, I plan to put each
picture in chronological order as a reminder of the good times shared at the
4-H State Teen Conference.
After returning home from
Lexington it was time to get geared up for the Tractor Driving competition.
This year Cody Heightchew won both the garden tractor and large tractor
categories in the junior division. Cody is really smooth behind the wheel
and you can tell his years of driving pay off in this event. Cody had to
maneuver through courses with only two to three inches wider than the mowing
deck and the tractor wagon. The picture shown was taken at the Henry County
event. Several days later Cody competed in the District #3 competition in
Spencer County against the other winners of our district. He placed first in
the garden tractor and second in the large tractor making him eligible to
compete at the Kentucky State Fair.
Next week I plan to show off
a few more of my summer fun pictures that you are sure to like.
7/23/08
4-H Communications Event
Held
The annual 4-H Communications Event was
held on Thursday, March 13th at the Henry County Extension office. Jakob
Beckley began the event with his speech on his grandfather entitled “Paw-
Paw Dean”. Lily Tipton competed in the junior demonstration event in the
dairy category. She showed everyone how to make dirt cups from pudding and
crushed cookies. They were messy looking and great tasting. Lily did a
fantastic job. In the quick breads category Jakob Beckley demonstrated how
to make cornmeal muffins. Jakob made enough to share with everyone. Jakob’s
participation in the cooking club has really paid off. Dillon Owen presented
a demonstration on how to promote a variety of wild birds to your backyard.
He showed the audience a variety of different types of feeders as well as
different types of seeds that attract birds. His tip for keeping squirrels
away from the bird feeders is to have a dog around. He has five dogs and
doesn’t have any problem with squirrels stealing the birds’ food. Ashley
Renwick competed in the small animal science category. Ashley brought in her
orphaned lamb that was two weeks old and shared how a new lamb must be cared
for. Ashley and the lamb were both a big hit with the audience. Paige
Deburger and Megan Payton gave a PowerPoint presentation on the hazards of
smoking. They targeted the younger members of the audience and encouraged
them to never try cigarettes, so they would not have to worry about forming
a habit that can be addicting.
Communication Event participants
were: Ashley Renwick, Paige Deburger,
Megan Payton, Lily Tipton, Jakob Beckley, and Dillon Owen.
All of the participants received blue
ribbons and champion. They will be competing at the District Communication
Event on March 29th at Trimble County. The Henry County 4-H Council awarded
$10.00 gifts to each participant to go toward 4-H Camp.
3/19/08
National Study Proves 4-H Strengthens Henry County Communities
A new study confirms that youth involved in 4-H are leaders, contribute to their communities and are civically engaged, which
strengthens communities. The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD) is finding that youth involved in high-quality, structured programs during out-of-school
time, such as those offered by Henry County, are more likely to experience PYD.
Findings of The 4-H Study of PYD — a first-of-its-kind, longitudinal study measuring the impact personal and social factors have on
youth as they develop — reveal that all youth have the capacity to thrive, regardless of where they live, their family situations, their socioeconomic status, their
race or gender. Study findings also show that the quality and quantity of structured, out-of-school-time programs that youth are involved with matters. The more often
youth are involved in high-quality youth development programs, the more they and their communities benefit.
“We’re excited about this research and will be applying what we learn to Henry County,” said Cathy Toole, 4-H Youth Development Agent.
“We want to ensure that our 4-H program continues to provide opportunities that will help our youth become successful, contributing members of Henry County.”
The 4-H Study of PYD sponsored by National 4-H Council shows that in addition to sustained adult interaction and mentoring,
communities, families and schools need to provide access to youth development programs such as 4-H in order for youth to experience success. Currently Henry County 4-H
Project Clubs are available in the following areas: cooking, horse, shooting sports, photography, sewing, and small engine.
With The 4-H Study of PYD, the characteristics of a successful youth development program are being defined and measured for the first
time. The study’s key findings show that:
- Community youth development programs, like 4-H, are proven to affect youth success.
- All youth can succeed — involvement in 4-H increases their potential of doing well.
- All youth need positive youth development. No young person is immune to the risks and challenges present in today’s society.
- Involvement in youth development programs reduces the likelihood that young people will engage in risk behaviors, such as underage
drinking, smoking, bullying, etc.
Visit
www.fourhcouncil.edu/newsroom.aspx to learn more about The 4-H Study of PYD.
The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development
The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development is the first-ever longitudinal study to measure the characteristics of positive youth
development (PYD). Led by Richard M. Lerner, Ph.D., professor at Tufts University, the study was sponsored by National 4-H Council. It involves more than 4,000 youth and
2,000 parents from 25 states and measures the impact personal and social factors have on a young person’s development.
4-H is the Nation’s largest youth development organization, serving more than 6.5 million young people across America who are learning
leadership, citizenship and life skills. For more information, contact Cathy Toole at 845-2811.
12/5/07
Free Spirits Horse Club
The Henry County 4-H Free Spirits Horse Club is off and running. This club is for horse lovers and you don’t have to own a horse to
be a member. There are many young members who are just learning about horses as well as a few experienced teens.
The club recently toured Windy Meadows Horse Farm in LaGrange. Club members were given the royal treatment as they were shown
through the training and stallion barns. There were demonstrations on saddle seat, hunt seat, western pleasure, native costume and reining Arabians and Half Arabians.
Trainer Ashley Ashworth wowed the group with an Arabian Park mare while Taylor Reinhart gave a breathtaking performance with a native costume on Matem. Trainer Jenny
Mudd demonstrated the versatility of Arabians on Boo Man, a full Arab reining champion. Kelly and Hannah LaMarsh rode their half Arabians Spot and Dynamite showing
western pleasure and hunter under saddle.
The Free Spirits Club meets on the first Monday evening of the month, at 7:00 pm at the Henry County Cooperative
Extension office. New members are always welcome. If you have any questions about the club, please call 845-2811.
12/05/07
Here are some things your might be interested in, remember to review the 4 H Notes Calendar below.
More 4H Links:
4HUSA.org
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4-H / Youth Development 
