Sioux County Newsletter
September 2021
Calendar of Events
Sept. 6 - Labor Day Office Closed
Sept. 10 - Achievement Application help 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Sept. 20 - 4-H Council Meeting at 6 pm
Sept. 24 - Achievement Applications are due
Oct. 3 - 9 - National 4-H Week
Oct. 17 - 4-H Fun Feed
State Fair Results
Boone Button
- Photography Unit 2 Creative Techniques & Lighting - Blue, Special Recognition, & Selected for UNL Exhibition
- Design Decisions Accessory 2D - Blue
- Beyond the Needle - Embellished Garment - Red
Chisum Pelster
- Human Development Science - Purple
- Veterinary Science - Large Animal First Aid Kit - Blue
Baxter Reece
- Design Decision - Accessory Outdoor Living - Purple
- Design Decision - Accessory Recycled/Upcycled - Blue
- Design Decision - Accessory Textile 3D - Blue
- Beyond the Needle - Item Constructed from Original Design fabric - Blue
- Shopping in Style - Best Buy for your Buck - Blue
- Conservation & Wildlife - Fish Display - Purple & Special Recognition
- Cooking 202 - Creative Mixes - Blue
Becca Reece
- Quilt Quilt - Level 2 Large Quilt - Red
- STEAM 2 - Upcycled Garment - Purple
- Shopping in Style - Best Buy for your Buck - Red
- General Foods - Cooking Basics Recipe File - Blue
- Range Management - Major Types of Range Plants - Blue
Achievement Application
The Achievement Application is the new standard for State 4-H awards including selecting delegates for National 4-H Conference and National 4-H Congress, as well as Nebraska 4-H Foundation scholarships. There are two versions: a Junior version for 8 to 14 year olds and a Senior version for 15 to 18. Only the Senior version is eligible for state awards. This application can be used for county awards as well.
The Junior version has a maximum of 3 pages to describe their 4-H Experiences, Leadership Experiences, Community Involvement, and Career Spark. This new format falls more in line with the old Career Portfolios.
Here are some tips for the various sections:
-Collective 4-H experience
- List or table different projects, skills learned, numbers of years in the program
- Talk in detail about 2 projects that highlight your year
-Leadership Section
- Positions and duties
- Utilize a table or graph to show multiple years
- Include Non 4-H experiences
-Community Service Section
- List all of them in some format
- Fully describe 2 activities
- Include your role and the impact
-Career Spark
- Explain how a project has sparked a potential job
- Don't know what your career will be? Talk about values or skills learned for any job or how you want to learn more or try something new to see if it could be a potential career
- Ex. You took the Babysitting class and thought you might like to be a Preschool teacher. You can talk about how you babysat in your local county and what you learned from it.
For the Senior Application members get four pages to complete the previous information plus an additional page for the delegate application.
Creativity is highly encouraged; applications can use bullet lists, infographics, photos, etc. to help tell their 4-H story. The application is available as a PDF, Word Document, or Google Document. More information and the applications can be found at https://4h.unl.edu/achievement-application
These applications will be due to the County office by September 24th. Sample Applications are attached below.
First Lego League Challenge Robotics - Cargo Connect
In 2021-2022 FIRST® LEGO® League’s CARGO CONNECTSM, participants will learn how cargo is transported, sorted, and delivered to its destinations.
They are hoping to have a Junior Robotics and Challenge Robotics team. The Junior team is for ages 6 to 9 and the Challenge team is for ages 10 to 14. Please contact Carmen Pelster if your youth is interested in participating in the Junior team or Katie Reece for the Challenge team.
Diamond Clover
Deadline to submit Diamond Clover is September 24. Forms are available on the Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover website.
The Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover program encourages 4-H youth to engage in a variety of programs, projects, and activities that will enable youth to acquire skills and abilities that will prepare them for success in the future. The program is designed to reach and recognize all youth engaged in 4-H, from club members and campers to school enrichment, afterschool, and special interest program participants. The program consists of six levels that require a young person to plan and report a broad range of age-appropriate accomplishments.
Rules
- Youth may only receive recognition at each level once.
- Youth may only receive one level of recognition per year.
- Youth should begin at Level 1 and progress through Level 6. However, youth who are older when beginning may opt to start at a higher level (2-4) as is mutually agreeable to the participant and the parent/guardian or leader. In order for older youth to begin at level 5 or 6, the Extension staff must also be in agreement.
- Approval: Levels 1–4 require the approval of a 4-H youth’s parent/guardian. If the 4-H youth belongs to a 4-H club, club leader approval is also required (if 4-H youth belongs to more than one club, choose one leader to work with). Levels 5 and 6 require the approval of a local county extension staff member.
- Accomplishments: Each level requires participants to complete a specified number of accomplishments. The 4-H participant may choose accomplishment listed for each level. The accomplishments are age appropriate and increase in quantity and difficulty for each level. Parents/guardians, leaders, and Extension staff may suggest other accomplishments — comparable to those provided — to improve the individual learning experience of each 4-H youth.
Sewing Group to Start Again
Club of Excellence
To receive the designation as a Nebraska 4-H Club of Excellence, clubs must meet a certain set of criteria and document how this criteria was met. Clubs meeting the requirements will initially receive a certificate. In subsequent years clubs successfully meeting the requirements will receive a special insignia to place on their certificate. Clubs must apply annually to receive this recognition.
Clubs must:
- Have at least five members from at least three different families.
- Recite the 4-H Pledge at meetings.
- Meet at least six times per year.
- Choose/elect youth officers.
- Have youth serve in leadership roles.
- Have one club project, related to curriculum, which they do together.
- Have adult role model involvement.
- Be facilitated by organizational and project leaders who have successfully completed the volunteer screening.
- Have members who perform a presentation or public speaking at the club level or above.
- Complete one community service project.
- Have members who participate in county, district or state events.
- Celebrate member and club achievements.
Application
To apply for the Club of Excellence recognition, complete the Nebraska 4-H Club of Excellence Report of Activities. The completed form should be turned into the Extension Office by September 15.
Nebraska Gives Back
The Nebraska 4-H Gives Back program is an opportunity for a Nebraska 4-H member or a team of 4-H’ers to make a meaningful contribution to their community. This award recognizes the impact that 4-H youth make in their communities and celebrates the spirit of service-learning, a pillar of the 4-H experience.
Nebraska 4-H Gives Back projects are advised by local committees and reviewed and recognized at the state level. Participants of the Nebraska 4-H Gives Back program receive an award and are showcased statewide.
To achieve the Nebraska 4-H Gives Back honor, a 4-H member or team must complete a major service-learning project that benefits his/her community. Each 4-H member or team are responsible for the creation, coordination, and implementation of the project. The project must be of lasting value and large enough in size and/or scope to be worthy of Nebraska 4-H Gives Back recognition. 4-H members should plan on investing over 100 hours of service, and understand that it may take up to 24 months to complete this project. The project includes an initial proposal and final report that are both approved and reviewed in a two-step process. Proposals are developed and approved first by the local committee, and then by a State 4-H Program Administrator prior to the start of the project. Upon completion of the service-learning project, a final report is created to be reviewed and approved by the local committee, and then by a State 4-H Program Administrator.
Recipients will receive individual certificates of recognition once their project is completed, as well as, a $100 award to be received by the team or individual recipient. This can be used to celebrate their accomplishments or fund a future 4-H project. Recipients and their projects will also be showcased by Nebraska 4-H online. Some counties may choose to recognize recipients at county award nights. The proposal form is attached below.
2021 Make it with Wool Contest
Enter the Make It With Wool Contest! The object of the contest is to promote the beauty and versatility of wool fabrics and yarns; to encourage personal creations in sewing, knitting, crocheting, spinning, and weaving of wool fabrics and yarns; and to recognize creative skills.
The 2021 State Make It With Wool Contest will be November 20 at the Adams County Extension Office in Hastings, NE beginning at 9:00 a.m. Everyone is invited to the public Fashion Show at 1:00 p.m.
The divisions determined by age as of January 1, 2021 (national rule), are as follows: Preteen – age 12 and under, Junior – age 13 to 16, Senior – age 17 to 24, Adult – age 25 and over, and Made For Others.
For more information, contact the Nebraska State Director: Andrea Nisley, P.O. Box 757, Lexington NE 68850 (phone 308-324-5501) anisley1@unl.edu or the District Directors. District Directors include, District I – Doris Rush of Scottsbluff, 308-635-0156 and Rosalene Tollman of Marsland, 308-665-2415; District II – Crystal Fangmeier of Hebron, 402-768-4183; and District III – Sarah Purcell of Cook, 402-269-5593.
The entry form, state brochure and national wool contest guidelines are posted on the website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/dawson/. Entry forms, fees, wool samples and wool testing fees are due October 15, 2021 to Andrea Nisley. The fabrics/yarns used for the wool contest must be 100% wool or wool blend (minimum 60% wool or specialty wool fiber) for each fashion fabric or yarn used. Specialty wool fibers include alpaca, angora, camel, cashmere, llama, mohair, and vicuna.
More information is available on the National Make It With Wool website: www.makeitwithwool.com.
Earlier this year the 2020 state contest winners, Karla Herrarte of Lexington, Aretta Brennemann of Curtis and Delores Brennemann of Hyannis represented Nebraska at the mail-in National Make It With Wool competition due to the American Sheep Industry Convention being a condensed virtual event and Covid-19 restrictions. Junior Division contestant, Karla Herrarte, was first runner-up in the Junior Division.
The National Make It With Wool Contest also has a Fashion/Apparel Design Competition for college students who are currently enrolled in a college-level fashion or apparel design program. Entry deadline is November 1 for Fashion/Apparel Design Competition. Information, criteria, how to enter and deadline information is given on the National Make It With Wool website.
Nebraska Extension Sioux County Office
Email: mmracek2@unl.edu
Website: go.unl.edu/siouxcofair
Location: PO Box 277 Harrison, NE 69346
Phone: (308) 668-2428
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLSiouxCounty