It was nice to see so many of you at the VESA conference this week. Congratulations to all who received awards for their outstanding work! I vividly remember, as an agent, how busy spring schedules are with contests, livestock shows, community service projects, finishing up school clubs, and preparing for camp. I hope that you can take a little time this holiday weekend to relax and enjoy time with family and friends. Here are a few updates which I hope you will find helpful.
State 4-H Congress plans are coming together nicely. Our numbers are up well over 100 and we are thrilled with the response for our 4-H Celebration scheduled for June 18th. We can’t wait to welcome you, your volunteers, and all the outstanding teens to campus!
Virginia 4-H License Plates – Please share the news: we are taking orders for the new Virginia 4-H license plate! Virginia 4-H is seeking a revenue sharing plate. Once the minimum sales requirement has been met, revenue will be used to fund scholarships for 4-H members. We must have 450 orders complete with payment before it can be introduced in the General Assembly. The unit that collects the most orders will receive a $500 programming grant, the second most will receive $400 in programming funds, and 3-5th place will receive $250. Check out the Virginia 4-H Blog for more information, a graphic, and the form.
4-H Centers – 4-H camp is one of our primary delivery modes. Camping enables us to introduce new programs which can be extended back in the units and vice versa. Camp can also excite and motivate young people to become more involved in 4-H. Our dedicated, enthusiastic summer staff has been trained and is ready to go! This year when youth arrive at the 4-H Centers they will find that our center faculty/staff have been hard at work preparing to host them. Check out the Virginia 4-H Blog to see the facility upgrades made this year!
Save the Dates! Virginia 4-H and North Carolina 4-H have won the bid to host the 2014 National 4-H Shooting Education Certification Training. The program will be held November 3-7, 2014 at the Eastern North Carolina 4-H Center. This provides an outstanding opportunity for Virginia agents and volunteers to be certified to train other adults. For the past several years, we have only been able to send a few folks to the training. Watch for more information to follow and special thanks to Jinx Baney for submitting on our behalf and her outstanding leadership of the Virginia 4-H Shooting Education Program.
Virginia 4-H Innovative Programming Awards – Each year, the Virginia 4-H Foundation awards $1,000 programming awards to agents who are developing or expanding innovative programs. Please consider submitting a proposal by filling out the application and returning it to me by June 11, 2014. Awards will be announced at State 4-H Congress. The application can be found on the Virginia 4-H Blog.
It addition, the Virginia 4-H Foundation will offer a Revolving Programming Award. This award will use the same application format but will be available in the event that a highly innovative program emerges during the 4-H programming year and there is a documented funding need to support the effort.
The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development was recently published in The Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Please take a few minutes to read the attached article. This research highlights the need for the establishment and support of 4-H clubs which enable our youth to be retained in the program and be exposed to positive youth development programming over time.
Bowers et al.JYA.2014.Intro to special issue of 4-H Study and PYD.
4-H Finances – I understand that the transition of 4-H funds over the past few years has been a difficult one. We are interested in gathering input that could be useful as we continually work to improve the processes that we have put into place. We will be having a phone conversation with the 4-H DPLT members in the near future to discuss both Club and Foundation accounts. Should you have input, please share with one of your DPLT district members. I also understand that some groups feel misled since we are not allowing additional groups to apply for independent 501c3 status even though we initially thought that this would be permissible. Upper administration believes that our current structure ensures appropriate stewardship the resources obtained in the name of 4-H. With that said, we are committed to making the existing system work effectively and efficiently for you and your volunteers. Should you have 4-H Foundation questions, please contact Amanda Lucas. Please direct other 4-H financial questions through your DAA who will contact the state office as needed.
CYFERnetSEARCH.org I would like to draw your attention to an outstanding resource for 4-H Program Evaluation. This site is interactive and will assist you in building your own evaluations, using existing evaluations, and using the 4-H Common Measures. Check it out!
