Adopt-a-Family Holidays 2021!

WOW!!!!

6 families - 11 kids 6 parents

full dinner

dessert (or two)

muffins and fruit for breakfast

You all are amazing!

Selecting Livestock (17 Poultry and 1 Sheep!)

We've got a one-time only poultry/sheep meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 6. We'll be identifying selection criteria which is very important when making decisions about livestock. 

 Whether you are breeding livestock and trying to decide which animals bring the next crop into your lives, deciding what types of animals you want, or trying to decide who to show, this stuff is good to know about.  

Selection criteria also come into play when you are choosing colleges, new cars, and even, what's for dinner!

Families will then select birds and get Amanda their order by January 10 (even earlier this year so we get what we want).  Check out this blog to see some interesting one and only chickens!

Thinking Games

 

Playing some of the most classic strategy games will help us learn!  We'll take a look at our plans at the beginning of the game, what our opponents do to change our plans, and patterns we might see.

Some of the games we might play:

Battleship

Checkers

Chinese Checkers

Chess

Connect 4

Othello

Sequence

Tic Tac Toe

Art

 We'll be basing our art project on Disney's Fantasia 2000.

We'll watch a segment, talk about what kind of feelings it generated, learn what the artist's objectives might have been, then create art inspired by the piece.

Meeting 1 - Pines of Rome - Surrealism

Meeting 2 - Symphony No. 5 - Abstract Expressionism and contrast 

At Home Activity - Carnival of the Animals - Fauvism

Meeting 3 - Rhapsody in Blue - Caricatures, monochrome color, and... ?Etch-a-Sketch?

Meeting 4 - The Sorcer's Apprentice - Impressionism and Pointillism

Parent Roles Virtual Meeting

 Hello HH parents!

You don't often get to post/comment on here!  Please let us know if you are available for a virtual meeting on a Tuesday starting at 7:00 p.m., either this week or next.

Welcome to the new year!

Members from previous years designated with a *

Abbey

Bear

Benjamin

Ceili

*Chelsea

ClaireN

ClaireR

Crosby

GabrielR

GabbyS

*Harper

Isabelle

James

Kenneth

*Liam

Lucas

Madi

*Nick

*Nora

Oliver

and our Cloverbuds

Bryce

Frank

Lennon

Marley

*Marshall

Sadie

Next Projects

 

I'm hoping to hear back from the 4-H office if we are allowed to cook and eat together yet.  Hopefully I will know by the December 2 business meeting.  

Even if we don't start new projects until after the holidays, we will be voting December 2.

What would you like to do next?  Comment below one or two projects you would like to learn about next.  These are the projects that we will vote on, so if you don't comment, your choice won't make the list for voting.

When you comment, please do it like this:  First Name (with last initial only if needed) - project 1 and project 2.

If you absolutely cannot comment on the blog, send your suggestions to Madame President - Nora (her e-mail is on the most recent e-mail chain), and she will post for you.

Officers!

Our Elected Officers

 

• President - Nora

• Secretary - Chelsea

• Treasurer - Liam

• Recreation Leader - Harper  
  
  
  

Constitution

 Please review the Constitution ahead of the annual meeting.  

The full constitution is here.   We may only change sections marked with green which are below.  It was officially motioned and seconded to change the words shall to should in the yellow highlighted section below.  If you have any thoughts on that, comment below.

ARTICLE V - Meetings

Section 1 - Dates

The annual meeting shall generally be the first Thursday in October.  The club shall generally meet for regular business and Cloverbuds every other  month at 1841 Main St., Fairfax, VT.  Project meetings will be scheduled as needed.  Make up meetings will generally be on Tuesdays.  Special meetings may be called by the president and Organizational Leader as needed.   Notice of change of meetings, special meetings, and general communication shall be as timely as possible and shall be made through use of e-mail and the HH Blog.  If a meeting is in question (inclement weather), please check the blog. 

Possible Projects

 

Over the past 26 years, High Hopes 4-H has done projects in:

Archery
Art
Aviation/Rocketry
Beekeeping
Biking
Chess
Community Service
Computer Science

Computer Technology
Drama

Electronics
Engineering
Entomology
Fishing
Food & Nutrition (basic, Chopped ™, baking)
Forestry
Gardening
Hobbies
Horse
Leadership

Leather working
Livestock (all, and separate animals)
Maple
MineCraft
Myth Busters ™ Science
Outdoor Recreation
Personal Finances
Pets (general, and specific animals)
Photography
Poultry
Sewing
Sheep

Small Engines
Veterinary Science
Wind Energy
Woodworking

Enrolling or Reenrolling! Parents, please address and comment ;-)

4HOnline is now open for enrolling! 

Youth must be enrolled in the current year (10-1-2021 through 09-30-2022) before they may attend any meeting.

Grab a cup of tea and a cookie when you sit down to fill it out!  It may seem long, but it is necessary.

For families to enroll click here for the directions.  New families is the first section, previously enrolled is the second section.

Reminders:

• The High Hopes 4-H Club is a Chittenden County Club,
• Since we offer a horse project, all youth must have the horse helmet form signed.
• Check off all projects your youth might be interested in trying.  You'll get news and information about cool activities.  (That's how Chelsea and Brad got started in sheep!)

For volunteers to re-enroll, click this for the directions.

Please comment once you get an e-mail saying you are confirmed, or whatever the e-mail says this year!

Back to Business!

 Welcome to the 2021 - 2022 High Hopes 4-H Club year!

The annual meeting of  the High Hopes 4-H Club will be on Thursday, October 14, 2021, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.  We need to elect officers, set the budget, review the HH Constitution, and choose our first project.  Lots to do!

We’re going to start all this here on the blog.  

You’ll see a separate post for officer nominations, and a separate post for project suggestions.  Please comment as appropriate.

Please review the Constitution ahead of the annual meeting.  It is here.   We may only change sections marked with green.  We should probably consider changing the sentences highlighted yellow to make it less specific so we can change meeting schedule at will, without having to change the constitution.  Maybe something like, "the annual meeting shall generally be in October, and the club shall meet for at least ??? business meetings per year."  You may comment on that page, or below.  We will need officially motioned and seconded change suggestions given at the annual meeting, which can then be voted on at the next meeting pursuant to Article IX.

Find Your Spark!

 Keep thinking!  How do we represent "Find Your Spark!" on a graffiti wall?  

Score Sheet:. 

 A.      Theme or Idea (30 points)

1.      Theme appears                                             

2.      Display enhances theme                                            

3.      4-H is promoted                                                

 B.      Design (30 points)

 1.  Appearance of overall display           

2.  Good use of color                               

3.  Good use of space                      

  C.      Signs or explanatory materials (40 points) 

1.      Correct spelling                                        

2.      Easy to read                                                       

3.      Approved 4-H emblem appears               

4.      4-H web site and/or contact person and number are included    

Your drawing

If you can't see the notes:

the swirls red & yellow

the person's shirt purple, pants grey, shoes green

the phone number 800-571-0668

Records

 

Great work on Records!

Before Thursday, 9/23, please finish your Member Record, and at least one Project Record.  Use the Project Summary questions to help inspire your stories.  You got an e-mail with the goals and dates from the year to help if you need it.

Any specific questions?  Need me to print anything (like maybe a super science SHORT record)?  Comment below!

Club Table Top

Main Idea - Enriching our livestock friends' lives. (We need a catchy title!)

Supporting points  Answer the following questions in a comment below.  These will become the supporting points on the table top.  If you have ideas for a visual on the display, tell us (does anyone have a photo of your friends using what you made?  Were there any photos in the handouts you want to use?).  If you have ideas for what goes on the table, bring it to the next meeting.

• Liam - What does it mean when we say, "enriching our livestock friends' lives"?  More for you to answer after everyone else has answered theirs!
• Chelsea - What are some situations in which our livestock friends would need their lives enriched?  What enrichments did you OR could you set up for your sheep?
• Harper - What do YOU do to keep your brain active, and/or your body engaged?  What kinds of situations are there when you can't do your everyday life things?
• Nick - What are some things we put together for our chick boredom busters?
• Oliver - Which things did your chicks seem to really enjoy?
• Nora - Why did we create these enrichments for the chicks specifically?  

Business Plans!

This was actually part of the poultry/sheep project, but I think it was worth getting its own blog to share!

    

page 1 (with the circle) is the Executive Summary  which is kind of like the Introduction – who are you; what is the business -- what is the timeline for your business; where will the business be, why you are starting this business.

page 2 (with the square-arrow) is more or less the Market analysis Customers -- not names, but the types of customers who will buy your service or product.  Competitors - who else is doing this in your area?  Trends - is there a need for this product?  Niche - what is special about the way you will offer this product/service compared to your competitors.  Then a bigger rectangle is for details.

The last page of this activity was blank, for the 4-H'ers to design a poster advertising their business.

We had lots of great ideas, fun business names, and some real thoughts for how to turn our love for things into money making possibilities.

Here are some links for inspiration:

Hank’s Homestead    Self Sufficient Kids    Imperfectly Happy   25 Pet Business Ideas

Unusual Pet Business Ideas     9 Low-Cost Business Ideas for Animal Lovers

 Comment below with the name of your business and what you are going to offer!

CVE - The Fair is back!

 

Here are the $ amounts you could earn by entering the CVE:

Per 4-H'er

• $32 to $48 - poultry show
• $4 - $8 - judging jamboree
• $22 - $84 - hall exhibits

Realistically 4-H'ers have earned between $30 and $75, but some have earned $150+!

For the Club

• $10 - $20 - Scrapbook
• $10 - $30 - Livestock Displays (sheep? & poultry)
• $5 - $15 - Table top

The highest amounts are for excellent quality work in all areas of exhibition.

What would we like to do a club table top about?  Everything HH does?  A particular project we all did?  (Woodworking and sheep/poultry)  Comment below and we'll decide at the July 1 meeting.

New this year, you may bring up to 5 poultry to show in the conformation class, and you may enter more than one poster, photo, and tabletop.  

What's next?

We've got a couple options coming up here.  We can start new projects immediately (with a major interruption for the holidays), or we can have some random fun and work on Adopt-a-Family as a group.

Please see the separate post about the next projects.   

I forgot to organize Thanksgiving A-a-F (one of the problems with not having a business meeting every month, some things aren't timely!), so I've got 7? turkey/ham coupons for the December holidays at least!  I've asked the agency for 3 families with 7 kids total, and a teen with no family support.  We can just donate the extra turkey/ham coupons, or we can give additional meals to the agency.  That will be up to you.  Regardless, the Holiday Helping Party is set for Saturday, December 18 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Assuming we are allowed to eat together by then...  If not, we'll end at 4:00 instead.  More information on all of that will be available at the December 2 business meeting!

If we choose to do some fun things in December instead of projects, I've got a snow party plugged in to the calendar already.  If there is good snow, we can meet at Hard'ack, if not much snow, we can meet here, play inside or outside as you like.

I've got another couple of ideas for fun stuff for December 9 & 16 as well if we choose not to start the next projects.

Comment below whether you want to start the next projects in December, or just have fun together!  You can just comment:  "Name - Fun" or "Name - Projects"

Bike

 Anyone want to do anything bike related?  Riding trails, mechanics, anything?  Post your comments/goals/interests below.

Poultry - Sheep - Beef - other animals

 We're focusing on Poultry and Sheep -- the animals our 4-H'ers have.

For animal projects, it's always good to have goals for these areas.  Obviously you can have more than one for each area!  Following the goal areas are topics we've covered or are planning to cover

• hands-on - we'll keep doing Fitting & Showmanship and Agility Training
• care/housing - we're going to talk predators :-(
• health - we talked about enrichments, and we'll cover health and 1st aid
• anatomy (body)  - We've done skeletons & bones
• nutrition - We've done body condition scoring
• equipment - we built "enrichments" for our friends, we'll be making nest-box curtains for poultry kids and  a sheep grooming apron OR sheep show sheet. for our shepherds
• general - we talked business plans!

Dates are currently set for:  

• May 6,13, & 20
• June 3 & 10
• July 1 & 22
• August 5, 19
• August 26 poultry baths (probably at home, but maybe here)
• August 29 CVE poultry show and 4-H Day!

Poultry 2021!

We are getting closer to regular poultry meetings!  

Be sure to post meaningful goals below.  

We are going to use the pages from the green poultry folders for learning, but you can go ahead and read through and learn things as you like. Just don't open the feed bags!

Sheep project!

Sheep, are you interested?  We can learn hands-on with Taya and if you have sheep of your own, you can bring one to meetings!

Post your goals below!

Beef!

If you would like to learn about cows, we've got some to learn with.  Post your goals below!

Gardening?

 Whether you want to do a gardening project, or not, how about a garden conversation? Answer the following questions in a comment below!

What are your favorite garden plants?  Either to eat or... what else?

What animals do you have?  What would they like you to grow for them?

What kinds of garden things are poisonous for your animals?

Super Science

 So, from what we talked about at the meeting last week, sounds like we should try a "Super Science" project.  Here are my thoughts.

We'll look at Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Biology -- maybe another one or two.

I'll put together kits for each of you with experiments in all the areas of science.  Some of the experiments you will work on between meetings, some we'll do during meetings.  All will be basically safe to do on your own, but I will ask you to be sure to have someone "on call" for some of the challenges.  

You may get "hands only" help -- someone to hold things -- you should do all the thinking on your own.

Some things we MIGHT do, we only have 5 or so meetings, so we might not do everything as a group.

Lava lamps    

Bottle rockets   

 Plant growth  

Cell modeling  

   Roller coaster     

Turbines 

As always, you do not have to do all the write ups that I will include with each activity, but, these activities will all be great topics for presentations (posters or table tops, or even demonstrations), and you will be doing this kind of work in high school, college, and some of you even in your jobs!  Tavi earned $20,000 in scholarships with one of her science projects and I've had other students win actual cash!!!

Dates:  March 4, 11, 18  and April 1 & 8, 2021

So, comment below if you want to do "Super Science"

Thank You!

Thanks so much to those who have donated to High Hopes 4-H Club and the Adopt-a-Family efforts this year!

EricT, CalebM, BrettH, RayF, Nate & Holly, JeanneI, GMES customers, Oliver & Zeb, ScottD, and the Langagne Family!

Food & Nutrition!

Liam in 2019 sautéing peas for Bee Bim Bop!

The suggestion that most people made for the next project is Food & Nutrition.  We'll start by way of Zoom, but don't worry, we'll do real hands-on cooking too!  We'll just all do it from our own kitchens!

List a few goals below (each), remember, this is Food & Nutrition, not just cooking.  Also, tell us what kinds of things you would like to make (separately from your goals).

Then, I'll get you a plan with shopping lists, so that everyone can get what is needed ahead of time.

I'll put together Food & Nutrition packets for you to pick up when you pick up your poultry packets (for those who are doing these two projects).

First Zoom will be January 7, check the calendar.