October 10th, 2024

Dear 4-H Families,
Welcome to a new year of 4-H! We are thrilled your family has decided to join us as we kick off another exciting year of learning, growth and fun. Whether you’re returning or new to 4-H, we are looking forward to making this year a rewarding experience for you and your children. 

4-H is more than just projects and activities – it’s about developing life & leadership skills and building a sense of community. This year, we will have many engaging events, hands on learning opportunities and chances to build lasting friendships. Thank you for being part of our 4-H family, and here’s to a great year! 

We welcome your involvement and encourage you to stay connected with 4-H happenings. The Extension is here to assist and provide support to 4-H families, clubs and groups. Please reach out with any questions, suggestions and be sure to follow updates through email, website and social media (like us on FB @Waukesha County 4-H Youth Development). We are excited for the upcoming year and can't wait to see all the incredible thing our 4-H members will achieve this year!

Thank you for being a part of Waukesha County 4-H! I can be reached at 262-548-7784 or james.boling@wisc.edu.

Dear Extension Waukesha County 4-H:
Thank you for all your volunteer efforts with the 4-H program in Waukesha County. We have experienced a couple of situations recently where communications have been made directly with Extension 4-H program partners without first communicating with the Extension Waukesha County office. I want to clarify that the Extension office is the first point of contact before reaching out to partners like Waukesha County or the Waukesha County Fair Board. In the future, please utilize the Extension Waukesha County office as a resource for any communications to partners and policy issues. Please reach out to James Boling at james.boling@wisc.edu or myself prior to communicating with our partners.

Thank you,
Jerry Braatz

Happy National 4-H Week! Across the state we had a 3.1% Membership Growth in 2023-2024. We’re celebrating all the amazing 4-H’ers who are stepping up as confident leaders and getting ready to take on the future! We’re also excited to introduce 4-H's new initiative: Beyond Ready. At 4-H, we’re all about preparing the next generation to tackle whatever comes their way. 
How are you celebrating National 4-H Week?! Tag us Waukesha County 4-H Youth Development, and share your story with the hashtags: #ExtensionWaukeshaCounty4hBeyondReady #4HBeyondReady For more information about National 4-H Week, go to https://4-h.org/

Are you beyond ready to start your 4-H journey?

Join Extension Waukesha County 4-H today at http://bit.ly/extwc4hjoin.

To become an approved Extension Waukesha County 4-H member (youth member), you must enroll in 4-H Online, and pay the county enrollment fee.
All current and new youth members must enroll or re-enroll before participating in the 4-H program annually. To complete your children’s enrollment:

Step 1: Enroll using 4-H Online here: https://v2.4honline.com/#/user/sign-in

Step 2: Pay your County Enrollment Fee here: https://www.waukeshacounty.gov /UWEX/4H/Join/

If you have any questions or need any assistance regarding enrollment please contact McKenzie Knudson at mknudson@waukeshacounty.gov.  

We are excited to announce Extension Waukesha County 4-H is hiring an Associate 4-H Youth Development Educator and we are accepting applications through October 16, 2024.
Go to https://jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/associate-4-h-youth-development-educator-waukesha-wisconsin-united-states to view the full job posting and apply.

Come join our awesome team! Please share this posting with anyone you know who may be interested in applying.

For more information about Extension Waukesha County 4-H, fill out our 4-H interest form at http://bit.ly/extwc4hinterest. If you are interested in joining Extension Waukesha County 4-H for the 2024-2025 program year join at http://bit.ly/extwc4hjoin.

For any questions email McKenzie at mknudson@waukeshacounty.gov.

Club and project leaders: please regularly update the program calendar above with your events for family information. make sure to update the google calendar with meetings/events.

All current and new volunteers must enroll or re-enroll in 4-H online and complete their volunteer trainings annually in order to be an Extension Waukesha County 4-H volunteer.  Enrollment and training are not required for a one time guest speaker.  

The Wisconsin 4-H policy indicates “All 4-H programs and activities must be supervised by a staff member or an approved 4-H volunteer, 18 years of age or older, who has completed all the following steps:

Look out for emails confirming your trainings have been completed.

If you have not received a confirmation email after completing your training, make sure you completed the entire training to the end.

At the end of your training, you will be asked to input your name and county. Make sure to select the next button to complete the entire training module. You should then receive an email stating you have completed the training lesson.

For more information about the volunteer training modules go to: https://4h.extension.
wisc.edu/resources/volunteer-resources/training-for-volunteers/

For the overview of volunteer training flow chart go to: https://4h.extension.wisc.edu
/files/2024/08/4-H-Volunteer-Training-Flow-Chart-Fall-2024.pdf

Returning volunteers should register on 4-H Online and complete volunteer trainings before November 1st, 2024. 

Once you have enrolled using 4-H Online and completed your volunteer trainings it takes 24-48 hours to appear on our end. Once your volunteer status is approved, you can begin volunteering in Extension Waukesha County 4-H programming.
If you have any questions or need any assistance regarding volunteer trainings please contact McKenzie Knudson at mknudson@waukeshacounty.gov.  

Annual Club Charters are due to the office by November 1, 2024. All 4-H Clubs and Groups must be chartered and report directly to the 4-H Program Educator. 4-H Charters are renewed annually and will be granted upon successful completion of the Wisconsin 4-H Charter Application. Please follow the link for more information: Wisconsin 4-H Charter Application – for New and Returning 4-H Clubs & Groups – Wisconsin 4-H.

You can email the completed documents to james.boling@wisc.edu or mail them to: Extension Waukesha County 4-H 515 West Moreland Boulevard,  AC G22 Waukesha, WI 53188.

Save the Dates for Extension Waukesha County 4-H Project Nights at the Waukesha County Expo Center! We will have two available session time slots for activities or ongoing projects: Session 1: 5:30 - 6:15 PM; Session 2: 6:30 - 7:15 P.M. There is no cost to attend, and all 4-H members are invited.

Project Night Dates: October 23rd, October 30th, November 6th, November 13th, and December 4th
Location: Forum North Hall, Waukesha County Expo Center, 1000 Northview Rd, Waukesha, WI 53188

Mark your calendars and stay tuned for our Project Night at the Expo on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024. We will send out more information about the activities or ongoing projects and sessions available for our project nights once we have all our volunteers signed up for the activities or ongoing projects they will be leading. 

Are you an adult volunteer interested in leading an activity or project? We are looking for volunteers to lead an activity or ongoing project at our 4-H Project Nights at the Waukesha County Expo Center!

Consider sharing your knowledge, passion, and talents by helping youth members learn skills they will use throughout life. As a volunteer, you will have the opportunity to work with a group of young people on a specific project area, such as animal science, robotics, or photography.

Available Session Time Slots: Session 1: 5:30 - 6:15 PM; Session 2: 6:30 - 7:15 P.M. You can sign up for one or both sessions each night. Please review the available project night dates and sessions on the sign up below.

Lead an activity or ongoing project here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0844AFA
729A3F9C70-51804781-project#/.

You're invited to join us for the Waukesha County 4-H Open House! This year's open house will be held at the Waukesha County Expo Center on Thursday, October 24th from 5:30-7:00pm. 

All clubs and groups should attend. This is a great opportunity to recruit and share all of the great opportunities offered by our 4-H clubs and projects.  

Reserve a table for 4-H clubs, projects, and other 4-H partners to reserve a table for Open House here: https://forms.gle/KsYGc48bbG2k7NUp7

Orders are now being accepted for the Waukesha County 4-H Kringle fundraiser. This fundraiser supports future educational programing, camp, and educational trips for our youth members! See below for the instructions and paper form to sell Racine Kringles.

Please enter the name(s) of the 4-H youth on the Salesperson line and start taking orders! The goal is to have each youth member sell 20 Kringles!

Please send your order forms and money (one check per family is preferred) to the Extension Waukesha County office at 515 W Moreland Blvd, AC G22, Waukesha, WI, 53188 by November 13th, 2024.

Kringles can also be ordered online at https://www.waukesha4h.org/ but they cannot be shipped (we just cannot take if off the ordering website for some reason).

Kringles will be available for pick up on December 2nd between 5:00 P.M. and 6:30 P.M. at the Waukesha County Expo Center Forum Building, 1000 Northview Rd, Waukesha, WI 53188 (Waukesha County Fair Grounds). This will coincide with our annual Youth/Adult  4-H Recognition Event.  

4-H families are responsible for picking up their orders.

For questions, please contact Jann Pfaff at jann.pfaff@waukesha4h.org or Peter Bruce at peter.bruce@waukesha4h.org.

Teams of 2 to 4 players will receive the exact same puzzle so there will be no "advantage or disadvantage". Puzzles will be 400 pieces. There will be prizes awarded to the first place team only! Must be at least 10 years old to participate. There will be a potluck immediately following the puzzle competition, so please bring a dish to pass. You may also bring refreshments.

Date: Sunday, 10/27/2024
Time: 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Location: Frame Park, Waukesha, WI

RSVP is required to gaylenicollphd@gmail.com by Monday, October 21st.

Behind every 4-H member is a leader or leaders who have contributed time and talent to help you achieve successful results. Now is the time to thank them! Please take the time to fill out an Adult Leader Award Nomination form and get it back to us as soon as possible.

The nomination form can be found here: https://www.waukeshacounty.gov/globalassets/uw-extension/4-h/leader-resources/adult-award-nomination-form2.pdf

Once completed, the form can be emailed to Mary Hiemke at hiemkem@gmail.com. If you aren’t sure which award your leader is eligible for, read the guidelines page. If you still aren’t sure, or you don’t know the number of years your leader has served as a leader, simply check whichever award you feel applies (always do more than one) and we will check their eligibility and years of service. The deadline is October 25th.

Waukesha County 4-H 2024 Open House: October 24 from 5:30 PM-7:00 PM at the Waukesha County Exposition Center.

Extension Waukesha County 4-H Project Nights at the Expo: October 23, October 30, November 6, November 13, December 4. Stay tuned for more details.

Extension Waukesha County is committed to supporting quality educational experiences for our youth as well as supporting our volunteers and families. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or if you need any assistance.

James Boling

4-H Program Educator

james.boling@wisc.edu

McKenzie Knudson

4-H Administrative Support

mknudson@waukeshacounty.gov

An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title VI, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requirements.