Programming

Bored? Check Out Officer Books

Officer Books

Congratulations on being an officer in your 4-H club! You deserve a lot of credit for taking on the responsibility of keeping your club organized and moving it forward. Below are links to some publications and tools that you will find very helpful. Click on the ones that interest you, print them out, and continue playing an active role in your club. Good luck!

Were you lucky enough to be selected as a Leader for club? Selected and voted to become President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Recreation, Healthy Living, or Community Service? While your club may not be meeting for a while, Ohio 4-H has your back! New Officer Books can be found:

https://ohio4h.org/officerresources

 

Tell about what you like about your new officer books! What might be better if you had more resources for it?

Van Wert County 4-H Response to COVID-19

Dear 4-H Families, Volunteers and Supporters:

As you may be aware, The Ohio State University has announced the suspension of face-to-face instruction and the move to virtual instruction effective immediately through April 20, 2020.There will be evaluation whether they should continue in person beyond this time. Our primary concern is for the health and safety of all our people. Virtual meetings are encouraged.

Based on these guidelines, all 4-H Clubs must postpone/cancel all face-to-face meetings between now and April 20, 2020. The 4-H Enrollment deadline will be changed to May 1, 2020. In addition to all 4-H club meetings, the following list of 4-H events qualify as non-essential between now and April 20. Based on these guidelines, these non-essential activities must be postponed/ cancelled/ or held virtually. Examples include (this list is not exhaustive and subject to change at any notice):

  • 4-H committees, including advisory, saddle horse, endowment, etc.
  • Club kick-offs, open houses, etc.
  • Community service projects
  • Educational clinics
  • Events put on by advisory or county committees or clubs, including fundraisers
  • Fundraisers
  • Social events (egg hunts, square dances)
  • Teen leader groups

NOTE: Senior Fair Board will need to make the determination for fair-related committees.

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of viral illnesses is to minimize the circumstances in which individuals might interact and transmit the diseases. The safety of our community is our top priority. We realize that our COVID-19 policy guidelines will cause disruption, but the risk of not acting outweighs the inconvenience of these temporary measures. We will share updates as more information becomes available.

Please read through the following date changes and mark your calendar accordingly.

Schedule changes for the next 4 weeks:

4-H Enrollment Deadline will be Extended to May 1, 2020.

Postponed:

  • All 4-H Club Meetings, Field Trips, and committee meetings.
  • 4-H Leadership Night, Mar 12
  • SENIOR 4-H BANQUET- Mar 22
  • Swine Educational Clinic- Mar 29
  • Rabbit QA – Apr 4

Cancelled

  • Ambassadors Meetings 6:00pm Mondays
  • 4-H Camp Counselor Meetings for Mar 23, Mar 30, April 13
  • 4-H Endowment Board, Mar 16
  • 4-H Council, Mar 16
  • Scholarship Interviews, Mar 18

The best way to reach us is via email:

Heather Gottke, 4-H Educator, Gottke.4@osu.edu

Rachel Hoverman, 4-H Program Coordinator, Hoverman.22@osu.edu

 

Interviewing Teens for 4-H and Jr. Fair Opportunities

Who wants a serious picture for a serious blog post? Not me! 3 of our camp counselors!

Who wants a serious picture for a serious blog post? Not me! 3 of our camp counselors!

The strategy that I use for teen interviews allows for youth to show their strengths and talents through a variety of stations. They are part of a group interview process, problem-solving station, and finally give a brief presentation on an idea for a session/craft idea (camp counselors) or present their problem solving

I have found that with the introduction of Project Based Learning (or PBL as the kids call it) that many of the teens I interview are ready for my questions and inquiries. I interview youth for two specific opportunities, Jr. Fair Board and 4-H Camp Counselors. Below is a more in-depth description of how I do the interview for replication purposes.

For each of the three parts – I use this chart to help guide my grading process for them.

Grading Scale of Points PicturesRubric for Interview Activity and Session (PDF)

 

Part One: The Interview

I have found that conducting one-on-one interviews simply isn’t as effective as doing a group interview. I am interested in seeing how these youth interact with one another, communicate and develop a conversation. Through their project judging and special interviews they have plenty one-on-one experiences – so I choose this group method to watch them in action.

For the Camp Counselors and the Jr. Fair Board – I use the same questions – but allow for those helping interview to interject questions. We try to ask each group the same questions each time.

Here are the questions that we have been using. I am sure at some point the list has come from various places – but as this point the sources are unknown to me. So if you know the source – please share as I would be happy to give credit where credit is due.

Camp Counselor Interview Questions (PDF)

Part Two: Activity: Problem Solving and Planning

The second part of the interviews is the problem solving section. This is where we give each of the applicants a task to accomplish or problem to overcome together. For the Jr. Fair Board we kept it quite simple this year and asked them to plan an event or activity for the fair that would be fun! For the camp counselors I asked them to plan a full camp (100 kids for 2 hours) event using the big activity field. They also had to take in consideration costs, safety, and weather. This time was all theirs to plan – and we as adults use this time to watch them work. How do they interact with one another? How do they lead? Are they comfortable contributing?

 

Part Three: Session: Presentation of Ideas and/or Craft/Session Idea

Finally, I ask the Jr. Fair Board to present their problem solving ideas to the interviewing group. They explain what they are interested in doing, how much it may cost, and how they plan to accomplish that plan.

The 4-H Camp Counselors have a bit of a different presentation. They are asked to individually bring a session idea to present. It should be an activity for 9-15 year olds to do in a camp setting, last around 30-60 minutes, and something that youth would enjoy doing. Many of the applicants will bring their craft ideas, show the steps, and then the finished product. Other presentations have included ideas for sports to play at camp, activities using items at camp, or modifications of sessions done already to improve them.

 

The hardest part is the determining who we can accept for a current year’s board or camp counselor group – and who will need to wait for another year. I make a point to write notes on the letters and give written feedback to youth so they know how they can improve for the future – and so that their parents are also aware of how they can improve. This is hardest part for me as I hate telling anyone no!

I hope these guidelines help others in their interviewing process with youth.