Next Regular 4H Meeting- Nov 14

Sorry about the musical meetings in November. WE need to go back to the
14th of November for our meeting.

This meeting is a combined meeting: we are doing our annual service
project for Operation Christmas child AND we are having a guest speaker.
I got a note from the guest speaker yesterday that he can NOT come on
the Nov 7th date due to a meeting he has to go to in DC.

"I was supposed to be in Washington last week for meetings at the
National Endowment for the Humanities, but the meetings were postponed
due to the government shutdown.The new meeting dates include November
7th. Sorry about the change. It's been extra frustrating as I had
non-refundable airline tickets."

So we will go back to the original meeting date of Nov 14 (since Rich
Strum can come then) and since the Congressional Science Fair was
postponed until the spring.

Sorry for all the changes.

Annual 4H Cheese Sale

The cheese sale is the annual Clinton County 4H Fund-raiser. The requirement for 4Hers is to sell one bar of cheese per child. The form this year came with a white paper on top. Most of the info really was for the cheese coordinator.

The important things you need to know

1) Bring your cheese papers BACK to the next meeting on Nov 14. If you are not going to be at this meeting--please get them either to me or to Dawn H.

2) Dawn H. (Caili, Reece, and Vaughns mom) is our cheese queen this year. She will be collecting the forms and the money. Dawn will be making our ONE CHECK to the 4H office. If you get checks from customers, please have the checks made out to Dawn or yourself (and then you write a check to Dawn!)

3) Cheese pick up will be the week of December 9th. Dawn will call/email once she has collected and sorted the cheese. As we get closer to cheese delivery, the 4H office will let us know the actual day it is coming in.

4) For those out of the area-- you can email me your cheese order.

5) There are two additional spreads this year as well as 2 types of encrusted cheese.

• 8 oz blocks
  • $3.50 each block
  • Flavors: XXSharp Adirondack, XSharp Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Empire Monteray Jack, Muenster, Pepper Jack, Horseradish Cheddar
• 24 oz blocks
  • $9.00 each block
  • Flavors: XX Sharp Adirondack, XSharp Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar
•  8 oz spreads
  • $3.50 each
  • Flavors: XSharp Cheddar, Horseradish, Hot Habanero
• 8 oz encrusted bars
  • $4.00 each bar
  • Flavors: Everything Bagel, Hot Buffalo Wing
• Other Items
  • 3lb. Cabot Hunter XSharp Cheddar ($17)
  • 8oz Cheddar Shaker ($5)

Operation Shoe Box Service Project

Our first service project for the year will be THURSDAY November 7 at the North Country Alliance Church from 1-3.

We will be packing 12 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. We will be doing this project this year as a GROUP.  We have been doing this service project each year since we started as a group. But we have always packed our boxes at home and brought them in. This year we will be packing boxes as a group. We are asking that your family donate at least 10 of "something". We will arrange the items in the groups on the table and pack boxes/write notes of greeting in small groups. (We will be doing other things this day so this will only be a portion of our 4H meeting.)

I am asking that each family sign up for one or more types of items. I made a page on our blog to record who is bringing what. If you email me and let me know what you want to bring, I will add your last initial to the list. :-)
http://chatteringchipmunks.blogspot.com/p/operation-christmas-child-shoeboxes.html

Along with the items your family chooses to supply, each family needs to bring one plastic shoe box + $2.00 per child for shipping. (Each box is $7 a box). I really encourage each member to EARN their $2 by doing something. We will be "tracking our boxes as a group to see where they end up.
(As we have 15 families and we are only making 10 boxes-- I will ask 4 other families along with mine to bring an extra 10 items rather than a box)

We will be packing boxes to reflect the ages and genders of our group, so.....

2 Boy Box age  5-9
1 Girl Box age  5-9
3 Boy Box age 10-14
4 Girl Box age 10-14

Here is a list to get started, but there are many things you could bring. You can choose to bring a subset of an item, just let me know how many you plan to bring-- for example, 4 toothbrushes or  4 puzzles, ect. This lets me know if I need to bring anything to fill in at the end.

Personal Hygiene
Toothbrushes
Tooth paste
Soap
Washcloths
Hand sanitizer
Combs
Brushed
Barrettes, hair elastics

School Supplies
Pencils
Pens
Crayons
Markers
Paper Pads
Stickers
Pencil Sharpeners
Rulers (metric ones)

Special Gifts (rather than 10 of each type, bring a selection)
toys, puzzles,
craft
tools (hammers, sewing kit, ect.)
balls
jump ropes

Clothes
Tshirts
socks
ball caps
hats
sunglasses
flip flops
shoes

Other
Hard candy
Drinking glass or water bottle

Congressional Science Fair

Congratulations to Chipmunks selected to attend the Congressional Science Fair in Washington DC.

A number of Chipmunks attended the Ying Tri-Regional Science Fair last spring. The students who were the county winners, + the ISEF highschool winners and the Stockholm JR Water Prize winners have been selected to attend.

The following members from our group who have been invited are:

Essex County Champions- Ben C, Bradley N, Vienna A
Clinton County Champions- Grace S
Stockholm Water Prize- Harrison K, Matthew C, Alexandra R

As this trip is ACTUALLY our NOVEMBER meeting, I am moving the November meeting to November 7. This will be the first MONDAY of NOVEMBER. It is our service project meeting.

ROBOTICS CLASS

The robotics class is a "relaxed" class meaning that you are not required to come each week. We will have two groups: Robotics for Ages 12 and up and Exploring Robotics for Grades K-age 11.

We will meet at Tammy N's house on  Sept 19, Sept 26, Oct 3, Oct 17, Oct 24, Oct 31 from 1-2:30pm. Please contact Melissa for location directions.

We will be meeting in her basement along with the robotics team. Please bring a pair of slippers as you will be asked to leave your shoes at the door.

We will be starting our first class tomorrow at 1pm. This first class will be VERY relaxed for the Exploring Your World Robotics group. We requested robotics kits (on-loan) though the State 4H office. They were to be in on the 15th. They still have not arrived. THEREFORE:

Exploring Your World: Robotics will engage in a robotics challenge. A photo of the project can be submitted to a Canadian homeschool group monthly robotics challenge. This months challenge ends on the 20th.  Mrs. Smith will explain the Lego challenge. Harrison Smith will also demonstrate the use of motors to make Legos move. Motors will be used in the We Do Robotics challenge. We will start out with an demonstration of the Lego robotics--the robots and the software.

Upper Level Robotics will work on a previous FLL challenge mat and continue assignments from the robotics programming book begun last year. There is plenty for you to do .

Public Presentation Day

Public Presentations which have been held in March will now be held in January and Horsebowl and Hippology will be held in March (exact date TBD).

Please mark your calendar.
Saturday January 18 Public Presentations Day: Clinton Community College

**Thursday January 2: 4H Public Presentations Clinic--learn to give a good presentation and brush up on techniques
**Thursday January 9: 4H regular meeting --business meeting and public presentation practice in smaller groups-- I would like to have teens with lots of experience work with small groups of kids. I would also need an adult with each group.
**Thursday January 16: (optional) Service project-- share public presentations with the 3rd Age day care as well as perform or sing or just visit and sit in the audience. We can be a little flexible this day with time based on who wants to attend.

I also hope to have one of our seniors teach anyone interested in how to use presio-- the wave of the future. :-)

So now is the time to think about your topic for public presentations. If you are 13 and above and you have given 3 county level presentations, you are welcome to be a teen evaluator. As a teen evaluator, you can choose to not give a presentation but still get credit for presentations. If you are a first year family or member (Henry, Samuel, and Hannah) you can choose to do a club presentation anytime before May.

When you pick a topic-- pick something you LOVE....remember there are many types of presentations. With the new award system, when applying for project medals at the end of the year, you get a medal when you have been in a project area for AT least two years and earned the minimum number of points. You get points for giving a presentation in your project area. So you may chose to pick a presentation in an ares you are working on a medal.

Or if you are in an animal project, if you do an animal presentation, you earn a point for that animal (except for dairy cattle). You need points to show animals at fair---1 point for small animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, poultry, pets) and livestock (beef, sheep, goat, pig) and 4 points for horse/mini-horse. You also earn points when applying for a high point award for end of the year animal awards.

If you are a junior or senior in HS, you can meet the criteria by going to a college interview.

If you are a confident speaker, you may wish to try impromptu this year....you do not have to prepare--no poster no power point or presio needed. Just sign up for impromptu and show up on presentation day. You will be given three possible topics to speak about and 15 minutes to prepare. Matthew Caito did one a few years ago--he spoke about paper airplanes I think(?).

Info on Preapring for District Presentations

Presentations should be a minimum of five (5) minutes and a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes.

Note cards may be used at the discretion of the presenter.  A poster may be used as an outline.  Please remember if you use a poster you must use it during your presentation.

Presenters should be well groomed.  Dress should be appropriate to topic as well as allow for a clip on microphone.

Presenters may have no help setting up, but may have help taking down.

Do not use containers showing brand names – use separate container or cover the product name.

Presenters in all categories will be required to compose a biographical introduction of themselves on a 4x6 card which should include name, county, club (if applicable), number of years in 4-H, and any biographical information the presenter thinks would be of interest to his/her audience, i.e., hobbies, music, drama, other youth related interests, etc.  This should be kept interesting and concise and should be written as the presenter wants it to be read by the room host.  DO NOT GIVE AGE OR NUMBER OF PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS.  Title and topic of presentation are not included in the Room Host’s “Introduction of the Presenter.”

The presenter will begin his/her presentation by introducing the topic in a manner that creatively catches the attention of the audience while stimulating their curiosity and motivating them to think about the subject to be presented.  Use of the title can be part of this introduction.

Please remember to give your source of information (references).

Teams:  Will use one score sheet.  Only two people make a team.
Presenters with special needs have the option to inform the evaluators.

SMILE!  Evaluators are really nice people and they know exactly how you feel.  Their comments are meant to help you, not to criticize.

FOOD DEMONSTRATIONS
Food products that are created during a presentation can only be offered to the evaluators.  Health restrictions prevent foods from being shared with the audience.  Plastic gloves are not required for food presentations.  Hair should be “under control” and aprons worn where appropriate.

Actually measure at least two ingredients (1 dry, 1 liquid) the others may be pre-measured.  The presenter should state the items have been pre-measured.   Have recipe copies available for the audience.

ANIMAL DEMONSTRATIONS
Should a presentation include the use of a live animal, the presenter is responsible for sanitation and humane well-being of the animal throughout the event.  This would include clean up and sanitization of the presentation area making it suitable for the next presenter.  Live animals need to have appropriate health certificates and be caged or leashed appropriately.  If dogs will remain in the building during the event, they need to be crated.