Discovery 100 Summer Enrichment Program June 22, 2009

In an effort to offer county residents an educational & fun outlet for their children, Brunswick County 4-H has over 25 events still planned for their summer “Discovery 100” program.  During the last two weeks, youth from all across the county have enjoyed exciting trips to Indigo Farms, the USS NC Battleship, the traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial, Popular Grove Plantation, Thalian Hall, Screen Gem Studios, Wonderland Farms, & attended an educational workshop on wind energy taught by one of 4-H’s own members, Perry Grosch.

Savannah works on her boat during Power of the Wind.

Day camp activities are available now through August and two overnight, week- long camps are also being offered.  Camp at Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H center is available for youth ages 8-14 and includes horseback riding, canoeing, archery, climbing, swimming, arts & crafts, nature exploration, high ropes, and much more.  4-H State Congress is for youth ages 13-19 held at North Carolina State University and includes state presentations, horticulture judging, fashion revue, poultry judging, talent show, community service projects, elections, banquets, dance socials, and more.

On the porch steps at Poplar Grove Plantation.

 

A list of full activities and camps is available at the extension office, 910-253-2610, or on our website. For more information about the Brunswick County 4-H Youth Development Program and the many opportunities offered, contact 4-H Agent, Blair Green at blair_wooten@ncsu.edu or 4-H Program Assistant, Leslie Wilson at leslie_wilson@ncsu.edu.

Here’s a schedule of the remaining activities:
June 24                     Behind the Scenes (Brunswick Co. EMS, Star-News, & WECT-TV 6)
June 25                     Kickin up Dirt (horticulture & gardening)
June 26                     District Activity Day (presentations @ New Hanover County)
June 29                     Up to Speed (UNCW high ropes course)
June 30                     Dirty Jobs (WASTEC, Landfill, & Wastewater Treatment Plant)
July 7                                     Slick Track (Cape Fear Museum & Cape Fear Serpentarium)
July 8                                     Chasin’ Butterflies (Airlie Gardens)
July 9                                     Blowin Steam (Henrietta Cruise boat on the Cape Fear River)
July 10, 20, & 23      Victory Lane (3 day camp- Thunder Alley bowling alley, water aerobics, roller skating, Gymnastics Unlimited, & swimming)
July 13 & 15              “Darling”ton 500 (cake decorating, jewelry making, & sewing)
July 14                       Fort Fisher 500 (NC Aquarium & crabbing in the salt marsh)
July 16                       Fill the Tank (NC Aquarium & crabbing in the salt marsh)
July 17                       Paddle to the Finish (NC Aquarium & canoeing)
July 20-24                 4-H Congress (NCSU University in Raleigh)
July 20                       Pocono Poultry 400 (state poultry judging competition in Raleigh)
July 20                       Green Speedway (state horticulture judging competition in Raleigh)
July 21                       Grease Monkeys (Children’s Museum & Monkey Joe’s)
July 22                       Space Race (Museum of Coastal Carolina & Ingram Planeterium)
July 27 & 29              Do “the Wave” (Surf camp at Carolina Beach)
July 28                       Inside the Track (Thunder Alley Bowling Lanes & Wilmington’s Ice House Skating rink) 
July 30                       Ecosystem Exploits (environmental education day at the 4-H office)
August 2-7                Summer Camp at Betsy-Jeff Penn
August 4 & 7             Spinning Around (Duck, Duck, Goose & Lowe’s birdhouse creation) 
August 5                    Concession Stand (fun food day at the 4-H office)
August 6 & 10           In a Flash (Franklin Square Art Gallery pottery & photography workshop)
August 12                  Finish Line (Ice Cream Sundae Party at the 4-H office)

Leslie’s Top Ten June 19, 2009

One of our club leaders contacted me with a problem that I think many clubs have at one point in time or another.  This is the problem of dwindling membership and commitment from kids.  As I was jotting down suggestions for her my list just kept getting longer and longer.  I realized that many of my suggestions are good practices for all clubs, not just the ones having difficulties.  So here are my top ten suggestions to improving club membership and in return, your overall club.

1. Advertise club meetings in your local newspaper.  We are more than willing to put your meeting times and dates in the newsletter, but you will only reach kids who are already in 4-H that way.  Submit articles summarizing each club meeting and try to add a picture each time.  This is a good job for the News Reporter to take care of.
2. Provide attendance awards such as prizes or recognition for making a certain number of meetings for the year.  Consult with your club to come up with a reward that will really motivate them.
3. Create a goal for your club to raise a certain amount of money through fundraisers.  It is easier to be motivated to raise money when you already know where the money is going to be spent (like a special field trip or club t-shirts).  This can help ignite excitement and determination. 
4. Create your own club website to help keep members informed through the internet.  It’s also another good way to spread the news about what your club does.  Websites like ours (shutterfly) are free.  Just create an account.  The website is very simple to use.
5. Do a club project.  Every 4-Her is encouraged to submit a project record book every year.  They can receive 4-H scholarship money!  By doing a project as a club, you ensure that every member does at least one project each year and you also work on life skills such as team building, critical thinking, and problem solving.  It also gives you something to work on at every club meeting.  Think outside of the box when choosing a project.  There is a wide variety of 4-H curriculum to choose from.  Have a quiet club? Try the theatre curriculum to encourage creativity and speaking in front of a group.  Leadership and community service are also good choices. 
6. Require demonstrations be done at meetings.  This might not initially sound like a way to keep members, but it often helps when you give a child a goal and some responsibility.  Tell them “Mollie,  you will be doing a demonstration on July 23^rd.”  You can let them choose what they want to talk about or you could come up with a creative theme for each meeting.
7. Create a phone committee.  Pick one or two members to call everybody else and remind them about upcoming meetings and anything special that they need to do or bring to the meeting.  This helps keep everyone informed and helps reduce those “Oh I completely forgot about it.” people.
8. Make sure the president is prepared. That means that they really know and understand parliamentary procedure and don’t need to be told what to do during the meetings.  They should make the agenda for each meeting and there should be a copy for every member.  People like to know what’s going on during the meeting.
9. After the meeting, have the secretary email the minutes to everyone.  That way if someone misses the meeting they will still know what went on.
10. Work on your program!! Make sure you are planning educational activities that are meaningful and fun!  If you are just having a business meeting every month that will get old very quickly for the kids.  Make sure you include them during your brainstorming for new ideas.  Survey them to see what their interests are and evaluate programs after they are done to see how well they worked.  To me, this is the most important suggestion.  Having a great program is the foundation of a great club. 

 I hope that you can use several of these ideas to make your club even greater.  Remember our motto, to make the best better.  Always strive for that.  I’d love to hear your comments, to know which ones you will embrace and any other ideas that you might have.  What works with your club? You can all help each other by sharing things that didn’t work for you and things that do. 

 

Thanks for all of your hard work,

Leslie Wilson
4-H Program Assistant

4-H Behind the Scenes June 15, 2009

It’s been very busy here at the 4-H office this past week.  I thought a little behind the scenes blog would be appropriate 🙂 Last week we had the last of the chicks hatched from the elementary schools come back into the office from Southport, Bolivia, and Supply Elementaries.  This school year we had hundreds of chicken eggs enter the schools to be hatched and cared for by second graders all over the county.  On Monday we also received five entries for the Career Poster Contest.  Those five will be judged and sent to District Activity Day for further competition.

We had a Centennial Committee meeting on Tuesday with seven dedicated 4-Hers.  There was a lot to get done in only an hour’s worth of time.  Plans were started to write letters for donation for local grocery stores, deciding on guidelines for the cake decorating contest at the Centennial Celebration, and ideas for a video invitation.  The committee also signed up to order Centennial T-Shirts to help promote our Centennial to others.  If you would like to order one please email your name and shirt size to leslie_wilson@ncsu.edu.  Shirts are $10 and can be paid for when you pick up the shirt.

We also had a County Council meeting on Tuesday night after the Centennial meeting.  There were 9 in attendance! The most all year!  I was so thrilled to see everyone there and to see some new faces too!  I hope that they will keep coming.  We also had a lot to do at this meeting.  With our secretary-treasurer absent (had to get his wisdom teeth out!) Stefanie dutifully took over his responsibilities for the evening.  They made some great attempts at a video to show to Summer Fun kids before they head out for their day camps this summer.  The goal is to get more kids who only participate in Summer Fun to make the leap and join 4-H year round. 

Head, Heart, Hands, Health

Summer Fun started on Thursday!! Mrs. Julia and Mrs. Gina took a group to Indigo Farms for “Dash to Calabash” on Thursday.  The trip included a hayride, picking blueberries, eating watermelon, and getting to pet all of the animals at the farm.  It was a great start to what will hopefully be a great summer!  On Friday Mrs. Julia and Miss Leslie took a group to the NC Battleship, on a Trolley Tour of downtown Wilmington, and to the traveling Vietnam War Memorial at Ogden Park for “Raise the Flag.”   They experienced a special educational program at the battleship.  They learned how to properly board the ship, how phone calls were made aboard ship, where the sailors slept, how the food was made, and how morse code messages were sent.   Click here for our full Summer Fun schedule.

Who's there?

Checkin out the typewriter

This is just the beginning of summer.  There’s so much more in store!  If you haven’t checked out our Summer Fun schedule, don’t wait! There are still several spots available but they are slowly becoming full.  There are tons of activities for ages 5 to 19!  See you soon!

Vietnam War Replica Wall opens Thursday June 10, 2009

Check out the article from The Star News Online.  4-H will be visiting the half scale wall on Friday during the Raise the Flag Summer Fun camp.  There are about 10 4-Hers attending.