Playing Catch Up!

Today is the day that Extension Agents across the Commonwealth dread -- eFARS due date.  This acronym stands for Electronic Faculty Annual Reporting System.   While the process of reporting on every single program we offer throughout the calendar year is a bit painful, in the end it feels great to reflect on all of the opportunities that we have had to interact with 4-H'ers and their families.  In reporting on my blog posts, I realized that I have been delinquent in posting updates this fall! 


Our in-school and after-school programs have kept me quite busy!  I am so enjoying the 4th grade this year at PECES.  We elected officers and learned about parliamentary procedure.  Most of our time in the classroom has been focused on learning the scientific method through hands-on experiments.  We did the bessbug penny pull and the 4-H'ers were pretty enthusiastic about playing with giant bugs!  We recently started a unit on electricity.  We made a human atom and a human circuit.  Playing with the energy stick was a hit!


We also worked with 6th and 7th graders at PECMS on the 4-H science fair program.  A total of 281 students received direct instruction.  Of these, 93% successfully completed and presented projects.  Just over 50% of the projects received blue ribbon scores from the judges.  Forty-one youth qualified to present at the district level competition.


After-school programs included Cooking with Cloverbuds, Sewing Club, JMG Bugfest, Cloverbud Super Science Club, and Food Challenge.  See pictures of some of our adventures below.

Junior Master Gardeners with the bug collection (center) at Hokie Bugfest.

4-H'ers take on the Food Challenge.  We has 22 people register -- enough for 4 full Junior teams and a Senior team!

4-H'er Grace works on her project in Sewing Club.

4-H'er Mackenzie presents her sixth grade science fair project to the judges at PECMS.

We are looking forward to starting up the inaugural class of the Prince Edward 4-H Innovative Leadership Academy later this month.  We have 10 teens signed up to learn about leadership, communication, teamwork, and community planning.   One of the goals of the program is to help youth understand local decision-making processes.  Look for our group at local Board meetings.


Save the week of June 27 - July 1 for Junior 4-H Camp.  Registration for campers will begin in early March.


Look for updates soon on our Community STEM Careers Event (hold the evening of February 16th for a special program) and our Teen Leadership and Communications Conference at the Moton Museum on March 30th. 


To find out more about the local 4-H program, please contact the Extension Office at (434)392-4246. 

4-H Programs for the 2015-2016 School Year

The Fall 2015 edition of the Prince Edward 4-H newsletter is now available at the link below.  This newsletter will give readers an overview of 4-H programs.  Included is information on local in-school programs, after-school programs, workshops, clubs, and special offerings.  The last page of the newsletter is a registration form.  If you have questions, would like more information, or want to help us grow by becoming a 4-H volunteer, please don't hesitate to call the Prince Edward Extension Office at 392-4246.

Fall 2015 4-H Newsletter

How can summer be almost over???

As usual, summer has FLOWN by!  It is hard to believe that yesterday was our last day of summer 4-H programming.  We started our summer with Baking 101 and 102 workshops led by our amazingly talented volunteer, Audrey Dobson-Maliangos.  Our FCS agent, Caitlin Miller, led our sewing day camp.  Eleven (!) participants made mini "strip and flip" quilted wall hangings.  They really looked impressive.  And we only broke one machine in the process!! (Said machine is now usable again after a trip to the repair shop in Lynchburg.)

Cloverbud Camp was an exhausting hit, with 6 little ones from Prince Edward participating!  It was also the first time that I have taken the child of a former 4-H'er to camp.  Talk about feeling old!

There were over 140 people from Prince Edward County at Junior 4-H Camp.  Together with our friends from Buckingham, we had a successful week.  We survived 100 degree temps on Tuesday without a single case of dehydration!  Many thanks to the 4-H Center staff who had to pull water cooler duty that day!  We recognized 8 graduating senior teen leaders!!  That is a huge number of seniors leaving our teen leader program.  I am happy for them and hopeful that some will return to camp as summer staff members or adult volunteers.  We had a good group of first year teens and some very promising CIT's.  They have big shoes to fill!  We brought back the spirit stick at camp this year.  At the end of camp, the stick was awarded to Amanda McDermott, the senior teen leader from the winning pack.  It was a much deserved honor, as Amanda organized an AAP and an evening program all on her own!

This summer marked our third Eat Your Heart Out day camp.  We visited the Prince Edward County Cannery, Crumptown Farm, and Lynchburg Grows.  Under the direction of volunteer extraordinaire, Josie Fletcher, we even made our own delicious bagels and cream cheese!

Camp Loud and Clear was offered at Holiday Lake 4-H Center.  This is a weekend camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth.  It truly is one of the most meaningful programs with which I had the privilege to work.  The 4-H Center staff volunteers to be there that weekend and offering programming so that these campers can experience 4-H.  We received some very generous donations to make Camp Loud and Clear possible.  A huge thanks to Jennifer Kingsley, our primary fundraiser and head cheerleader.

We wrapped up summer with What's Cooking day camp at Fuqua School.  We had a great group participate and hope that many of them will become more involved in our local 4-H programs.

We will soon say goodbye to our summer intern, Amanda Elgin.  The rising senior education major from Longwood has been my right arm this summer.  Amanda had never been in 4-H before, but she had volunteered with some after-school program.  It was sink or swim for her and she swam beautifully!  We will sure miss her around here!

I have already started planning for our school year programs.  Look for some new offerings this year.  I tentatively plan to retire our Fun with Foods program and replace it with a fun, updated Food Challenge.  If you liked shows like Chopped, you will enjoy Food Challenge.  We also received a grant for our new InnoVAtive Leadership Academy for teens.  I am excited about this one, as we look to get our older 4-H members experience in leadership and communication through community involvement.

I am looking forward to an end-of-summer vacation and little time with my actual children before school starts!  Soon after, be on the lookout for 4-H program announcements and fall sign-ups.


Enjoy the rest of your summer!!

Cloverbud Camp and Summer Day Camps

If you have a 5 - 8 year old, consider Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center's summer Cloverbud Camp.  This is a weekend overnight experience designed to introduce younger children to the 4-H camping program.  Cloverbud Camp is June 12 - 14.  The cost is $87 per camper if registered before May 15th.  Many parents are a little nervous about dropping little ones off for an overnight camp. We love parent volunteers at camp!  If you participate in training and sign on to help supervise campers, parents may attend at no cost.  If you would like to come to camp with your child but do not wish to be considered a "trained volunteer," you have the option to attend for an additional $87.  The link to the registration form is below.  Feel free to call our office at 392-4246 for more information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0PAztb5W5CuV0Y5alFZWk5saUU/view?usp=sharing

This is one of my favorite pictures from Cloverbud Camp last year.  My son, completely exhausted at the end of camp, with Heather Benninghove.  Heather was a CIT my first year as an Extension Agent.  She is now the Program Director at the 4-H Center!  We are pretty proud of her around here!

We have also started registration for our summer day camp programs.  We are excited to offer Beginner Sewing, Baking 101, Baking 102, Eat Your Heart Out (all about local foods), and What's Cookin.  For more information, check out the link to the registration form below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0PAztb5W5CuVXJ4NG5NWk1sY3c/view?usp=sharing

So We've Been a Little Busy...

Spring has definitely sprung around here.  We have been crazy busy in the world of 4-H.  4-H Camp registration is ongoing.  We have spaces left for both boys and girls.  Remember that early bird pricing ends on April 30th.  If you are thinking about registering, hurry! 

Holiday Lake 4-H Center is now accepting registrations for Cloverbud Camp, June 12 - 14.  This is an overnight camp for youth ages 5 - 8.  Call our office at 392-4246 for a registration form. 

We are excited to offer 5 day camps this summer:  Beginner Sewing, Baking 101, Baking 102, Eat Your Heart Out (all about local food), and What's Cookin'.  We will post more info on those soon or you can call the office for details.

I added a few pics from our recent programs so you can see a little of what we do around here. 

We had 22 students represent Prince Edward County at Central District Contests!  Sorry about the terrible picture, but we are so proud of them.  Our elementary school students did 4-H Presentations and our middle schoolers presented Science Fair projects!

Eighth graders from PECMS and third graders from PECES recently visited the 4-H Center for some Natural Resource Education programs.  I got to hang out in the creek with the big kids and dig in the soil with the little ones!

Our livestock club, with sponsorship from Southern States, offered the first annual Livestock Show Demo Day at the livestock market in Blackstone.  Thanks to Betsy Jenkins, our club leader, for organizing this event.  Club members and parents from multiple counties learned about animal nutrition, clipping, and showmanship. 

We had a full house for our first ever Spring Break Sewing Day Camp.  The participants made cool little clutch bags complete with a button and button hole!  I think we all learned something new! 

Our Kids for Cats Club visited the SPCA and took donations of homemade goodies for the animals.  They made these treats and toys during a workshop led by 4-H'er and Girl Scout Silver Award candidate Katie Angle.  Thanks, Katie!

We hosted our second Reality Store event at PECMS for 8th graders.  They were assigned a job and a family situation and had to make a month's worth of financial decisions.  I think it was a real eye-opener.  My favorite comment from a student, "Kids are expensive!"  I had to laugh.  Thanks to a great group of volunteers for making that program possible. 

Our sewing club had their final meeting of the school year this week.  Each participant finished her scalloped bag.  We learned lots of lessons not only about the art of sewing but about the mechanics of the sewing machine.  We changed broken needles, practiced threading and re-threading, learned what NOT to do (i.e. sew with the foot up), and that feed dogs move up and down.  It was a true "Learn by Doing" experience!  Our FCS Agent, Caitlin Miller, did a great job as lead instructor.  She is very talented.

...and April used to be a slow month! :)

Camp Costs HOW MUCH?!?

We want to give as many children as possible the chance to attend Junior 4-H Camp.  Every year, however, we have some parents that express sticker shock about the $199 camper fee.  Let me explain a little about how we set that price.  Holiday Lake 4-H Center charges Prince Edward 4-H $170 for each camper that we bring.  This fee covers room, board, and activities.  A  portion of this fee goes to cover the salary of the college students who work at camp as the summer staff.  The additional $29 that Prince Edward 4-H charges covers transportation to and from camp, camp t-shirts, teen and adult leader training, room and board for adult volunteers and teens above the required supervision ratio, three-part background checks for all adult leaders and teen leaders over age 18,  and materials for any class that we provide outside of the Center's core offerings.  These classes include outdoor cooking, shotgun, fishing, and many more.  We have made every effort to keep our camp fees as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of the program.  Most years we break even.

Through the support of the United Way of Prince Edward County, the Rotary Club of Farmville, and several other generous individuals and organizations, we are able to provide partial need-based scholarships for campers.  This year we are very fortunate to have an anonymous donor who is providing additional scholarship funds for campers from each county served by Holiday Lake 4-H Center.  There may also be funds available through a program to help children from military families attend camp.

If you would like to apply for a scholarship to send your child (or children) to camp, please contact me at jebowen1@vt.edu or call 392-4246. 

4K Race at Holiday Lake to Raise Money for Camp Scholarships

Running friends, check out the 4K for 4-H race being held at Holiday Lake 4-H Center on April 11th.  Your entry fee is credited as a camper scholarship for the county of your choice.  For more information, check out the following link or call the 4-H Center at (434)248-5444.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0PAztb5W5CuRlVZalVJb3h0YUE/view?usp=sharing