Texas 4-H Congress

Texas 4-H Congress allows 4-H members to experience the law making process first hand by writing, submitting, and then serving as a member of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Press, or as a Lobbyist. From these roles, the 4-H members determine the fate of each bill submitted.

Costs

A select number of 4-H delegates will be allotted to each district, urban counties, Prairie View Cooperative Extension, and the 4-H Military Program. Contact the local county extension office in the Spring of 2016 for information on how to apply to attend.

Texas 4-H Congress Calendar

January, 2016          Bill submission opens
February 15, 2016   Lobbyist Application Opens
February 15, 2016   Press Corps Online Opens
March 31, 2016       Lobbyist Application closes
March 31, 2016       Press Corps Application closes
April 20, 2016         Press Corps and Lobbyist Notification
May 1, 2016            Online 4HConnect Registration opens 
May 20, 2016         Bill submission closes
May 31, 2016          Online Registration closes

Texas 4-H Horse Validation March 1st to May 1st

PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AS THERE ARE TWO SETS OF DIRECTIONS BASED ON IF YOU ARE VALIDATING A NEW HORSE FOR 2016 OR REACTIVATING A HORSE THAT WAS ENTERED LAST YEAR INTO 4-H CONNECT!
FOR THOSE ENTERING A NEW HORSE INTO 4-H CONNECT, BEFORE YOUR BEGIN YOUR VALIDATION PROCESS, YOU MUST:
• Have a family and youth member profile established on 4-H CONNECT
• Be an paid and ACTIVE youth member of Texas 4-H for the 2015-2016 year.
• For any horse which was NOT validated in 4-H CONNECT last year, have digital photos of your horse(s) from the front, left side, and right side. These photos must be accessible for upload during the validation process.
• For any registered horse that was NOT validated last year you will need to have a pdf copy of your horse(s) registration papers for upload.
IMPORTANT Horse Validation is completed for EACH HORSE and will cover all 4-H youth members in that family profile. However, when validating your horses on 4-H CONNECT, you will select ONLY ONE 4-H youth member to conduct the validation under. Once a horse is validated, validation paid, and you begin registering for district horse show, the validate horse(s) can be moved to the appropriate 4-H member(s) that will be exhibiting the horse in the show.

Texas 4-H Roundup Vet Camp

Veterinary Science Summer Camp The goal of the Texas 4-H Veterinary Science Camp is to provide experiential learning opportunities for students participating in the Veterinary Science Certification Program (VSCP). Students will learn and practice clinical skills on large and small animals, while under the supervision of a veterinarian. Students may earn 33 of the 78 skill hours required for the VSCP certification process.
• Cost: $150.00 (includes room, meals, materials, and Texas 4-H Roundup registration fee).
• Limited to the first 20 members who register. (Preference will be given to students participating in an organized veterinary science program.)
• Sign up through 4-H CONNECT under 2016 4-H Roundup (Sign up dates: April 15 − May 20, 2016)
• Open to 4-H members 11−18 years old who DID NOT attend last year.
• Drop off participants on Monday, June 6 and pick them up on Thursday, June 9 after the contest.
• Chaperones and transportation provided for all participants. Tentative Schedule Monday, June 6, 2016: 1:00 PM registration Thursday, June 9, 2016: 4-H Vet Science Skillathon (at 4-H Roundup) Parents or agents may pick up members at the conclusion of the contest (approximately 2:00 PM). Contact Dr. Joe Mask: joe.mask@ag.tamu.edu

Livestock / Animal Project TShirts in time for the County Fair!!!

Record Book Time!!

Record Books and Awards/Scholarship Applications –Deadline June 17th

June 18th might seem like a long time away but trust me, that day comes sooner than you know it.

Four record book workshops have been scheduled at the Extension office on:

May 19^th at 6:30 p.m. Introduction to record books Showgrounds

June 4^th from  9a.m. -12 Noon  at the Extension office Assistance with books

June 17^th by 5 pm Turn in Books and award applications for judging.

June 18^th is judging day.  If you would like to help judge please contact the office.

For more information or to download the WORD template go to: 
http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/recordbooks/

Kaufman County Junior Livestock Show Short Schedule

Kaufman County Junior Livestock Show—March 1-5, 2016

Come out to see the 4-H and FFA members show off their projects!!!  I heard a rumor that there is two concerts, a carnival and pony rides!!  A good Time to be Had by ALL!!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016

—8:00AM-8:00PM  - Talent Division Open for Viewing

—4 pm—Arrival Deadline and Weighing In for Shows

—Evening— Chip Murray Concert

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016

—9:00AM  - Broiler Show

—11:00AM  - Beef Heifer Show followed by

    the Dairy Heifer show

—4:00PM - Commercial Heifer Show

—4:00PM - Swine Show

—5:00PM - Rabbit Show

—8:00AM-8:00PM - Talent Division Open for Viewing

—Evening—Blue Grass Concert

FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016

—8:00AM - Dairy Goats in place

—8:00AM - Market Lamb Show, Breeding Sheep Show,

    Market Goat Show, Breeding Does Show

—2:00PM - Shop Judging

—6:00PM - Steer Show

8:00AM-7:00PM - Talent Division Open for Viewing
SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2016

—8:00AM  - Talent Division Open for Viewing

—12:00PM - Appreciation Bar B-Que

—2:00PM - Award Ceremony

—2:30PM  - Auction Begins

4-H Club Communications

County Event Deadline Dates

County Roundup for Educational Presentations, Food Show and Fashion Show entry deadline is February 12th. County Roundup will be on February 20th, at the County Showgrounds

Day of Round Up at the County Showgrounds

-Food Show -

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Food Show begins at 9:00 a.m. at the County Fairgrounds.

Educational Presentations, Fashion Show, and Story Boards

Registration begins at 10:30. With contest starting at 11 am

Share-The –Fun will follow Educational Presentations.

Registration begins at 10:30 am

Consumer Decision Making, AG ID, and Photography Judging contest will be held “At Will” so it will be perfect to try these contests while waiting for your other contests..

Shooting Sports – February 13^th

The shooting sports will be offering the new member safety meeting for the rifle discipline on February 13^th, 2016 at 2 pm at the fairgrounds in Kaufman.  You MUST RSVP to tell us you are coming so that we have enough supplies and instructors available.  Please call the 4-H Office to get on the training list.  You HAVE to go through a new member safety meeting before you are allowed to shoot with the group.

County Liners 4-H club is moving to a new place!!

Meetings will still be held on the 4^th Tuesday but will now meet in Terrell at the First Presbyterian Church, 834 Griffith St., Terrell, TX 75160.  

4-H Council News

Council News

Council Meeting

The next 4-H Council Meeting will be held Tuesday, February 16th, at the Kaufman County Extension Office at 6:30 pm. 

PROJECT “County Fair Clean UP”

Come join us on Saturday, February 13^th at 10 am to help clean up the fairgrounds.  Wear old clothes and bring gloves!!

Show Calf Success Clinic - Feb 11, 2016

Deadline to Sign up for County Roundup Feb 12th

February 12th is the deadline for County Roundup that will be held on February 20th. County Roundup Contests are Food Show, Fashion Show, Story Board, Educational Presentation, and Consumer Decision Making Contest. We held workshops back in January. IF you need help on the food show, fashion show, or story board contact Katie Phillips, CEA-FCS to schedule some time at the office. IF you need help with your Education Presentation contact Carrie Sharp, 4-H to schedule help with the Presentation.

More information to come in the newsletter.

Workshops this Saturday - Food Show Prep and Educational Presentations

On this Saturday we will be hosting from 9-12 a workshop on preparing for the county food show at the extension office. This will focus on the recipe choice, preparing for the interview and proper presentation of the dish. If you are interested in participating in the county 4-H food show please RSVP before 5 pm on Friday. If we do not get at least 5 participants we will need to cancel due to the amount of resources needed in preparing for the workshop.

Also on Saturday afternoon from 1-3 pm at the extension office several of the council officers and the 4-H agent will be giving a workshop on how to prepare an educational presentation. Please RSVP if you are coming so that the teen leaders can make arrangements for the program.

Online 4-H Recordbook Accounts Closing December 31st

If you were using the Online 4H Reporting system for the record books you will need to log in and retrieve your reports by December 31st.

4hreports.com – due to the site not being available in October for final data retrieval, the site will be kept live until December 31, 2015. Please note, however, there is a new url:http://blueuprising.com/4Hreports/index.aspx  

Please access this site only to download and retrieve existing data. Do NOT create new files. The site will cease to operate December 31, 2015. There will be no further extensions.

County Workshops

Clothing and Textile Workshop – Nov 21^st

Come join the council members and 4-H Clothing leaders for some fun with the Clothing and Textile Workshop on November 21^st from 1-5 pm at the extension office.

We will be making pillow cases to give to the children’s shelter, learn how to make neat towel animals, great snack and a demonstration on some of the district contests coming up. RSVP by November 17^th, to make sure we have enough supplies for everyone.

Food and Nutrition Workshops- Dec 12^th

Hold the dates for December 12^th from 9 am to 12 pm at the Extension Office for the Food and Nutrition Workshop. Katie Phillips, CEA-FCS will be teaching cost comparison, wet and dry measuring and some holiday cheer with baking sugar cookies and popcorn balls.  Please bring an apron or old shirt to wear in case we get to having a little too much fun!  Must RSVP by Tuesday, December 8th so that we can buy supplies for the day.

2016 County Fair Validation and Entry Night

Kaufman County 4-H will hold their County validation and County Fair entry night on December 17^th at the showgrounds.  We will be tagging in Goats, and Lambs and finalizing entries for the county fair. 

Market Goats and Market Lambs will be using the 2016 spring major tag for validation for the county fair.  Steers and Commercial Heifers have been validated and entered in November. 

Entry Forms will be loaded on the county website -

http://kaufman-tx.tamu.edu

Note a change this year will be making a check to the 4H Council instead of KCJLS.

District IV 4-H Photography Contest

DISTRICT IV 4-H PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

Schedule

-4-H Connect registration opens January 1, 2016

-4-H Connect registration closes midnight, January 31, 2016

-Judging will take place during the month of February

-Results will be emailed to County Extension Offices in March

-Awards will be distributed to County Extension Offices

Registration

Each participating member is required to register on 4-H Connect and pay the district contest registration fee.  When registering on 4-H Connect, you will be assessed a $10.00 fee when you select your first entry.  Subsequent entries are an additional $0.50 per photo.

Participation

Participants must be active 4-H members enrolled in a Texas 4-H and Youth Development county program in District IV.

Age

Age divisions are determined by a participant’s grade as of September 1 of the current 4-H year.  Age divisions for this contest are:

JUNIOR – 3^RD (minimum age of 8), 4TH, OR 5^TH

INTERMEDIATE – 6^TH, 7^TH, OR 8^TH

SENIOR – 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, or 12^th (maximum age of 18)

Photo Categories

4-H Projects

Farm & Ranch

Food

Leading Lines

Panorama

Shadow/Silhouette (now a combined category)

Water (any form)

Descriptions are outlined online at http://d44-h.tamu.edu/district-events/photography/.

Number of Entries

Each member may enter one photo per category for a maximum of 8 photos.  There are no limits on how many photos a county can enter.

Entry Process

All photos must be uploaded through 4-H Connect at the time of registration.  Please read the following submission rules carefully to avoid disqualification of entries.

Formatting the Photograph

Photographs should be taken at the highest resolution possible. Photographs must be in a .jpeg, .jpg, or .gif format.  Files submitted may not be larger than 2,048k (2MB). There is no minimum size requirement, however, your photograph must be large enough that it can be clearly evaluated for the contest (i.e. if it is too small, it can be disqualified).

Council News

Council Meeting

The next 4-H Council Meeting will be held Tuesday, November 17th, 6:30 pm at the Extension Office.  Bring canned food to help the Kaufman Christian Help Center.

Texas 4H website!!

The Texas 4H Website went under construction and came out brand new! But with construction if you save any links from the old site you may have to search for the new links.  We are working to fix the most used links on our County Website but it will take some time.  We are working on it  J

The New Year Begins

Club Meeting Schedule for the 2015-2016 4-H Year

·   STEM Club – December 3rd, 2015, (1^st Thursday of Month), meeting will be at the Kaufman County Show Grounds at 6:30 pm but the regular monthly meetings will be at the Extension Office. The Short Term Project Club focuses only on the STEM and Robotics projects.  Club Manager – Angela Pagel

·   Crandall 4-H – December 8th (2^nd Tuesday of Month), Crandall Community Room, 6:30 pm Community Club focusing on the total 4-H program.  Club Manager – Jennifer Hiser

·   Council –November 17th, (3^rd Tuesday of Month) and this month will be at the County Extension Office, 6:30 pm.  We will be bringing supplies for the County Liners meeting for their Community Service Project making Boxes for the ShelterKidz program and canned goods for the Christion Help Center collection.  For all 4-H Teen Leaders that are 13 – 18 years old.  This Youth Board teaches leadership and team building to teen leaders.  And assists with bringing all of the clubs together and keeping everyone in touch with the Kaufman County 4-H Program

·   Livestock Project Club – November 19^th  Showgrounds. 6:30 pm DOWN IN THE SHOW ARENA!!  ALL animal projects (rabbit, cattle, swine, lambs, goats, dairy and horses.) meet during this time.  We will be talking about entries for the county fair.  Bring your goats, lambs, heifers, rabbits, and steers for showmanship practice.  The youth then have a short meeting by dividing out to their specific projects for fun.

·   County Liners 4-H – November 24th, (4^th Tuesday of Month) County Showgrounds Women’s Building. 6:30 pm  Community Club focusing on the total 4-H Program. The County Liners meeting for their Community Service Project making Boxes for the ShelterKidz program.

Suggested items for boys and girls ages 3 to 14 include:  jumbo crayons, plastic animals/cars/toys (3”-5”), puzzles, small coloring/activity books, slinkys, hand-held games, card games, plastic watches, plastic jewelry, pocket calculators, small stuffed animals, soft balls, play-doh, bubbles, cheap sunglasses, musical toys. 

 December Meeting will be at the Stechers Barn.Club Managers – Vicki Stecher and Steve Rattan

District IV 4-H Photography Contest

CONTEST INFORMATION

Schedule

• 4-H Connect registration opens January 1, 2016
• 4-H Connect registration closes midnight, January 31, 2016
• Judging will take place during the month of February
• Results will be emailed to County Extension Offices in March
• Awards will be distributed to County Extension Offices

Registration

Each participating member is required to register on 4-H Connect and pay the district contest registration fee.  When registering on 4-H Connect, you will be assessed a $10.00 fee when you select your first entry.  Subsequent entries are an additional $0.50 per photo.

Participation

Participants must be active 4-H members enrolled in a Texas 4-H and Youth Development county program in District IV.

Age

Age divisions are determined by a participant’s grade as of September 1 of the current 4-H year.  Age divisions for this contest are:

Junior		3rd, 4th or 5th grade (minimum age of 8)
Intermediate		6th, 7th or 8th grade
Senior		9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade (maximum age of 18)

Photo Categories

• 4-H Projects
• Farm & Ranch
• Food
• Leading Lines
• Panorama
• Shadow/Silhouette (now a combined category)
• Water (any form)

Descriptions are outlined online at http://d44-h.tamu.edu/district-events/photography/.

Number of Entries

Each member may enter one photo per category for a maximum of 8 photos.  There are no limits on how many photos a county can enter.

Entry Process

All photos must be uploaded through 4-H Connect at the time of registration.  Please read the following submission rules carefully to avoid disqualification of entries.

Formatting the Photograph

Photographs should be taken at the highest resolution possible. Photographs must be in a .jpeg, .jpg, or .gif format.  Files submitted may not be larger than 2,048k (2MB). There is no minimum size requirement, however, your photograph must be large enough that it can be clearly evaluated for the contest (i.e. if it is too small, it can be disqualified).

2016 Texas 4-H Roundup Guide

The 2016 Texas 4-H Roundup Guide has been released.  You can download a copy of the guide at Texas4-h.tamu.edu/Roundup, as well as find contest resources as they become available.

Virtual Volunteer Conference: November 17th & 18th

The Texas 4-H Youth Development Program is hosting another Virtual Volunteer Conference on November 17th and 18th. A schedule for the online trainings is available at: http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/volunteer . All trainings will be held online via WebEx and will be recorded. There is no need for volunteers to pre-register, and there is no registration fee required to participate.  Volunteers will simply click on the appropriate link that corresponds with the training they want to attend, and they will be directed to the training.

4-H Classes Added to the Ft Worth Stock Llama Show

The Ft. Worth Stock Show has created four classes specific for 4-H and FFA youth at their 2016 Llama Show!  This is great news for 4-H youth that participate in the 4-H Llama Project.  To learn more, visit the Ft Worth Stock show website and/or review their premium book starting on p. 169.