4-H News in Washington County – June 2018

June 14, 2018 4-H News

Volume 13, Issue 6

Dates to Remember

June 22- 23: 4-H Downeast Dog Show, Princeton

June 30: Animal Approval Forms Due

June 30: July 7– CWF

July 4: Office Closed due to Independence Day Holiday

July 20-22: Maine 4-H Days at the Windsor Fair

September 1: Maine 4-H Foundation Photo Contest Deadline

September 14: Washington County 4-H Photo Contest Deadline

4-H Summer of Science

Will it Work?
A Summer of Solving Maine Challenges Using Engineer Design Process

In five Washington County communities: Calais, Jonesport, Lubec, Machias, Princeton

What is 4-H Summer of Science? It is a series of weekly STEM activities for kids in grades 3-7. In the 2018 activities, kids will be tasked with building a virtual structure on a Maine island. The kids will have to use the Engineer Design Process to confront real world challenges for residents on an island.

Lessons are delivered once a week, for six weeks. 4-H staff or volunteers conduct the activity with groups of 5-10 kids. Supplies and instructors are provided by UMaine 4-H.

What are the 4-H Summer of Science activities for 2018?

  • Week 1: Will it Fly? Aerospace engineering
  • Week 2: Will it Float? Marine engineering
  • Week 3: Will it Lift? Mechanical Engineering
  • Week 4: Will it Stand? Civil Engineering
  • Week 5: Will it Light? Electrical engineering
  • Week 6: Will it Flow? Environmental engineering

For more information or to enroll in a session for 4-H Summer of Science, contact Tara Wood: tara.a.wood@maine.edu or call 255.3345.

2018 4-H Photo Contest

You should have received an email about the 2018 4-H Photo Contest in Washington County! Deadline to submit photos to the Extension Office is Friday, September 14, 2018. There are five photo categories – you may enter one photo in each category. Full details can be found on the Washington County 4-H Photo Contest page at or call the office if you have any questions. Maine 4-H Foundation is also offering a photo contest with prizes (See State News on page 7)!

Get out there and start snapping photos!

Photos from 2017:

2017 Photo Submission Photo contest submission

Going to Summer Camp? Scholarships Available 

With the help of scholarships, summer camp can become a reality for our youth. Be sure to check out all the great opportunities available to our 4-H youth at our UMaine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Tanglewood & Blueberry Cove as well as our Bryant Pond 4-H Camp by visiting the 4-H Camps and Learning Centers page.

Youth have the opportunity to receive multiple scholarships. The Maine 4-H Foundation offers scholarships, as do the camps themselves. There are also active duty military-family scholarships, camp financial-need based scholarships. We are also offering five $200 scholarships to Washington County youth thanks to the generosity of the Harmon Foundation. These will be given on a first come, first served basis. Please visit the Washington County 4-H Program website for the application.  Don’t wait until its too late… apply today!

For more information about the summer camps, check out these videos:

Follow a Researcher

What do green crabs, ducks, and parasites have in common? How do scientists make sure the data they collect is accurate? What is an invasive species, and how can they be identified? Maine 4-H invites youth to explore the science of tracking invasive species with its Follow a Researcher® program. Follow UMaine graduate student Tyler Van Kirk and his research on green crabs, an invasive species found along the coast of Maine. Students and educators can follow his data collection trips in real-time with an online map and try an experiential learning activity that shows why data collection methods matter. Live updates will happen weekly via Twitter. You can follow along and sign up for updates/announcements on the Cooperative Extension: Follow a Researcher® website.

Animal Approval Forms

If you plan to show an animal in any 4-H classes this year, including at the Blue Hill Fair, you must submit an Approval Form for 4-H Animal Shows (PDF) by June 30, 2018. Small pets and Poultry are the only exceptions, all other animals (Horse, Beef, Sheep, Goat, Swine, etc.) are required to have an animal approval form.

Perry Harvest Fair

The Perry Harvest Fair is generally held the first Saturday in October. This is a great time to be thinking ahead about the types of projects you would like to enter this year!

Jonesboro Elementary STEM SPIN Club

Participant at Jonesboro STEM SPIN Club explores an owl pellet.Sending out a big thank you to the Jonesboro Elementary School for inviting STEM Guides, Kyle Winslow and Sandy Copel-Parsons from 4-H to lead STEM after-school activities with the students. Constructing a worm habitat while learning about Vermiculture, exploring owl pellets, studying rocks and minerals were some of the topics explored.  STEM 4-H Spin Clubs rock!

Washington County Program Honored in National Showcase about Science Education

High school and elementary students, as well as afterschool educators from Harrington to Machiasport, are all featured in a Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance’s [MMSA] video recognized as a “Facilitator’s Choice” winner in the national “STEM for All Video Showcase”.

Now in its fourth year, this annual online video showcase features over 200 innovative projects aimed at improving STEM learning and teaching. Well-known researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners in education recognize a handful of these videos with the “Facilitator’s Choice” honor.

MMSA’s 2018 entry, entitled “STEM Guides: Connecting Rural Youth to Informal STEM,” describes efforts Downeast to better connect middle and high school youth to fun and engaging out-of-school experiences in science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics.  Funded by the National Science Foundation, this Washington County video can be viewed on the 2018 Stem for All Video Showcase page.

Students participate in the science education.“Over five Maine regions in five years, we’ve learned a lot about connecting kids to really fun and interesting programs that engage them in science, tech, engineering, and math,” says Jan Mokros, Senior Research Scientist at MMSA and a co-principal investigator on this project. “Sharing it all with our Downeast partners on this national stage really is a wonderful way to give others a taste of what we all are doing and learning every day.”

Cooking with the Kids

Easy Rhubarb Pineapple Jam

Ingredients:
5 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
2½ cups sugar
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry flavor gelatin

Directions: In Dutch oven or large saucepan, combine rhubarb, sugar, pineapple; mix well. Bring to a boil and boil 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add package of gelatin and mix well.

Pour into clean, hot sterilized ½-pint jars and add lids and covers leaving ½ inch headspace. Can be frozen, stored in the refrigerator for 1 month, or processed in a hot water bath for 10 minutes and kept for several months in a dark, cool place.

Taken from Somerset County Cooperative Extension 4-H Footnotes

Pre-Fair News

By Christy Fitzpatrick, Former Aroostook County Extension Educator

Fair time will be here before we know it. It’s time to start getting ourselves and our animals ready to go!

Am I Ready for Fair?

Have I thought about how I will use my Fair experience in the future? Am I responsible, respectful, trustworthy, fair, caring, and a good citizen?

  • How will I make sure that my animals are well taken care of during fair?
  • How will I support other 4-H members?
  • How can I show respect to 4-H volunteers, judges, fair staff and the public?
  • What can I do to make the fair the best experience possible for everyone attending?

Are my Exhibits Ready for Fair?

  • Is my project going to represent my best effort and my ongoing project work?
  • Have I read the requirements for the exhibit carefully?
  • Have I prepared a life skills wheel and an Exhibit Judging card ready for each exhibit?
  • How is my project record for my exhibits coming along?

Are My Animals Ready for Fair?

  • Am I doing everything necessary to make sure my animals will have a safe and stress-free fair?
  • Have all my animals that need an approved rabies vaccine, received it?
  • Have I checked with my vet to see what other vaccinations my animals might need?
  • Am I working with my animal EVERY day to make sure it is ready to be shown?
  • Are my forms all collected in a notebook including my animal approval and lease forms, vaccination and other immunization forms and registration papers?

Here are Some More Tips to Help Get Your Animals Ready for Fair:

  • Start preparing animals 30-60 days before fair. Get them used to as many fair conditions as possible including noise, being tied or confined, being with other animals, being around strangers. Start them on the same feeding schedule they will be on at the fair.
  • To make sure animals drink enough during fair, add a little molasses or a few drops of lemon juice to their drinking water to cover up the taste about 2 weeks before fair. Then add it to the water at the fair.
  • If hooves need to be trimmed, do this 2-3 weeks before fair so they will have time to toughen.
  • If you are raising a market animal, make sure that you are aware of withdrawal times for anything you put into or on your animal. Make sure you have accurate records. Remember that your animal will be processed either during or after fair and that you are responsible for ensuring that your buyer has a safe product!
  • Make sure the trailer you are using is clean and disinfected.

4-H News from the State

Maine 4-H Days

Maine 4-H Days will take place July 20 – 22, 2018 at the Windsor Fairgrounds. If you do not have online access, please contact your local county office for paper copies of the forms. Find information and registration materials on the Maine 4-H Days page. Registration opens on June 1st. For more information or with any questions, please contact Sarah Sparks at sarah.sparks@maine.edu or 207.353.5550.

4-H Summer Camp Programs, Register Now!

Registration is open for summer programs at the UMaine 4-H Centers at Blueberry Cove, Bryant Pond, and Tanglewood for youth ages 8-17. Camps start up June 24 and run through August 18 with week-long, two-week, and mini-camp sessions to fit your needs. Campers shape their experience through activity choice (STEM, swimming, archery, gardening, watershed and marine ecology, creative arts, boating, drama, group challenge, and primitive skills), on adventures and trips, eating delicious home-cooked meals, and in wicked evening programs. Teen Leadership Programs build conscious young adults, through teamwork and community stewardship, and teach canoeing/backpacking skills while exploring Maine’s beautiful woods and waterways. Special scholarships for 4-H youth from the Maine 4-H Foundation and some scholarships for Conservation Education camps through Inland Fisheries and Wildlife at Tanglewood and Bryant Pond. To learn more visit the 4-H Camps and Learning Centers page or contact your local office. Washington County Scholarships are available!

2018 American Goat Federation Youth Scholarship Program

To encourage education and development of youth involved in the goat industry, AGF will accept scholarship applications from qualifying youth who enter and complete all requirements of the program. Projects must be received at the AGF office by August 20, 2018, and the Scholarship Application accompanied by a short biography must be received at the office No Later Than 30 days prior to August 20, 2018. Entries will be judged by an independent panel and winners will be announced September 2018. Applicants must be between the ages of 12 and 20, and under the age of 21 as of September 30, 2017. Applicants must be a member of the American Goat Federation, the child, grandchild, great-grandchild or stepchild, step grandchild or step great grandchild of a member of the American Goat Federation, or of any of the following member organizations of the American Goat Federation.

  • The American Boer Goat Association (including Jr. Association)
  • The American Dairy Goat Association
  • Alabama Meat Goat and Sheep Producers Association
  • Cashmere Goat Association
  • Texas Sheep and Goat Breeders Association

For more information visit the American Goat Federation website.

Oxford County 4-H June Jamboree

Oxford County 4-H June Jamboree Livestock Clinic, Working Steer and Horse Clinic is being held June 8 through June 10 at the Fryeburg Fair Grounds, 1154 Main Street, Fryeburg Maine. Workshops are designed for youth completing project work in the areas of sheep, swine, working steer and horse. Horseless riders are also welcome. Rabies vaccines will be available. A Big E Try Out for Working Steer is being held Sunday Morning.

Workshops will include washing, clipping, showmanship, animal handling and learning activities around zoonotic disease.

There is a $20.00 registration fee for everyone attending. Camper space is available and meals will be provided starting with breakfast Saturday morning through lunch on Sunday. Check-in begins Friday evening after 5:00 p.m. For more information about Oxford County June Jamboree please email maisy.cyr@maine.edu or rebecca.mosley@maine.edu. This event is open to 4-H Families from all counties. Adults and youth must preregister online due to insurance regulations and help with meal and activity planning.

Check with your county office for the online registration link which will be available soon. Registration deadline is May 25.

Photo Contest!
From Susan Jennings, Maine 4-H Foundation

We know we make a huge difference in the lives of Maine youth through 4-H. I appreciate all of the hard work and dedication our 4-H staff makes across Maine. The Maine 4-H Foundation had a great year in 2017 raising over $748,000 in donations and investment income! A great deal of this funding was restricted to your programs! Good job! Our goal for 2018 is to continue to increase our support to 4-H programs across Maine. To make this happen the Maine 4-H Foundation needs to hear about your great programs and see youth in action! Becky Mosley suggested a statewide photo contest and the Foundation Board agreed! Photos make all of the difference! The Maine 4-H Foundation is pleased to announce a new youth, volunteer and staff photo contest. To win, submit as many photos (with photo releases) as you like to Susan Jennings by September 1, 2018. Photos need to be originals, have a photo release (for people in the photo) and include the copyright release from the photographer. They need to be digitally submitted to susan.jennings@maine.edu. Please add your name, email contact, age and photo release information.

Youth and Volunteer Prize(s):

  • Grand Prize for the Best Overall Photo: Something 4-H Awesome!
  • Prizes are Given in All Divisions: Youth age up to 8, 9-12, 13 and up, volunteers
  • 1st Prize: $100 gift card
  • 2nd Prize: $75 gift card
  • 3rd Prize: $50 gift card
  • Staff Prize: $500 on account at the Maine 4-H Foundation that you can use for a special 4-H program, event, workshop, conference or donor challenge.

Questions? Call Susan Jennings at 207.615.7300