Sioux County Newsletter

9/5 - Labor Day Office Closed

9/13 - 4-H Council Meeting

9/21 - Achievement Applications are due

4-H Week: October 2nd - October 8

10/4 - 4-H Week Game Night at 3:30 pm

Sioux County had seven 4-H members send exhibits down to the Nebraska State Fair. Their exhibits were judged on Wednesday, August 24th and then have been open for public viewing since Friday, August 26th. The exhibits will stay on display until September 5th. Below are the Sioux County results:

Abby Anderson - Wildlife Habitat - Blue

Abby Anderson - Insect Habitat - Purple

Abby Anderson - Entrepreneurship - Blue

Abby Anderson - Fairy Garden - Red

Baxter Reece - Shopping in Style - Blue

Becca Reece - Recipe File - Red

Becca Reece - STEAM 2 Skirt - Purple

Becca Reece - STEAM 2 - Upcycled Clothing Accessory - Blue

Becca Reece - Beyond the Needle decorated jacket - Blue

Becca Reece - Shopping in Style Clothing Kit - Blue

Becca Reece - Large Quilt - Blue

Becca Reece - Range Management Book - Purple

Boone Button - Creative Techniques photo - Purple

Boone Button - Nebraska Life Exhibit - Blue

Boone Button - Original Pencil Drawing - Blue

Chisum Pelster - Banana Bread - Purple

Jaime Turbiville - Still Life Photo - Red

Tilton Button - Insect Habitat - Blue

To review more results visit https://nebraska4hresults.com/. Congratulations to all the Sioux County exhibitors. Exhibits will be returned to the Sioux County Office by Thursday, September 8th.

The end of the 4-H year is a great time to recognize everyone who when above and beyond during the year to help and support the Sioux County 4-H program. At the Annual Fun Feed, we will be celebrating the 4-H year and honoring those individuals. If you have suggestions of who should receive these awards, please email your nominations to Melissa Mracek. Along with their name please submit a brief paragraph of why you are recommending them along with the award you are nominating them for. Please submit this information by September 30th to mmracek2@unl.edu. ·

• National Leadership Award: (Formerly I Dare You award) is open to youth ages 15–18 who have completed their freshman year in high school and show outstanding qualities in servant leadership. Award recipients receive a personalized award certificate, a copy of William H. Danforth’s classic motivational book I Dare You! and are eligible to apply for the “I Dare You” Scholarship.
• Outstanding Business - A business that really goes all out for 4-H. They may be a major sponsor for awards or just always donating time, energy or their employees to help the 4-H program succeed.
• Heart of 4-H - “I pledge my heart to greater loyalty…” This award is designed to recognize that special someone who goes out of their way time and time again to ‘make the best better’. A great way to say thank you to someone who truly is the heart of 4-H in Dawes County.
• 4-H Alumni - A 4-H Alumni who has continued to be a contributing member of 4-H in Sioux County. If you have questions about whether or not a leader or volunteer is an alum, please contact the office.

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.

Each application will be judged individually for award pins (could possibly receive up to 3 pins). There will be awards for "Outstanding 4-H Achievement Application" for junior and senior age divisions. All ages are only allowed to apply for 3 program areas that need to be designated on the Award Entry sheet.

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 21st. Award Entry forms are attached below and example Applications are at the bottom of the newsletter.

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.

Deadline to submit Diamond Clover is September 21. 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.

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.

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. Visit the website below for more information.

Sioux County 4-H is listed as a charity Amazon will donate to if customers utilize smile.amazon when making purchases. On your account you will designate the charity you would like to donate to. Smile.amazon behaves the exact same way as Amazon does but it also donates to the charity of your choice without changing your payment.

The first week in October is always set aside for National 4-H Week. From October 2-8, plan to celebrate National 4-H Week! Sioux County plans to celebrate National 4-H Week with a game night on Tuesday, October 4th starting at 3:30 pm after school. More details will be coming soon!

Ideas could include wearing 4-H attire to school, decorating a store window, putting up flyers to promote 4-H, taking baked goods to a neighbor or sponsor, visiting the nursing home or sharing time with someone, sending a thank you, stepping up to help a person in need and more. There are many things you can do to show your leadership skills and promote the value of 4-H.

The current 4-H fiscal year will end on September 30, 2022 and the new 4-H Enrollment for the 2022-2023 4-H year will open around October 17th.

Please make sure to keep this on your radar and get enrolled in 4-H for the new year starting in October! Deadline for 4-H Enrollment will be June 15, 2023.

Email: mmracek2@unl.edu
Website: go.unl.edu/siouxcofair
Location: PO Box 277 Harrison, NE 69346
Phone: (308) 668-2428
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLSiouxCounty