I’m so excited to announce that the Campership Application for our 2018 Junior Camp is now available on our website!

Camperships (scholarships to assist youth in paying camp fees) are available to Muskingum County 4-H community club members through donations from local sponsors. Junior Camp is open to youth age 8 and in the third grade to age 13 as of January 1, 2018. These scholarships are provided through a generous donation from FruhQuip, Inc. and designed to help families with financial need send their children to camp. Priority is given to families with financial need, where children would not be able to attend camp without scholarship support. This includes families with multiple children who may be unable to send all siblings to camp due to cost, members from low-socio economic homes, and families who have extenuating financial circumstances.

If you’d like more information about Junior Camp, please visit our website or feel free to contact me with questions. This year’s camp is June 10-14 at 4-H Camp Ohio.

Download the application for more details!

Ohio State Fair Scholarship application and information is now available. There will also be an online application; however the website has not been updated with the 2018 scholarship information. Once it is, the website to find this info is https://ohiostatefair.com/scholarships/.

All applications must be postmarked by April 1, or completed online by that date.

For questions, please contact Stacey French at S.French@expo.ohio.gov.

As I was sitting in our 4-H project book room, the Beekeeping project book caught my eye. I’ve always been fascinated by bees. Perhaps because they produce one of my favorite sweet treats: honey. Or perhaps because their pollination efforts are crucial to our every day eating habits – pollinating about 1/3 of the crops we eat.

The Beekeeping project is a powerhouse of STEM activities hidden in hands-on hive work that teach youth how to keep records, communicate, and conduct experiments. Beginners with no experience don’t even need to own their own hive! Youth investigate a topic of interest such as bee development, pollen and nectar, or the history of beekeeping. Youth set learning goals such as attending a local beekeeping class, visiting a large beekeeping operation, or participating in a wax/honey judging contest to dive in deeper and learn more about these interesting insects.

The real home-run of this project is the work youth do in maintaining and observing their hive. Youth keep records on what bees are eating, what flowers are blooming in the area, predator damage to the hive, and identification and treatment of any parasites found. The equipment and supply inventory and income and expense records teach youth how to manage personal finances and make good decisions related to money.

This project does require the purchase of some equipment that your child will need when working with bees – at minimum (if you will be working with someone else’s bees) you’ll want to purchase a veil and gloves.

Don’t have bees? Don’t worry! Let us help connect you with local beekeepers who would love to help the first year of the project! Our 4-H enrollment deadline is less than one month away – don’t miss out on this (or any other) fascinating project!

Mrs. Stefanie

prevatt.2@osu.edu

New this year! I’m really excited about this opportunity to help youth have a great experience as a 4-H member.

4-H welcomes and encourages youth with special needs to participate in our programs and will make reasonable accommodations for these youth. The Winning 4-H Plan enables youth to tailor the 4-H experience to their needs and helps maintain a positive relationship between the youth’s family, county 4-H professionals, club volunteers and judges.

Youth must submit a Winning 4-H Plan Request Form to the Extension Office by March 15 at 4:30 p.m. I will review each request and contact families with questions as needed. In some cases, I may ask families to meet with me so I can gain a better understanding. Requests for accommodations are considered on a case-by-case basis. In the request, it is helpful if parents can share what accommodations are made in school or at home to help the child be successful. It is my goal to think about how we can adapt our current learning experiences to allow these members to participate in the same activities as other youth.

I will complete a Winning 4-H Plan Accommodation Form and send the completed document to the family to be stapled in the front cover of a youth’s project book(s). The information will also be shared with the club’s organizational volunteer so they can help the family have a good experience. When a member attends a judging event with a paper judging sheet, there is a place in the top corner to mark if the youth has a Winning 4-H Plan – that way, the judge will know to look for the Accomodation Form in the member’s book. I will share appropriate information with judges and volunteers to help facilitate the youth’s judging experience at Still Project Judging, Skillathon and Fair.

In the future, families will have the opportunity to update information annually.

Please feel free to let me know if you have questions.

Download the Winning 4-H Plan Request.

The Muskingum County Master Gardener Volunteers have provided funds for area teachers and youth leaders in the past eight years to utilize in teaching horticultural principles and practices Master Gardener Volunteers receive training through OSU Extension and then share
their knowledge with others in the community. These funds may help a teacher or youth leader enhance an existing project or provide some seed money for a new activity.

Check out the full details on this opportunity.

A youth welding workshop will be held at The Ohio State University in Columbus on April 14th, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. An informational flyer and registration form is available here: Youth Welding Workshop 2018

Cost to attend is $90.00 and registration is limited to the first 20 participants for each type of welding, oxy, and arc. Registration is due by March 30, 2018.

The Muskingum County Senior Fair Board has made a decision to reduce the number of days swine are on the fair grounds for the health and safety of the citizens of Muskingum County and the animals. The decision was made due to a recommendation from State Veterinarian, Dr. Tony Forshey.

The 2018 Muskingum County Junior Fair Swine schedule is:

We understand a change in schedule will mean a change in process for many of our of 4-H families. We hope you will continue to participate in the 4-H hog project. As more details are finalized they will be announced to club advisors, via email, on Facebook, and here on our blog.