Forney Students Learn about Erosion and Water Conservation

Kaufman County 4-H in the Classroom Program Assistants are working with teachers to show students what erosion is all about. 4-H Program Assistants Lisa Nalls and Renee Word have been working with schools in the county traveling around with the Stream Trailer and the Rainfall Simulator.

So what is it that we are teaching? "First and foremost we want the student to understand the vital importance of trees, shrubs and other deep rooted native plants that they see daily in their close environment. These deep root networks are essential to allowing the stream banks to stand up to the cutting power of flowing water," explained by Carrie Sharp Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for 4-H and Youth Development, "But also how rain falls and how the environment we make today effects where the water goes." The 4-H PA's do this by helping students observe the actions that water has on land, buildings, different types of ground cover before making its way to the stream beds using the rain fall simulator. (Bottom Picture with Program Assistant Lisa Nalls.) Secondly, they demonstrate that streams never run straight and that it is unwise to cut across meanders by using the Stream Trailer from the North Texas Water Resource Institute. ( Top Picture with County Agent Carrie Sharp) Thirdly, they talk about floodplains – what they are and how they are beneficial as long as we have been wise enough to not build there.

All of this is done through demonstration for the student to watch and actually see the differences of the ground water and surface water in the run off from a lawn to the water run off from an area with no vegetation. The students can also see the effects from the stream trailer how the water in the streams moves and effects the erosion of the banks and where the sediment actually ends up.

If you would like to have this opportunity for your class or your youth group, contact the Carrie Sharp, 4-H and Youth Development County Agent at the Kaufman County Extension Office - 972-932-9069 to set up a visit with the 4-H in the Classroom Program Assistants.

4-H'ers move to the Outdoors!!

Forget Survivor ‐ this is the way outdoors were meant to be enjoyed, where teamwork and rugged determination are lauded and only the best are rewarded with the ultimate prize ‐ being recognized as the top outdoor team in Texas. Kaufman County 4-H Outdoor and Recreation project member are preparing for the Outdoor Challenge to be held in June of 2010. Just think you and a group of friends could compete in a series of contests to find the best overall outdoors people in the state. 4-H project members will be challenged physically and mentally.

The 4-H members working in teams of 2 will participate in a series of competitions that will test their knowledge in Rifle, Fishing, Archery, Shotgun, Canoeing, Swimming, Orienteering, Camping Skills, Outdoor Safety, and Wildlife Identification.

To prepare for this event the Kaufman County group of 21 heading to Purtis Creek where they spent the weekend in beautiful weather learning and honing their skills. There they took to the water canoeing, found three of the GPS Caches at Purtis Creek and learned how to cook in the outdoors.

The next trip will be to the coast during spring break. If you like the outdoors, come join the fun.

4-H'ers Show the Way

Kaufman County 4-H'ers competed in the District IV 4-H Roundup in TAMU- Commerce with their Educational Presentations. A 4-H educational presentation is a demonstration of a 4-H'ers knowledge and skills in a certain project area. It can be accomplished using props (method demonstration), posters or media presentations (illustrated talk), or it can be you just speaking and convincing, or simply educating, with words alone (public speaking).

Kristen Woods, presented an educational presentation with her new puppy on their first visit to the vet in the junior companion animal division. She placed second at district. Curtis Joles, talked about how to transplant trees for your landscape in the Junior Natural Resources division. He also placed 2nd at district.

For more information on developing an educational presentation or the 4-H Program, contact the Kaufman County Extension office at 972-932-9069

There more to Goats and Lambs than leading them around.

4-H Goat and Lamb project members had a special visit from Dr Dan Turner, Veterinarian from the Risinger Vet Clinic in Terrell, at their monthly project meeting. The members learned how to evaluate their projects for their daily health by learning how to take their temp, how they digest food, how to watch for signs of illness and also they got first hand experience on checking fecal samples for worm eggs.

Meat goat and the Market Lamb projects provide youth with opportunities to expand their knowledge of the industry, production and, more importantly, develop the life skills that are needed to be positive contributors to society. Through these 4-H projects youth learn about selection and evaluation, nutrition and feeding, health and daily care, reproduction, marketing, and much more. Youth learn to accept responsibility, to value hard work, think critically, make decisions, and communicate. In addition, there are several jackpot goat shows that youth can participate in to put on exhibition their meat goat project.

If you would like to participate in one of the workshops that the 4-H Project club is having or if you would like to know more call the Kaufman County Extension Office and talk to Carrie Sharp the Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for 4-H and Youth Development.

Something Tastey is going on in 4-H

Kaufman County kids are learning to cook and love eating what they cook even more. The 4-H Leader Pandora Feller and FCS agent Katie Phillips have been working with several outstanding youth to learn about the basics of food and nutrition.

The 4-H Food and Nutrition Project encourages youth to learn about nutrition by cooking. This hand-on approach is popular with children who prepare to learn by doing. For the Food Show, children prepared a dish at home and then brought it to the contest site. The children gave a brief presentation and were interviewed by a panel of judges. They were judged on their knowledge of nutrition, food safety and food project experiences.

New this year was the Food Challenge, inspired by competitive cooking shows, such as Iron Chef and The Next Food Network Star. Teams cooked a dish using only a list of ingredients. Part of the “challenge” was that they were not given the instructions on how to prepare the recipe. After preparing the dish, the team prepared a presentation, which included information on how they made the dish, cost and nutritional value.

Encouraging children to cook is a life skill that will serve them all their lives. Cooking can be part of family meal time, which has many benefits, according to Carrie Sharp, 4-H and Youth Development County Agent for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Kaufman County.

Research shows that children who sit down and eat with their families eat more nutritiously than those who don’t: they eat more fruits, vegetables and fiber and less soda and fried foods.

“Families who eat together also have more time and opportunities to communicate and build relationships and these children tend to perform better academically,” Sharp said.

Though you may think it is impossible to get the family together for meals because of busy schedules, the Texas AgriLife Extension offers these tips for making family meal time a ritual at your home:

• Start eating meals together as a family when your kids are young so it becomes a habit.

• Plan when you will eat together as a family.

• During the meal, focus on each other. Turn off the television and phone.

• Talk about fun and happy things and make meal time stress-free. This isn’t the time to nag about homework and chores.

• Encourage your child to try foods, but do not lecture or force your child to eat.

Menus don’t have to be time-consuming and elaborate. The whole point is to spend time with the family. Make quick cooking stir-fry, soups, or no-cook sandwiches and salads.

Katie Phillips, Family and Consumer Science County Agent for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Kaufman County has tips for doing some tasks for meal preparation before hand:

• Wash and cut vegetables or make a fruit salad the night before.

• Cook lean beef or turkey for spaghetti, tacos, or chili and store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

• Consider batch cooking, which can provide leftovers for lunch the next day or supper for two nights in a row.

Winners of the Kaufman County 4-H Food Show and qualifying for the District competition in January are:

Junior Division - Paige Salinas - Breads and Cereals, Jaci Pfeifer - Main Dish, and Emily Matthews - Nutritous Snacks.

Intermediate Division - Michelle Braddock - Main Dish

Senior Division - Hannah Feller - Main Dish

The Food Challenge Team representing Kaufman County will be Michelle Braddock, Paige Salinas, Jaci Pfeifer, and Emily Matthews. (Pictured working on their dish for the competition.)

For more information about the 4-H program or the nutrition and food classes for youths , contact Carrie Sharp, Kaufman County 4-H agent at 972-932-9069.

Annual Peanut Sales Start

The Annual Kaufman County 4-H Council Annual Peanut Sales kicked off this week and will run to November 30th, 2009. The proceeds enable the local 4-H Clubs to fund their 4-H projects and help with leadership scholarship for the 4-H Youth Council. Featuring In-shelled and shelled spanish peanuts, they also have an excellent supply of spiced peanuts. Please support your local 4-H Club and buy these quality Texas grown spanish peanuts. If you would like to order please call the Kaufman County Extension Office at 972-932-9069 and we will put you in touch with a club near you. Or you can email us at kaufman-tx@tamu.edu

4-H'er get to clicking in the 4-H Photography project

Kaufman County 4-H members involved in the Photography project met at the 4-H office in the Farm Bureau education room to learn several points of their camera. Learning about the different modes their cameras offer to take better pictures sent them out onto the grounds to try out their new tips and techniques. Project Leaders Debbie Wold with Teen Leaders Catlyn Wold, Lisa Roberts, and Lynsey Culp helped the members find different perspectives in their photo hunt.

4-H'ers Get Ready to Camp

As never before, today’s youth face an ever-increasing disassociation with natural areas and its resources.With the urbanization, educational priorities, family structure, culture, priorities, values, and beliefs, this leads to many youth never having the opportunity to experience the outdoors. Kaufman County has a new club that brings all of that and more together in the Outdoor Recreation Project. This month 4-H member learned how to put up their tent and started planning a camping trip for November. The goal is to get the youth ready to compete in the Texas 4-H Outdoor Challenge in July. To participate in the Texas 4-H Outdoor Challenge, youth will have to be proficient in: Shooting, Sports (rifle, shotgun, and archery), Sportfishing, Swimming,Canoeing,Camping/Outdoor Living Skills,Orienteering,Identification of Wildlife and Natural Resources, Outdoor Safety,Teamwork, and Decision-making. Working in team of 4 the youth will be judged in each one of the events listed. Pictured is the 4-H members learning how to put up a tent as a team. Teen Leaders Cassie Boyd (in the back) and Dacota Taylor (3rd from Right) help the junior team member get the task done.

New Vet Science Club starts the year.

Under the guidance of the new 4-H Leader Gay Fowler and Mary Free 4-H members start a new venture in Kaufman County. The 4-H Veterinary Science Project gives youth interested in veterinary medicine opportunities to look at the different career opportunities so students can determine if this is a field they would like to pursue. By getting hands on experiences with basic knowledge and skills they learn that are expected of a veterinary assistant. It allows for youth to develop an interest in veterinary medicine, human medicine and other allied health fields. The project club has already visited the Lone Star Race Track in Arlington to get a behind the scene look. Pictured is the Junior and Intermediate 4-H'ers getting ready to try out their new found skills.

4-H Youth Council Attend District Meeting

Representatives from the Kaufman County 4-H Youth Council attended the District IV 4-H Council held at the Dallas Research and Extension Center. The meeting brought representatives from the surrounding 22 counties 4-H Youth Councils. Training on Leadership and Teamwork was the main focus of the meeting. Pictured Left to Right from the Kaufman County 4-H Youth Council is Kristen Starnes - Reporter, Dacota Taylor - Media Specialist, Kelvin Word - President, and Catlyn Wold - Secretary.

Kaufman 4-H'ers get Wrapped Up In 4-H

Kaufman 4-H club members have some fun at their first meeting. The Kaufman 4-H has a new club manager this year. Angel Pagel is a teacher in the Mesquite ISD and lives in Forney. The Kaufman 4-H meets on the second Tuesday of every month at the Kaufman Water Building on Hwy 34 north of Town. IF you want to have some fun...come join 4-H!!!

Criswell gets a visit from the Mobile Dairy

The Kaufman County 4-H in the Classroom hosted the Southwestern Dairymans' Mobile Dairy at Criswell Elementary in Forney. Students learned where milk comes from and how nutritious it is for them daily.

4-H'er take on the Food Challenge

Kaufman County 4-H Youth Council members learn how fun the 4-H Food Challenge can be. Fashioned much like the Iron Chef this new 4-H competition has the 4-H members learning how to cook up some new fun.

New 4-H Club Officers Start the Year

4-H club Officers from across Kaufman County representing 11 different clubs met to practice their parliamentary skills for the new 4-H Year. Kaufman County 4-H Agent and the County 4-H Youth Council ran the new officers through leadership and team building programs to prepare them for the up coming year.

Council Officer Offer tips in Giving the Club Reports

Senior 4-H members and County Council Officers Kelvin Word, Lynsey Culp, and Lisa Roberts came up with a new way to show new 4-H members on the proper way (or well how NOT to do) the club reports for the County Council monthly meeting.

Leaders, Parents and 4-H members agreed this was quite humerous and ... well yes ... maybe we need to work on the club reports in the council meeting : )

Junior Heifer Show Team Hits it Big at Fort Worth Stock Show

Congratulations to the Kaufman County Junior Heifer Show Team!!! They represented Kaufman County well at the Fort Worth Junior Livestock Show.

The biggest achievement came in the Junior Maine Anjou Show with Brittany Krueger bringing home the Overall Reserve Grand Champion with her Summer Junior Heifer. Pictured is Brittany recieving the honors from the Judge at the Fort Worth Stock Show.

In the Junior Angus Show, Clarrisa Perez showed her Fall Jr Heifer to a 1st, Brooke Adams with her Summer Jr Heifer - 2nd, Brooke Jones showing her Spring Jr Heifer was 5th and Hannah Stalhman exhibiting Sr Cow with calf was 3rd.

Showing in the Junior Hereford Show was Klee Walker with his Summer Jr Heifer where he was awarded a 1st

In the Junior Shorthorn Show, Justin Jenkins brought home the Division Champion for his Fall Junior Hfr, Hailey Hawes showing her Fall Jr Hfr was 15th, Cassidy Urive - Summer Jr Hfr - 5th
and Melissa Sleeper - Sr Heifer - 18th.

In the Junior Chiania show Gary Hawes, Jr recieved a 3rd for his Fall Junior Heifer Calf, Micheal Hawes recieved a 4th for his summer Heifer calf, Hailey Hawes was 2nd with her Spring Junior Heifer and TJ Graham was 5th with his Fall Heifer.

Kaufman County 4-H'ers Compete in County Roundup

4-H'ers from across Kaufman County traveled to the Kaufman County Farm Bureau Building in Kaufman to compete in the 4-H Roundup events on January 17th. Competing in Fashion Show, Food Show, Illustrated Talks and the Food Challenge 4-H'ers used their "Making the Best, Better" to its finest.

Starting off the County Roundup was the entertainment group from the Kaufman County 4-H Silver Spurs club. Lisa Roberts, Lynsey Culp, and Kelvin Word presented a Celebrate 4-H piece on how to give reports at the County Council meeting. Quite entertaining for the County Roundup Crowd.

In the Food Show, 4-H'ers had to cook a dish in either the Main Dish, Side Dish, Breads and Cereals or a Nutrious Snack. They presented their dish to judges and used their skills to explain why the dish in nutrious, how they prepared the dish, its nutrient content and their knowledge of the food guide pyramid. Participants in the Food Show were:

Trinti Corder - Clover Kid - Nut Snack, Reuben Stecher - Clover Kid - Nut Snack, Ashley Brewer - Main Dish - Jr - 1st, Isaac Stecher - Side Dish - Jr - 1st, Collin Corder - Main Dish - Int - 1st, Lynsey Culp - Breads - Sr - 1st and Hannah Feller - Main Dish - Sr - 1st.

The Illustrated Talks followed with 4-H members using their favorite 4-H projects to present to the judges in a 5-7 minute long illustrated talk. 4-H members stepping up to the challenge of the Illustrated Talks were:

Trinti Corder - Clover Kid - Promote 4-H, Isaac Stecher - Jr - Goat Project - 1st, Savannah Baugh - Jr - My Horse Sweetie - 1st, Collin Corder - Int - Benefits of Trees - 1st, Kelvin Word - Sr - Right to Bear Arms - 1st, Hannah Feller - Sr - Foods - 1st, and Catlyn Wold - Sr - Taking the Best Photo Shot - 1st

Competing the Buying Division for the Fashion Show was Brianna Moore and Lynsey Culp. Both senior girls qualified for District Competition. Lynsey competed in the Buying Specialty with her personally designed show shirt for the 4-H horse shows. Brianna Showed off her dress that she looked hard and wide for in the Buying Dressy category.

New to the contest this year was the Food Challenge. Taking the challenge was the Scurry Rosser 4-H team. Emily Brewer, Erin West, Logan Acevedo, Kaylie Sutton stepped up to prepare a dish from scratch and then present it to the judge. Using only ingredients gave to them (and no recipe) the girls came up with a tasty chicken pot pie for the judges to taste.

Pictured Top Left is the Food Challenge Team from Scurry Rooser 4-H and on the right is the Senior 4-H'ers qualified for District Competition. Catlyn Wold (Food Show Photography and Illustrated Talks), Hannah Feller (Food Show Photography, Food Show, and Illustrated Talks), Brianna Moore (Food Show, and Fashion Show), and Lynsey Culp (Food Show Photography, Food Show, Fashion Show and Illustrated Talks)

New "Robin Hood" from the Southern Draw

Will Sisson, from the Southern Draw 4-H Club got his first Robin Hood. A Robin Hood is achieved when the archer impails an arrow from a previous shot. Way to go Will!!!!