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Tuesday News Submission Deadline
--Tiffany Boswell
Please send Tuesday News submissions by Friday of each week to me at tiffany_boswell@wsu.edu. Submissions received after Friday will not appear in the following weeks Tuesday News.
State Qualifying Livestock and Dairy Judging Contest
--Jeanette Cornwall
All counties are welcome to join Stevens County on April 14 to have a Meat n' Good Time. This is a 4-H State Qualifying Livestock and Dairy Judging Contest. You can find an informational flyer on the Stevens County web page.
Afterschool Care Providers Training
--Janet Edwards
The Washington Afterschool Association is sponsoring a Leadership Conference for Afterschool Program staff on April 16-17 at Campbell 's Resort in Chelan. The annual training event offers three tracks for directors, supervisors and lead staff. Each workshop fulfills 10 hours of STARS Administration credit. Please share this opportunity with Afterschool Program providers in your area. Feel free to contact me at edwardsj@wsu.edu if you have questions.
Youth Leadership Opportunity in Science
--Janet Edwards
National 4-H Headquarters is moving forward with plans to increase our 4-H focus in the areas of science, engineering and technology (SET). A team from each state will attend a planning meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, June 5-7. We are requesting nominations from you to identify a youth to be a member of our Washington team. Most expenses for the meeting will be covered by National 4-H Council. This is your opportunity to nominate a teen 15 years or older to contribute to this leadership team. The team will attend the conference and then take the lead on implementing local strategies to focus on SET opportunities for Washington 4-H members. Please complete the brief nomination form and send it to me no later than April 25.
Nomination (Word)
Nomination (PDF)
4-H License Plate Signature Collection Moves to the Fast Lane!
--Tony Dell
Efforts to create the Washington State 4-H Special License Plate are moving into the Fast Lane and they're picking up speed! From Aberdeen to Zillah, from north to south and east to west, 4-H'ers are spreading the word and collecting signatures – paving the way for Green 4-H Pride to become the latest “Road Rage!”
Information on the 4-H Special License Plate is available at the Washington State 4-H Foundation License Plate web page at http://4h.wsu.edu/foundation/licenseplate.htm. Signature sheets are available at http://4h.wsu.edu/foundation/secondary/LicPlateSig4-H.pdf.
Signatures are being collected through May 1st, but completed signature sheets can be returned at any time – and now, there's a great reason to send your signature sheets!
CASH AWARDS!
The Washington State 4-H Foundation is offering the following cash incentives for signature collectors!
- $100.00 to the first ten counties to return 100 signatures!
- $500.00 to the county that returns the most signatures!
• Payable to the recipient county's Leaders Council or 4-H Foundation Account, as applicable.
Return your signature sheets to Tony Dell at the Washington State 4-H Foundation, 7612 Pioneer Way E, Puyallup, WA 98371-4998. Put a sticky note on the form, or use your county office envelope so your signature forms can be tracked.
Thank you for your efforts to support the License Plate project. An update on signature collection will appear in a future edition of Tuesday News. We look forward to receiving a “Bumper” crop!
2007 State 4-H Forum Workshop Proposals Due May
--Jan Hiller
The 2007 State 4-H Forum will be held October 19-21 at the TRAC/Holiday Inn Express in Pasco. You will find the Call for Workshop Proposals Description and Response Form at http://4-h.wsu.edu/conferences/Forum/index.htm. Please share these 2 pages with 4-H volunteers, faculty/staff, administrators and youth who are interested in providing quality educational workshops at this year's State 4-H Forum. Proposals are due by May 1. Contact Jan Hiller, hillerj@wsu.edu or Vicki Contini, vcontini@co.franklin.wa.us, if you have questions.
Plans Are Underway For Teen Conference This Summer!
--Jan Klein
"Fast Track to your Future" June 24-26, WSU-Pullman
You will be seeing more and more information weekly, leading up to registration in May and the event in June. Here's how you can help make this a conference one that will meet the needs of our teens statewide. Right now, there are two opportunities for youth to be involved with summer conference and to help them start thinking in that direction. I realize there is a short turn-a-round for each of the entries, but let's do what we can to get things moving.
Visit the Washington State University Extension 4-H Youth Development Program home page at http://4-h.wsu.edu/ for a link to more information.
CD2778 Use on a Mac
--Cindy Gauthier
At the Program Days a question came up about the use of the 4-H Publications and Projects CD (CD2778) and its use on Mac computers. I happen to have and use a Mac (with great amounts of love) and can answer this question. I can open and use the CD on my Mac!
After clicking on the CD icon on your desktop, the CD opens up into file format. Click on the "index.htm" folder which will open up the main page which looks like the cover of the printed hard copy of EM2778.
Ferry County 4-H SEW for 24
--Ann Fagerlie
Ferry County 4-H held the 4-H SEW for 24 event, March 23-24, 2007. The program began after school at 3 pm and ended the following afternoon at 3 pm. Extension staff and 4-H volunteer leaders lead fantastic workshops to enhance participant skills. Junior, Intermediate and Senior 4-H'ers who like to go fishing, camping, hiking, ATVing or other outdoor activities, were invited to register and participate in the 24-hour event, which had an outdoors theme.
Participants learned to sew outdoor gear, prepare safe easy-to-make and take meals, as well as learn skills in public speaking and judging. Guest speakers enhanced the theme of the event with outdoor preparedness and survival activities. The 4-H'ers camped out with sleeping bags in the carousel building of the county fairgrounds and enjoyed a popcorn snack and sharing funny camping stories into the wee hours of the night.
When parents arrived at 3 pm on Saturday, to take their child home, they were treated to the “Grand Finale”. The 4-H'ers prepared a short “public presentation” for their parents to show off their finished projects they had created with the adult guides by their side!
Getting Funded in a Gates/Buffet World - Grant Writing Workshop
--Pat BoyEs and Cheryl Rajcich
Do you know how to write a grant proposal that a business person would fund? Register now for “Getting Funded in a Fates/Buffet World” grant writing workshop.
Workshop we will cover:
- Developing the Proposal Idea
- Building Relationships with Funders
- Understanding RFP's
- Writing a Compelling Need Statement
- Defining Clear Goals and Objectives
- Developing Methods
- Preparing the Evaluation Component
- Developing Sustainability Strategies
- Preparing the Program Budget
- Writing the Organization Background
- Writing the Proposal Summary
- Grant Implementation, Administration, and Monitoring
- Evaluation and Close-Out
The PRI Associates are experienced business counselors and business owners who have also worked as nonprofit managers and grant reviewers and have written millions of dollars worth of successful grants. Join the PRI Associates for a workshop that will change your perspective on what it takes to write a successful grant proposal.
- Do you know how to identify granting organizations and treat them as a “customer” with wants, needs, and buying power?
- Can you differentiate between a "hand-out" and a "hand-up" project proposal?
- Are you able to quantify objective outcomes and impacts rather than monitoring and reporting activity?
- Do you know how to leverage resources and can you achieve a positive return on investment?
These are the business fundamentals that granting organizations now seek.
Date: April 24 and May 1, 2007 from 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Locations: Bellingham, Colville, Lacey, Longview, Moses Lake, Pullman, Renton, Spokane, Walla Walla, and Wenatchee
Price: $149, CEU's are available for an additional $5
For additional information or to register visit: http://www.emmps.wsu.edu/PRI/INDEX.html or contact Cheryl Rajcich at cherylr@wsu.edu or 509-335-2937.
Registrations must be received no later than April 10, 2007
Professional Development Listserv
--Pat BoyEs and Barbara Stone, National Program Leader, Professional Development
Spring is a time of growth and renewal. If you have not already done so, take time for your own professional growth and join the Professional Development listserv “Giving them our Best”. Please also forward the message to your colleagues as an invitation.
To subscribe to the listserv, please reply to this message and type “subscribe”.
The purpose of the listserv is to promote the professional growth and learning of youth development professionals that will increase program quality and lead to positive youth outcomes. The “Giving them our Best” listserv connects those who have an interest or responsibility for training, staff development or the professional development of youth development educators.
The Professional Development listserv is for generating and sharing knowledge, including:
- Standards and Competencies
- Professional Development and Training Resources
- Learning Delivery Systems
- Professional Advancement and Recognition
- Research and Evaluation Systems (related to professional development)
Please contribute to the listserv! To post a message, send an e-mail to: givingthemourbest@lyris.csrees.usda.gov .
You can ask questions, request training tools and resources, position announcements and encouraging participation in professional development strategies. You will benefit by getting help with your challenges, access to resources and expertise and a network for keeping abreast of staff development for youth development professionals.
National 4-H Workforce Study
--Pat BoyEs
Join us via Breeze and with your telephone to learn about the key findings and discuss implications from your point of view.
Understanding the 4-H Workforce: Staffing, Structures and Salaries presenter by Dr. Kirk Astroth, Director, 4-H Youth Development, Montana State University and facilitated by Barbara Stone, National 4-H Headquarters, CSREES/USDA on Wednesday, April 25, 3:00 - 4:30pm EST.
Kirk Astroth will discuss the results of a study recently conducted for National 4-H Headquarters on the 4-H workforce. The study, funded by National 4-H Council, provides baseline data about 4-H staffing structures and salary ranges across the United States . State Extension 4-H program leadership--from all 50 states--responded to the survey. It offers a compelling picture of our current workforce in 4-H and provides some significant recommendations as we strengthen our capacity as the largest youth development organization in the United States . Read the executive summary or full report on the National 4-H Headquarters website. Then join us in the discussion on April 25!
There is no charge to attend the online presentation, but you must register to participate. Space is limited to 25 sites/participants (more than one person can participate at a site). Once you register, you will receive instructions for how to sign on to enter the “Breeze” presentation and the conference call-in information. (The audio is accessible through a teleconference number so you do not need to have a microphone or other special equipment.) Join the session at 3:00-4:30 Eastern Time (2:00p CT, 1:00p MT, 12:00p PT, 9:00a HT).
Please reserve your space by sending an e-mail to Bianca Johnson bjohnson@csrees.usda.gov. Registration deadline is Wednesday, April 18.
4-H Families Count: Family Strengthening Awards
Pat BoyEs and Sharon Anderson, Special Consultant to the President & CEO
Greetings to you all! I hope you are having a good 2007. This message is to let you know that we are offering the 4-H Families Count: Family Strengthening Awards again in 2007. We are so pleased to be able to give these awards funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We will select 5 $15,000 awards that will be presented at the NAE4-HA conference in Atlanta, GA, the week of October 21, 2007. Remember, these are awards for outstanding programs that significantly involve families especially disadvantaged families. They also should focus at least in part on a rural audience. We have redefined rural for this awards program this year to include communities of 50,000 or less. We ask the winners to share their programs with at least five other groups across the country as a result of being selected for this honor.
This is the third year that we will be presenting these awards. The winners the past years have been from New Jersey (2), Oregon, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. So feel free to visit with your peers from those states for ideas and advice. I also would encourage you to visit with your program leaders in family and consumer sciences and your leaders for the EFNEP program in your state. Often there are very success efforts between those groups and the 4-H program.
The final applications for the awards are due at National 4-H Council on June 1, 2007. Selections are made by July 1. Each winning program will be notified and given an additional $1,200 to participate in the NAE4-HA conference. Prior to the sending the final application to Council, each program must have received the programs of distinction certification from National 4-H Headquarters. Dr. Suzanne LeMenestrel has provided positive leadership for this effort and is in fact hosting a Breeze session on March 5 at 1:00 pm ET to give more specifics on this program.
The website for the application is www.fourhcouncil.edu/4HFamiliesProgram.aspx.
I would encourage each of you to have at least one application from your state. Please share this with anyone in your state who has been working successfully with a youth and families effort. If you have any questions, please contact me or Gregg Tabachow at gtabachow@fourhcouncil.edu. We look forward to seeing great programs from each of you!
Call for Peer Reviewers in the Human Development/Youth Development/Family Studies Areas
--Pat BoyEs and Susan Welsh, Ph.D., R.D., National Program Leader, Nutrition Education
CSREES's National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants Program http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm maintains a database of potential grant reviewers. One of the research areas, “Human Nutrition and Obesity” (see announcement for 2007 below) is looking for more reviewers that have advanced degrees and research experience in human development, adolescent/youth/child development, and family studies. The process is time consuming requiring reading and writing reports which give constructive feedback on about 20 proposals and a week in Washington , DC on a multidisciplinary panel which will evaluate all the proposals received - usually 80-90. However, funding the best work is an important and, we think, gratifying job. If you are interested in contributing your time and expertise in this way, please send an e-mail message with your name, the name of your department, institution, organization, or business and area(s) of expertise (limit to 4 or 5 keywords) to newreviewer@csrees.usda.gov to be considered as a potential reviewer in the future. If you are interested in serving on the panel this year, please cc your information to Susan Welsh swelsh@csrees.usda.gov . This year, the panel will meet the week of October 29th.
31.5 Human Nutrition and Obesity
Investigators are encouraged to contact National Program Leader(s) Dr. Etta Saltos at (202-401-5178 or esaltos@csrees.usda.gov ) or Dr. Susan Welsh at (202-720-5544 or swelsh@csrees.usda.gov ) regarding questions about suitability of research topics and integrated activities. Proposed research project budgets must not exceed $500,000 (including indirect costs) and proposed integrated project budgets must not exceed $1.5 million (including indirect costs) for integrated projects for periods of 2-4 years. Budget requests over $1 million are expected to be multi-investigator and/or multi-institutional. Application budget requests must not exceed $500,000 for research projects and $1.5 million for integrated projects. Application requests that exceed the guideline limits will be returned to the applicant without review. The total amount of support available for this program will be approximately $10.5 million with approximately $9.5 million for integrated projects and $1 million for research projects. Program Deadline: Electronic applications must be submitted by 5:00 P.M., Eastern Time, June 5, 2007 .
Background
This crosscutting program addresses the complex problem of obesity prevention. Projects funded by this program are intended to lead to a better understanding of the behavioral and environmental factors that influence obesity and to the development and evaluation of effective interventions to prevent obesity. Obesity is the number one nutritional problem in America . Food is an integral part of the process that leads to obesity, and USDA has a unique responsibility for the food system in the United States .
To meet the identified needs of agriculture, the long-term (10-year) goals for this program are that: the behavioral and environmental factors that influence obesity will be sufficiently well understood to develop effective obesity prevention strategies; valid behavioral and environmental instruments for measuring progress in obesity prevention efforts will be available; and effective strategies for preventing overweight and obesity will be available. The ultimate goal of the program is to stem the rising tide of obesity.
The milestones toward reaching these long-term goals include: theories on how behavioral and environmental factors influence obesity will be in development; testing will be underway on the validity of behavioral and environmental measures for evaluating success in obesity prevention efforts; and testing will be underway on the effectiveness of strategies for preventing overweight and obesity.
FY 2007 Priorities for Integrated Activities
- Improve our understanding of the behavioral and community environment factors that influence obesity and use this new information to develop effective intervention strategies for preventing obesity; and
- Develop and implement behavioral and environmental instruments to measure progress in obesity prevention efforts.
Examples of potential study areas for factors influencing obesity are: social and psychological factors; the role of lifestyle; and the influence of economic factors and agricultural and public policy issues. We are particularly interested in the role of the family in preventing childhood overweight.
FY 2007 Priorities for Research
- Improve our understanding of the behavioral and community environment factors that influence obesity. Examples of priority focus areas for research are the same as for integrated projects; and
- Epidemiological studies related to these priorities may involve secondary analyses of large national databases.
Other Key Information - Research and Integrated Activities
- Integrated project proposals must include research, education, and extension/outreach objectives (at least two of three). In general, strong integrated projects will be stakeholder driven, issue focused, and outcome based. They will exhibit a collaborative team approach, will contain strong plans for project management and project evaluation, and will produce sustained education/extension initiatives. Please see Part V, B for the criteria that will be used to evaluate these proposals. Applicants are encouraged to see http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/integrated/integrated.html for an example of an integrated proposal and other grant-writing resources.
- The NRI encourages integrated projects that develop content suitable for delivery through eXtension. This content is for “end users” as opposed to staff development and must align with the eXtension Guiding Principles, Implementation Plan and other requirements as presented at http://about.extension.org/university-researcher/ . Funds may be used to contribute to an existing Community of Practice or to form a new Community of Practice as appropriate.
- Complex projects involving multiple institutions or functions should include a management plan that demonstrates that the project will be carried out efficiently.
- Because food is an integral part of the development of obesity, all projects should address some aspect of food from production to consumption.
- It is expected that most projects will be multidisciplinary because obesity is such a multifaceted problem. It is expected that the project team will have appropriate training and experience in the disciplines represented, especially nutrition.
- Graduate student participation in projects is encouraged.
- The development of effective instruments for assessing progress in preventing obesity may necessitate the development of new instruments or the modification and validation of existing ones related to food, physical activity, and the community environment. Intervention may target individuals, groups, market segments, or communities. Of special interest are population groups at increased risk for the development of obesity, such as children, racial and ethnic minorities, and those who are economically or educationally disadvantaged, such as those served by USDA's nutrition assistance and education programs. The rationale for the selection of a particular population group should be documented.
- Applications that focus on the use of functional foods to prevent obesity should consider submission to the Bioactive Food Components for Optimal Health program (31.0). Applications that focus on food processing or production related to energy balance should consider submission to the Improving Food Quality and Value program (71.1). Applications that focus primarily on medical therapies for disease should not be submitted to this program.
- If a project is funded, beginning in the first year of funding, the project director will be required to attend annual investigator meetings. Reasonable travel expenses should be included as part of the project budget.
Just a Reminder!
When you have new Extension staff that will be working in some capacity with 4-H, please let Nancy in the State 4-H Office know. They will be added to mailing lists, added to the 4-H Talk list serve, sent a 4-H Welcome Packet, and be assigned a state 4-H staff person as a point of contact, as appropriate. 4-H News is sent via the 4-H Talk list serve each week. Archived copies of previous weeks “Tuesday 4-H News” are available on the 4-H web site: http://4h.wsu.edu/. Please send submissions by Friday of each week to Tiffany Boswell, State 4-H Office, tiffany_boswell@wsu.edu. Detailed event information and registrations forms can be found on the 4-H web site.