November 30, 2023

Here is the 4-H bi-weekly update to receive the most current 4-H information. We hope this update finds you and your family doing well.

Extension Waukesha County is committed to supporting quality educational experiences for our youth as well as supporting our volunteers and families. We would like to thank you for your continued involvement and support of the Waukesha County 4-H program. 

Contact Information:

James Boling

Program Educator

james.boling@wisc.edu

McKenzie Knudson

4-H Administrative Support  mknudson@waukeshacounty.gov

About what you would like to see in our newsletter find a survey to help us understand what you would like to see. Click the button below and take a survey.  

Club and project leaders please update the program calendar with your events at the link above.

Kringle orders will be available for pick up on December 4 between 5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. at the Waukesha County Expo Center in the 4-H Forum Building. The pickup coincides with our Youth/Adult Recognition Banquet. Registration will be starting at 4:45P.M. with dinner and awards to follow. 

We have asked the club and project leaders to follow up with families and volunteers that have not completed the enrollment process.

We have 277 club members and Cloverbuds enrolled in our 4-H program. There are 121 members that have enrolled but have not paid the county enrollment fee.

To complete your registration, pay the County enrollment fee by clicking the link below or mailing your check made payable to Extension Waukesha County and mail to 515 W Moreland Blvd AC-G22, Waukesha WI 53188.

We have 57 approved volunteers and 53 that need to complete their enrollment process (trainings). Please check your status on 4-H online to verify if your enrollment has been approved.

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

The WI 4-H program is collecting feedback from members 13 and older about their 4-H experience, and we would really appreciate hearing from your child(ren). This feedback will help us better understand the impact of our 4-H program in Waukesha County and how we can continue to improve.  We are collecting this feedback through the 4-H Thriving Survey. The survey information and personalized link was sent to your family email recently. If you cannot find this email, you may want to check your junk email. It takes just 10-15 minutes to complete this survey and responses will be kept anonymous. 

Upon completion of the survey, youth will be entered in a drawing to win a $25 gift card. 

As of today, 31 youth in Waukesha County have completed the survey and 11 have started it. The survey will only be open until, November 30th. Please take a moment to complete the survey if you can. 

For more information on the 4-H Thriving Model and some of the results from the 2022 4-H Thriving Study in Wisconsin, please visit https://4h.extension.wisc.edu/resources/volunteer-resources/4-h-foundations/4-h-thriving-model/.

Volunteers help make 4-H possible. We need adult project leaders that have a desire to work with young people to help them learn new things and gain life skills. We need adult volunteers that want to provide youth with positive experiences in a safe and welcoming environment. There are many ways to volunteer. Project leaders can work with a small group of youth at the club level or volunteer at the county level with youth from various clubs in Waukesha County.

Here are a few areas that the youth have expressed an interest in and some of the areas that we need project leaders to help share their knowledge: Cloverbud Activities, Drawing and Painting, Photography, Cake Decorating, Food and Nutrition, Leadership and Personal Development, Legos, and Woodworking. If none of these are areas that interest you, please see the list of projects on our website Waukesha County - Projects to see how you can help.

We could use your help on one of our important 4-H Committees. The Leaders Association Volunteer Committees provides leadership for a committee and/or participate as a member of a committee, creates educational experiences for all youth engaged in the program, and works with youth and adult volunteers in offering a positive youth development experience for young people.  For more information about our committees go to this link under Executive Board Committees https://www.waukeshacounty.gov/UWEX/4H/WCLA/. Many hands make light work, and everyone can do their part in fulfilling the 4-H moto, “Making the Best Better”! Please click this link to sign up for youth and adults https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094AADA922A57-join.

We were unable to keep our previous page (pre 2023) due to issues with Facebook. Like and follow Extension Waukesha County 4-H's official Facebook page. This is the page to follow for all things Waukesha County 4-H and Youth Development. We'll continue to post our updates, news and content here for youth and families. Please share to spread the word!

You can also find us on Instagram! @waukeshacountyyouthdevelopment

Youth who join 4-H are often excited about the many, many projects they can choose to explore. There are so many Sparks (or things they want to learn about)! Yet, if their Spark doesn’t have a local project leader to support their learning, that excitement can turn to questions. They may not know how to get started on their own.

Clover was by the National 4-H Council in collaboration with more than 100 universities throughout the United States, Clover is an online smorgasbord of sparks, interactive activities, and fun. Best of all, it’s FREE and ready for youth, parents, and educators to dive into.

To start exploring:

1. Go to 4-h.org/clover
2. Create a login
3. Click on activities
4. Search for your Spark

It’s that simple. In Clover, you can connect with others in your club or group, track your progress through pins and achievements, and best of all, explore your Sparks! Most activities can be accessed in different formats (interactive online, basic webpage, or download PDF), making access flexible based on your local needs and bandwidth.

Fall Forum

Written by Jennifer Bugenhagen

These great kids qualified to compete in Louisville at the National Poultry & Egg Conference in the Avian Quiz bowl on the 15-17th. They competed against 15 other state's teams. While we may not have placed where we would have liked, we all learned so much and had incredible experience. We toured the Louisville Slugger plant and the Churchill Downs track and museum.

We met hundreds of other poultry kids at a pizza/ bowling party mixer. They attended an invaluable poultry careers workshop where we listened to speakers talk about where a poultry degree took them, met three universities offering Poultry programs along with the USDA. They got to see some of NAILE. They told me how much this inspired them and opened their eyes to so many other opportunities. We couldn't be happier to have had this opportunity to learn and grow! Thanks to the WI 4H Foundation, the Waukesha 4H Leaders Assoc., the WI Poultry & Egg Assoc., the Wisconsin International Poultry Show., and the Szczech family for the sponsorships to make this possible! It was my distinct privilege to get to know and accompany these talented kids. Great job Ava, Emma, Elizabeth, and Grant! Proud of you!

West Vernon Presented at the All Leaders Meeting

Youth members from the West Vernon 4-H club presented at the All Leaders Meeting. West Vernon has 30 members in their club and some of the popular projects members are partaking in are: Rockets, Chickens, Puppets, Arts and Crafts, Quilting, Legos, RC cars, Natural Sciences. Keep up the great work!

Performing Arts Day-April 13-This year Performing Arts Day have new talent show format.

Fair Entry Registration-March 15-June 15-90 full Days to enter and no late entries accepted.

4-H Camp- June 17-20-Camp will be at Camp Whitcomb/Mason in Hartland, Wisconsin. Registration will open in January. The theme is "Tropical Adventure."

Waukesha County Fair- July 17-21

Stay tuned for the 2nd Annual Waukesha County Youth Leadership Conference at Ingelside Water Park.

Any questions about the Waukesha County Fair please contact Chrissy Gluege at chrissy@waukeshacountyfair.com or call at 262-544-5922

Join us for the next All Leaders Meeting on February 22 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Waukesha from 7:00P.M.-8:30P.M. Club Presentations will be given by 4 Leaf, Washington, Meadowbrook/Saylesville and The Dog Project. 

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.