Your CloverNews

The Awards Ceremony is Back
March 19th | Time TBD

A team of 4-H'ers are planning our first awards ceremony since 2019. I understand you have missed getting together and celebrating your accomplishments. The virtual ceremony was better than nothing but you have spoken. I polled a portion of our early enrolled membership and they overwhelmingly wanted to get together for this year's ceremony. Maybe by March we can hold a safe celebration. Stay tuned for more information as the team plans to award the accomplishments from 2021.

Public Speaking Program Kick Off
Lee County Activity Night | May 23, 2022 | 6:00pm

Do you have a child ages 5-18 (as of January 1) that you would like to get engaged in extracurricular activities? Do you feel that public speaking skills are important for your child to have? Does your child have a special talent that they would love to share? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then 4-H has just the activity planned! This is an event where youth ages 5-18 (as of January 1) compete in 4-H presentations and youth ages 8-18 can compete in 4-H Talent. We will have three rooms with two or three judges in each room ready to provide constructive feedback enabling your child to polish the program and take it to the district competition in June if they so choose.

The Snowman in Your Back Yard

By Pam Kerley, 4-H Program Assistant
What do buttons and carrots have in common? This time of year it is probably easy to guess a snowman but what does that have to do with 4-H? Each one of the parts of a snowman, alone, may be useful but together they become a frosty symbol of youth, winter fun, and for today, a practical demonstration. Using the visual of a snowman I want to share with you the benefits to youth who belong to an organized group.

First, you must build the base. Here in the NC piedmont the snow is usually wet, heavy, and filled with grass and pine straw making every snowman easily recognizable as a local creation. Starting with a small snowball then building and patting it until it is big enough to begin rolling it across the yard, >>

Young Commissioner Member Getting Things Done
Reprinted from Young Commissioners February 2022 Newsletter, Cindy Howenstein
Jocelyn’s hard work has paid off. Jocelyn has been working with Chairperson Smith and the Youth Council Advisory Board to get a County Youth Council started in Lee County. Jocelyn and other members of the Youth Council made their presentation to the Board of County Commissioners at their meeting on Monday January 24th and the board voted unanimously to start a Youth Council in Lee County. It will take a year and a lot of work to make this into the State Youth Council, but I know Jocelyn can do it.

February Project Record Books
BEGIN WORK ON 2022 PROJECT RECORD BOOKS
*If you haven’t done so, write your 4-H Story. This is everything that 4-H has done in your life. Even as a new beginner, write down how you got to this point. Each year, you will add to this story and submit it with your 4-H Project Record. Make your 4-H Project Plan. Pick a topic and brainstorm all of the things you want to do around that topic this year.

*What is leadership? Brainstorm possible leadership opportunities on a variety of levels. Record these goals in your project record book or journal.
*Collect ACHIEVE information

There are two ways to participate as a 4-H'er in North Carolina. You can be an enrolled member or you can be a program participant. The state has guide sheets for information about 4-H online.

Take a minute and edit your account to include all the topics in which your child is interested. Often community groups will contact me with a special interest mentoring offer. Right now the Lemon Springs ECA club wants to offer their skills to club members who may want to learn about web design, sewing, biscuit making, ect. When these opportunties present themselves I will search the members for folks who might be interested and contact you.

4-H'ers Traveled to Cabarrus County
For Teen Winter Enrichment on January 15th
Three Lee County 4-H'ers attended this one-day event during the long wintery weekend. Together with youths from all the district counties they watched an inspiring movie in the historic GEM theater, participated in a photo scavenger hunt in downtown Kannapolis, and learned about opportunities to run for district office. Candidates will campaign and stand for election at the next district event, Teen Retreat, happening March 5 & 6 at Millstone 4-H Camp.

NC 4-H will be hosting a virtual youth-adult training focusing on the Health Rocks! program on February 26th and March 5th, 2022. This FREE event is open to new and experienced youth-adult teams. Teams should include at least 1 adult and 3 or more teens ages 14 and up.

Upon completing the training, teams will have the opportunity to compete in the NC 4-H Dolphin Tank for a chance to win one of six five-hundred-dollar mini-grants. Mini-grants will be used to support the implementation of the Health Rocks! program. More details to come.

Registration will open Monday, January 24th. If you are interested in this opportunity, please begin recruiting for your team.

High School Plants Geeks
July 10-15, 2022

Do you have young plant geeks in your life? Was their Monstera a best friend during the pandemic? Tell them that they are not alone and to consider coming to the Horticultural Science Summer Institute, July 10-15, 2022! This in-person, residential, pre-college program is an action-packed week of plant propagation, tree climbing, chromosome squashing, and friend-making. Applications are open on NCSU's Reporter system (families will need to create a "Brickyard" account) and we welcome all high school youth to apply. Once accepted, camp registration is $650, but scholarships are available for 4-H youth ($500 registration fee, I will confirm 4-H membership with you). There is a limited number of full scholarships available >>