Alexander County 4-H Newsletter

4-H Presentations

4-H Presentations are a huge part of North Carolina 4-H. It is one of the most successful ways to help a young person learn how to do a public speech. It focuses on members teaching others what they know about a particular project/subject matter. They are sometimes called demonstrations or illustrated talk or formal speech.

For a list of 4-H Presentation Categories please go to the following link:
2024 NC 4-H Awards Handbook

Here you can find topic ideas and objectives as well as what cash prizes are available at district and state levels.

To view scoresheets, rules and regulations and other helpful information please visit the following link: 4-H Presentation Information

South Central District Activity Day will be held June 18, 2024 in Scotland County.

If you would like to know more about 4-H Presentaions or you have an interest in being a presenter to represent Alexander County please contact DJ Salyer, 4-H Agent, at 828-632-3125 or dj_salyer@ncsu.edu.

4-H Mini Garden Project for Kids

The N.C. Cooperative Extension-Alexander County Center is looking to engage youth in a garden program. Students will be provided seeds and information material to start their own little garden. This will encourage them to learn about how to grow vegetables. Participants will be asked to share pictures throughout the year on social media. A contest will be held once gardens are producing by having judges come out and look at the gardens. Ages 8-under, 9-12 years and 13-18 years will be judged. Date for judging will be sent out closer to date, but will be in June or July.

Prizes will also be given to those who have the best project books.

Kits are limited to the first 25 families to register, but we will also be taking a waiting list for those who are interested. Registration will be open until full, kits will be available April 10th and can be picked up through May 1st. For additional questions, please contact DJ Salyer at dj_salyer@ncsu.edu. Use the following link to fill out registration: Alexander County 4-H Mini Garden Registration

ALL 4-H members and volunteers MUST be enrolled in 4-H Online to participate in any programs or clubs that are provided by Alexander County 4-H.

For more information and to start the enrollment process please visit the following link:

https://alexander.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/01/time-to-enroll-in-4-h/

If you have any questions regarding enrollment or need help with enrollment please contact DJ Salyer at 828-632-3125. Again, no child or volunteer can participate in 4-H events without being enrolled.

Programming in Alexander County Schools

Alexander County 4-H conducted the Embryology Program in 20 second grade classrooms in the Alexander County School System in March. Through this program, students get hands-on experience as they learn about the life cycle. Fertilized chicken eggs are donated by Tyson Hatchery in Hays, NC and are incubated for 21 days in the classroom. Eggs began hatching on March 26th! The picture shows DJ Salyer, Alexander County 4-H Agent, with some of those students and chicks.

Alexander County 4-H Garden Club

This past month with our 4H Garden Club, we learned all about Arbor Day! Arbor Day can trace its roots back to the mid 1800’s when settlers moving to western prairies found out the hard way that there were not many trees, unlike back home in the east. No wood for fires, shade, wind breaks, or to build their homes. An early settler by the name of J. Sterling Morton recognized this extreme need for trees out west (Nebraska specifically, since he had made his home there). Morton had proposed a new tree planting holiday to Nebraska legislature that was passed. The first Arbor Day celebration in Nebraska was held on April 10th, 1872, with prizes for those who planted the most trees. On that day, an estimated of 1 million trees were planted in the state. Other states soon followed suit with their own Arbor Day holiday on different days. Our NC Arbor Day is always the first Friday following March 15th. We also have a National Arbor day which is celebrated on the last Friday in April.

Give back to your ecosystem this year, and celebrate National Arbor day by planting a tree!! Here is a list of native trees that are great additions to any landscape.

Hackberry
American Fringetree
Serviceberry
Riverbirch
Persimmon
Black Gum
Flowering Dogwood
Sweetbay Magnolia
White Oak

If you want to learn more about Arbor Day, visit the Arbor Day Foundation.
If you want to learn more about native trees and other native plants, visit our Native Plant Portal through NC State Extension.

Shockers 4-H Electric Club met in March. During their meeting we discussed Summer Camps that 4H offers. Our program was a discussion about different types of energy and how it is produced. We played a game called "The Game of Energy Choices". The game involved in deciding what type of energy generation to build, as well as the costs (financial and otherwise) involved in providing electricity. It examines impacts on the environment, including how different mixes of electricity can affect emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water use.