The program is designed to encourage 4-H youth to engage in a variety of projects and activities that will enable members to acquire the life skills necessary to lead successful lives as competent, caring and contributing citizens. The goal is to provide 4-H members a rich and diverse learning experience. The program includes six levels and is designed for participants to progress at one level a year. Each level includes a set of goals that must be achieved before the 4-H’er can move on. Guidelines & forms: https://4h.unl.edu/diamond-clover. Forms are due in the office on April 1st and then will be returned to the 4-H member to fill out during the 4-H year.

Developing 4-H’ers self-confidence and effective public speaking skills are two goals of the Nebraska 4-H public speaking contest. The local contest date has been set for Monday, April 22, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. You must pre-register for the contest by Wednesday, April 3rd by calling the office or sending an email to hayden.hemphill@unl.edu. Top three winners from each age division (except novice) will be selected to advance to the Regional Speech Contest at UNL East Campus in Lincoln in May. The top seniors in the Regional contests will advance to the State Contest held during the State Fair to compete for a $500 U.S. Savings Bond and a college scholarship. Resources to help you prepare for the Public Speaking Contest available at https://4h.unl.edu/public-speaking

We follow the same rules as the regional contest. Ages are as of January 1, 2019.

Age Divisions
Four age divisions are used in the 4-H Public Speaking Contest and are based on the

4-H member's age (the age of the youth before January 1 of the current year).

• Novice Division: 4-H ages eight (8) and (9)
• Junior Division: 4-H ages eight (8) to ten (10)
• Intermediate Division: 4-H ages eleven (11) to thirteen (13)
• Senior Division: 4-H ages fourteen (14) to eighteen (18)

Speech Category Rules

• Length of Speeches:
• Novice Division: May recite a poem, read/tell a story
• Junior Division: 1 to 3 minutes.
• Intermediate Division: 3 to 5 minutes.
• Senior Division: 5 to 8 minutes.

2019 PSA Theme - "Inspire Kids to Do"

• All PSA's are 60 seconds in length and must use the required theme.
• All 4-H PSA's must include the following tagline within the last 10 seconds of the PSA: "Learn more about the Nebraska Extension 4-H Youth Development Program at 4h.unl.edu." The tagline is included in the 60 second time limit.
  
• Sound effects and public domain music may be used. Copyrighted material may not be used.
  
• All PSA's must be the original work of the presenter. Contestants may not use PSA's written and provided by the state or national staff.
  

• No team PSA's are allowed.

Information and registrations for the District and State 4-H Horse show is available at the office or on line at http://4h.unl.edu/horse/district-shows. Registrations are due May 10.

Cat Club is a monthly webinar series offering educational information about caring for your cat and showing your cat in 4-H. Youth do not need to be enrolled in 4-H or in the 4-H cat project to participate. Cat Club is a great resource for anyone interested in showing cats in 4-H whether you have one now or not! Youth of all ages are welcome to join. Webinar topics change each month and cover topics such as vaccination, diseases, grooming, diet, reproduction, breeds, genetics, selecting a cat, at home cat setup, and showmanship.

The Cat Club series is held on the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 pm CT. The Cat Club will convene on the following dates:

• April 11, 2019 @ 6:00 PM CT
  
• May 9, 2019 @ 6:00 PM CT

To honor our hardworking Nebraska youth in agriculture, the Midwest Messenger is featuring a new 4-H Club/FFA Chapter of the Week spotlight. Each week, a new club or chapter is highlighted on a sponsored full page display in the paper, featuring a photograph of current members and a brief biography of the club/chapter’s history and accomplishments. Finally, to boost their organization’s endeavors, the Midwest Messenger is giving each featured group a $50 gift card.

The nomination form can be found on our website at https://www.agupdate.com/midwestmessenger/forms/f4h_club_ffa_chapter_of_the_week/

The 4-H Club/FFA Chapter spotlight will appear each week in the print edition of the Messenger, as well as online at www.midwestmessenger.com and our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/midwestmessenger.

For any questions about this program or submitting a nomination, please contact Katy Moore at (402) 374-2225 ext. 122, katy.moore@lee.net.

Thank you for helping us celebrate the accomplishments of Nebraska’s ag youth — the next generation of America’s proud farmers, ranchers, and ag advocates.

We are looking for ideas for workshops in 2019. We would like to hear ideas of what you would be willing to attend. We would also like to hear from you regarding what times would work best for most people, after school, 1⁄2 days when school is out, etc. Please contact the Extension Office 402-729-3487 and let us know what YOU are interested in.

Just as a reminder, check out our Facebook page! The page name is "Jefferson County Extension & 4-H Youth Development". Along with our newsletter, we will be using this page to update our members about upcoming events, activities, and deadlines. We also hope to use this page to provide information about community outreach opportunities, scholarships, and research that is important to our followers. The staff will do our best to keep this updated and inform you all of what is going on at the office, Jefferson County, and in Nebraska.