Ravalli County 4-H January 2021

Ravalli County 4-H

Newsletter

January 2021

Happy New Year Ravalli County 4-H Families! I hope you are looking forward to 2021 and finding creative ways to be involved with your 4-H clubs and projects.

The start of the new year is a great time to reflect on your previous year, and look ahead to the new year and start setting your goals. Take a look at your record sheets, you will notice that both the “My 4-H Year” record and your “Animal Record” or “non-animal Record” require goals to be set. This means that you need to set goals for your club work and your projects. If you do not have your record sheets yet, now is a great time to get them! Find your record sheets here.

Why are goals important? It helps keep us intentional about how we spend our time. It helps us focus and stay productive in whatever the goal is about. A strategy used to help create useful and meaningful goals is called “setting S.M.A.R.T goals”.

A SMART Goal is:

S= Specific. Not too broad or open-ended. It has a specific target and outcome.

M= Measurable. Attach a number or something you can measure in your goal.

A= Attainable. Make it a reasonable goal. Know yourself and your abilities, and set a goal you can achieve.

R= Relevant. Make it something important to you and your life mission.

T= Time. Set an end point to achieve it by.

Example of a SMART goal for club work:

“My goal for the 2021 4-H year is to improve my leadership skills (specific). I will achieve my goal by running and holding the club secretary position (measureable). I want to start with secretary because it requires less public speaking than president but I still have responsibilities with leading the meeting (attainable). Part of being an effective leader is having good communication, so becoming secretary will build my confidence in communicating to a group (relevant). I will achieve my goal by our August Club meeting.”

In your records, you are asked to reflect on your goals at the end of the year. Think about what you learned while accomplishing your goals, what went different than you expected, and how you will apply your learning to future goals.

Start 2021 with defining your goals and by the end of the year, reflect on how much you have learned and grown! I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised and encouraged to keep learning and growing!

Sincerely,

Annie Bauer

Upcoming Dates

January 9 Beef weigh-in 8 AM 12 PM Sutherlin Farms

January 12 Horse committee meeting 6:00 Extension Meeting Room

January 15 Bred Dairy Heifer Deadline

January 18Advisory council meeting 6:30 Extension Meeting Room & Webex

January 19Legislative breakfast (virtual) 6:15 am-7:30 am zoom

January 19 Citizenship Seminar session 1 6-8 PM via zoom.

January 26 Citizenship Seminar session 2 6-8 PM via zoom

February 2 Citizenship Seminar session 3 6-8 PM via zoom

February 9 Citizenship Seminar session 4 6-8 PM via zoom

February 1 People Partner Grant Applications due to Montana 4-H Foundation

February 9 Livestock Committee Meeting Victor Weed District Conference Room 7:00 PM, - (131 S. Tudor St. (old Victor Fire Hall)

February 12 Camp Counselor Applications Due

March 1New member enrollment deadline

April 1 Montana 4- H Foundation Scholarships applications due

May 1 Ravalli County 4-H Carnival 2021

New Member and Leader

Enrollment Reminder

Important Date: March 1

New members can sign up by March 1 and still participate with fair.

Members can drop/add projects for fair eligibility up until May 1.

Leaders must be re-enrolled prior to volunteering

Volunteer Vacancies

Livestock Sale Administrator
Small animal sale coordinator
Teen Leadership Leader
Air pistol/ air rifle leader

Contact the Extension office to learn more about any of the above listed positions, or if you or someone you know may be interested!

Beef Weigh in information

An email and mailed letter was sent on 12/11/2020 to all past beef participants and newly enrolled beef participants. Please make sure the sheets included with the correspondence are completely filled out when you come to weigh in!

Also remember to bring with you:

-$2.00 /head for the brand inspection and Beef Council.

-Cash Donation for the Sutherland Farms and the Brand Inspector (used to purchase thank you gift cards)

Bred Dairy Heifer Project Information

Bred Dairy Heifer – 2 years old: Must send or email Bred Dairy Heifer Project Form plus three heifer identification pictures to Extension Office by January 15 to participate in livestock. Questions? Contact Jen Holmes, Dairy Superintendent, 642- 9717, lifelineFarm@msn.com.

Project Meetings

Dog Project

Module 2 (Rally Obedience) will start on Thursday January 7th

Time: 5:30 pm

Location: Fairgrounds Floral Bldg unless the weather is too cold.

Please contact Nicki Arndt positivechangesllc@yahoo.com with any questions.

Plumber Needed! Are you willing to donate some time to help get heat into the fairground's floral building that is used for dog meetings?

thanks,

Nicki

Cowboy Poetry Meetings

It is not too late to get signed up for cowboy poetry! The program leader is Dominic “Flominic” Farrenkopf. All ages and abilities are welcome and encouraged to participate. Email Dominic at flominic@live.com if you would like to sign up for this fun and educational project!

Date: Second Thursday of the month starting January 14^th

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Extension Office Meeting Room

Cake Decorating Meetings

Third Tuesday and Wednesdays of the month starting January 19^th

Time: 6:30 PM

Location: Extension Office Meeting Room

Rabbit Project

Date: Thursday, January 21

Location: Ravalli County Weed District in Victor

Time: 6:30 PM

Contact: Katie 210-0814

Project Leaders

The listed County-Wide Project Meetings are currently available to members. If you would like to offer a project meeting that is open to all 4-H members, please contact our office with details!

4-H Summer Camp 2021

Seeking Counselors

Youth Director & Counselor Applications:

Due Friday, February 12, 2021

Who: Counselors (open to all youth 4-H Age 14 and up)

It’s time to start planning for the 2021 4-H Camp! This year’s 4-H Junior Camp dates are tentatively set for July, 12-16 at Loon Lake, Bigfork. Camp training and planning will take place on an evening night in March and an all-day retreat on the weekend in April.

Applications are available online at the Ravalli County 4-H website or can be completed here.

Chaperones: If you are interested in being a camp chaperone, it is strongly encouraged to attend the camp planning meetings.

Questions? Please contact Annie Bauer, MSU Extension Agent, abauer@rc.mt.gov or 375-6611

Teen Leadership Academy

Teen Leadership Academy

Virtually brought to you by the State 4-H Ambassador Team

Every Sunday from 2:30-3:30

Starting December 13

These trainings are geared towards teens who are interested in gaining useful leadership skills that they can bring back to their clubs, community, country, and world!

Join the first Montana 4-H Leadership Academy workshop on Sunday December 13th. The leadership academy is a network of Montana 4-H members interested in exploring and developing their own leadership skills while serving their county 4-H program in new ways.

Local county leadership groups will have an opportunity to join with groups from around the state as well as the Montana 4-H Ambassador Officer team, virtually and in person when possible, to work on skill building, planning and mentorship.

Each month the officer team members will be presenting a different workshop topic that they have found to be important as they have grown their own leadership abilities. This workshop can then be paired with a local county leadership meeting to work on county projects that serve our local 4-H program and community.

Learn More Here

Contact the Extension office if you are interested in attending!

Legislative Breakfast 2021

Virtual Breakfast with legislators via zoom

Dates and Times:

2:30PM – 3:30 PM Sunday January 17, 2021 Leadership Academy workshop focused on citizenship and talking with legislators. Anyone 12+ that wants more in-depth workshop on: Zoom etiquette, conversation starters, who are your legislators, 4-H talking points, and talking about your 4-H experiences.

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM Monday January 18, 2021 Introduction and practice/training meeting. Strongly encouraged for anyone attending the morning breakfast meeting

6:15 AM – 7:30 AM Tuesday January 19, 2021 “Breakfast” with Legislators hosted by Montanans for 4-H.

Who Can Join?

Any 4-H member or volunteer that would like to share with Montana legislators about the positive impact 4-H has on their own lives and their community.

Registration

Contact the Extension office for assistance with registering

Citizenship Seminar 2021

The 2021 Montana 4-H Citizenship Seminar will take place virtually using Zoom. Participants will interact with 4-H members from across the State as they study the many aspects of citizenship. They will learn how to write a bill and will be part of a “mock” legislature, acting as 4-H “Senators.” Bills will be debated in committees and on the 4-H Senate Floor.

When: The Seminar will be a 4-week program. It will start on Tuesday, January 19 and continue January 26, February 2 and 9. Each session will be at 6:00-8:30pm via Zoom.

Eligibility: 4-H members must be 13 years of age by October 1, 2020 and must NOT have attended Montana 4-H Citizenship Seminar previously.

Registration: Registration deadline is January 8, 2021. County offices must register youth using 4-H ZSuites. Please provide a current e-mail for member participating and a parent. E-mails will be used to send seminar information and the Zoom link for each session.

Bills: Every delegate is expected to sponsor one “bill” suitable for the mock 4-H Legislature. If a delegate already has a bill written it can be submitted electronically to Melody Harris at melody.marris@montana.edu by January 11, 2021. The bills will be reviewed and grouped by topic area prior to the event. If a delegate decides not to write a bill, they will have the opportunity to write a bill at the Seminar.

Forms: There are no additional forms required beside enrollment information, including waivers being complete in Zsuite.

Contact Melody Harris with questions at melody.harris@montana.edu or 406-256-2824.

People Partner Grants

Applications due February 1

Is there a project that can be done by 4-Hers, but you need some financial assistance to get it completed? The People Partner Grant can help! This grant is for 4-H groups or individuals wanting to enhance the quality of living for the people in their communities. Learn more here: http://montana4h.org/programs/grants/grants.html