I hope you will take advantage of the 25% off curriculum sale that is taking place till April 30 through the 4-H Mall and order some of the below healthy living curriculum. This curriculum is excellent, so if you haven’t checked it out, I hope you will do so.

An issue facing younger generations, and especially teens, is the over-use of technology.  Younger generations, unlike their parents, often socialize, hang out, and communicate online, rather than in person.  They prefer to text rather than talk on the phone, and often prefer to socialize on Twitter, Snapchat, or Facebook than in a social setting.  Some of our youth are spending up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, online, perusing the Internet or gaming.  Spending this much time in front of a screen can interfere with a young person’s emotional, physical, and intellectual development.  Due to this issue, I’m sharing the below information with you.  May 2-8, 2016 is Screen-Free Week and encourages youth to unplug and play.  The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth has put together a free toolkit inclusive of active, fun alternatives to screen time that we can use to help address the issue of over using technology.

– See more at: http://vfhy.org/obesity/healthy-people/less-screen-time

I wanted to share with you the recording of a presentation I created regarding the 4^th H for Health Challenge.  I gave this presentation as part of the April First Friday discussion and at In-Service to the FCS agents during their update but wanted to share as broadly as possible.  This challenge is a great way to get your 4-H clubs involved in eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, and being more physically active in the club meeting setting.  Once you have had a chance to view the recording, please email me if this is something you’d be interested in implementing in your locality.  This challenge is a great and fun way to engage youth in healthy living behaviors that will hopefully last a lifetime and I hope you will consider incorporating it into your programming efforts.

Tonya Price wants to share this WebEx recording with you.

Tonya Price’s Personal Room-20160210 1503-1 Wednesday, February 10, 2016 10:16 am | Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)

PLAY RECORDING ( 10 min) https://virginiatech.webex.com/virginiatech/ldr.php?RCID=06a0e50a4f6c37e9d28d795c26f200c5

Please check out the resources below.  Even though this is designed for the summer meals  program, these resources could be used with almost type of summer program or activity targeted at healthy living.  Feel free to use as you deem appropriate.

The deadline to register is October 30, 2015.

The Poetry Out Loud program is designed to encourage students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition, which gives them an opportunity to practice public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.

During this fall Virginia schools are invited to participate in classroom and school-wide contests. Deadline for schools to hold their school-wide competition is December 11, 2015 with regional competitions taking place in early 2016. The Virginia State Poetry Out Loud final will take place March 18, 2016 and the state champion will advance to the National Finals on May 2-4 in Washington, D.C.

Each state champion will receive $200 and a paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national championship. The state champion’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The first runner-up in each state will receive $100 with $200 for his or her school library. Poetry Out Loud will award a total of $50,000 in cash and school stipends at the national finals, including a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud national champion.

To learn more about Virginia’s Poetry Out Loud competition visit http://www.arts.virginia.gov/programs_POL.html.

To register go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6WP5QNY. For additional information, poems and teaching resources for Poetry Out Loud, visit poetryoutloud.org.

This contest is presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
For any questions related to participation in the official Poetry Out Loud Program contact:

Casey Polczynski
Arts in Education Coordinator
Virginia Commission for the Arts
casey.polczynski@vca.virginia.gov
804.225.3132

The State 4-H Office, with feedback from the Virginia Association of 4-H Extension Agents and the Virginia Association of Adult 4-H Volunteer Leaders, has been planning the 2015 4-H Symposium and VAA4-HVL Fall Conference. We have great professional development workshops shaping up for our 4-H faculty, staff, and volunteers. Within this email you will find the registration information for both 4-H faculty/staff and volunteers. Please also review the tentative timeline below as we continue the planning process. We are still accepting RFPs for 50 or 100 minute workshops to be held on Saturday and Sunday until September 18. Please encourage your volunteers to submit a proposal to share their talents.

Symposium Call for Proposals 2015

New this year! To begin promoting teens as volunteers, we are encouraging districts to recruit (about 5 or so) teens to register for the 4-H Symposium and VAA4-HVL Fall Conference. Specific workshops are being planned to help provide teens with the tools and resources to help them support their local 4-H clubs.

4-H Symposium Faculty/Staff Professional Development – November 12 – 13
https://vce.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bEgiXpt5FOJQQIJ
Register using the link above, no later than October 1. Lodging and meals during the 4-H Symposium will be covered by the State 4-H Office for 4-H faculty/staff. Mileage, to and from, and meals, before or after, Symposium should be submitted to your unit travel budget. Carpooling is strongly encouraged.

Workshop highlights, full descriptions available within the survey, include:

• November 12: Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.
o “Youth Mental Health First Aid” or “Natural Resources and Environmental Education: Land Judging/Homesite Judging, and Wildlife Identification.”
o Dinner Hosted by VAE4-HA
• November 13:
o Innovative Programming IGNITE Presentations
o Programming Team Update
o Workshop Sessions Conclude at 4:30 p.m.
 4-H Energy: Electric Challenge and Alternative Energy
 4-H Online
 4-H Mentoring – Youth and Families with Promise
 4-H Invention Clubs: Inquiring Minds Make our Future
o Dinner Provided for those staying for the weekend sessions
o Optional Evening Program – Drama of Creation and Tour Tickets available for $12

4-H Symposium and VAA4-HVL Fall Conference, November 14-15
• November 14:
o Three workshop opportunities – RFPs accepted until September 18
o Master Track Opportunities
 4-H Digital Media
 Animal Science
o 4-H Foundation Luncheon
o VAA4-HVL District and State Meetings
o VAA4-HVL Banquet and Silent Auction
o VAA4-HVL Evening Hospitality Room
• November 15:
o Workshop (50 minute)
o Brunch
o Installation of VAA4-HVL Officers and Conference Scholarships

Volunteer Registration
Have volunteers complete the registration application below and send to Nicole Martin at the address on the form, no later than October 28 to avoid a late fee.
2015 4-H Symposium and VAA4HVL Fall Conference Registrationfinal

4-H Symposium and VAA4-VHL Fall Conference Timeline
August 13 Request for Proposals for Workshops Released

September 1 Registration Opens and Master Tracks Announced

September 18 Request for Proposals for Workshops Due

October 1 Workshop Descriptions Posted on Registration Website

October 12 Hotel Block Reservations Close (for volunteers)
For reservations volunteers can call 800-533-1410 for the $83 rate.
Ask for the “Virginia Polytechnic Institute” block.
(4-H faculty/staff lodging will be made by State Office)

October 28 Conference Registrations Due to avoid late fee
Scholarship Applications Due

November 12 – 13 Professional Development for 4-H faculty/staff

November 14 – 15 Volunteer Registration and Workshops

Please contact Nicole Martin or myself if you need any additional information.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Dear Colleagues,

I hope that your summer is off to a great start!  As we just concluded our premier teen leadership event, State 4-H Congress, I wanted to share with you a link to two publications that Billie Jean Elmer and I authored as a resource for you in your teen leadership and development programming efforts.  The first publication is titled: “Preparing Teens for Opportunities Beyond the Local Level” and the second is “Recruitment and Retention of Teens”.  You will find the publications at the following links: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/4-H/4H-283/4H-283.html and http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/4-H/4H-284/4H-284.html.  These two publications are part of a teen leadership and development series of fact sheets that we are working on.  When complete, there will be a total of six; so, be on the lookout for more to come.  A special thank you to the peer reviewers of these publications for your suggestions and comments!  We hope that you enjoy reading these pubs and find them practical and beneficial in your programming efforts!  If you should have any questions regarding these publications or teen programming in general, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for all you do!

Tonya