- Author: Lorin Hofmann-Lurz
Thanks to the guidance and support of committed adult 4-H volunteers, the California 4-H teams have placed first in the National Avian Bowl 19 times, and second 7 times since 1989. See the full list of results.
This year, besides California, there were 12 other state teams vying for the title of National Avian Bowl Champions. Other states that were represented were Alaska, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
2017 National Avian Bowl Champions
Our 4-H Avian Bowl team took first place in the National Avian Bowl competition, held November 15-16, 2017 at the 2017 National 4-H Egg and Poultry Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
About our team
What's unique about our Avian Bowl team is that they have to coordinate with each other remotely, since they are from different clubs and counties. Congratulations to Abby Milanesa of Buena Vista 4-H club, Kayla Hurt from Paso Robles and Siana Barrett from Dos Palos for their great accomplishment!
What was it like to compete?
”The Avian Bowl was three hours of extreme stress” said Abby. “We competed head to head against the Georgia, Minnesota, New York and Ohio teams. We lost to Ohio, but beat New York so then we faced Ohio again and then we had to beat them twice in a row for the win,” the 15 year old continued, “There were approximately 150 people watching the contest in a room. I studied the guide a lot and practiced in person and via Skype with my teammates for nearly a year. Our coach was my dad (Dan Milanesa) and he designed the custom shirts that we wore. They have the words California Avian Bowl and a quail embroidered on them.”
Big thank you to Dr. Francine Bradley
About the Avian Bowl
An Avian Bowl is a double-elimination knowledge bowl based on poultry-related subject matter. 4-H members from any state who want to compete must use the Clemson University study guide to prepare and have at least 2 team members. This year's topics included embryology, biosecurity, understanding food poisoners and several other avian subjects. Each state hosts a qualifier event in which senior teams (14-18 year olds) compete against each other. Questions vary and team contestants must use a buzzer to answer the questions to earn points.
More than a competition
In addition to competing in a national competition, the participants also have the opportunity to meet people from many other parts of the country, hear from experts in the poultry industry, and tour many well-known sites such as Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger factory. These activities are sponsored by the poultry and egg industry as part of the conference.
The conference also features Poultry Judging contests, an Egg Preparation contest and Chicken and Turkey BBQ contests for hundreds of qualified teenagers from across the United States.
For more information
See our past blog post, "California 4-H team goes to Nationals" to read more about competing at the National Avian Bowl.
If you would like more information about 4-H avian projects, please contact DeAnn Tenhunfeld at dtenhunfeld@ucanr.edu.
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- Author: Fiona Reyes
- Author: Santiago Piva
- Author: Nikitha Fernandes
From November 1 to November 5, Nikitha Fernandes, Santiago Piva, Fiona Reyes, and Curtis Ullerich attended the National Youth Maker Summit in Maryland.
We attended this conference to reconnect with 4-H'ers who we met at the Computer Science Pathway Training this summer in Utah, and to share our progress with the Computer Science project in California.
We led a workshop on Cryptography, which was developed with the Computer Science Unplugged curriculum.
Since we arrived to the National 4-H Conference Center a day early, we were able to explore a little bit of Washington D.C. We visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and walked around the National Mall. Once the conference began, we dove straight into learning about the importance of the Maker movement.
Everyone can be a maker, and this is a culture that 4-H has had ever since it was founded.
A maker is someone who makes things. Makers are people who are producers, that create things for themselves and others. They can make anything, from creating a vegan pork rind company, to having a fashion design company or to working as an engineer at Google. In fact, these are all makers that we were able to meet at the National Youth Maker Summit.
How we can share what we learned
We are going to use what we learned at the Youth Summit to educate our youth in California about the Maker Movement. Some ideas for reaching out to various counties and clubs in our area in a hands-on way include:
- Creating portable kits that contain soldering irons and mini circuit boards to make light-up 4-H pins.
- Uploading instructional videos about how to use 3D printers. These videos would encourage members to make 3D printable objects and to use Scratch or Python to create things which they can enter at fair and in competitions.
- Uploading videos on wearable art using LEDs.
This would encourage other members to also realize their potential as makers, which would spread awareness about the Maker Movement. Also, we would like to bring the Computer Science Unplugged activities (which were a success) to areas of 4-H camp. We could do this by leading a recreation session, having a booth in the arts and crafts area, or having an activity for the clovers.
If you would like to know how you can use these ideas in your county, please contact the California Computer Science Pathway Team at 4hcs@googlegroups.com.
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- Author: Ryan Chi
Are you interested in plants? Or perhaps you'd simply like to learn a bit more about horticulture? Then you should consider trying out for the California 4-H Horticulture Team! Every year, there's a horticulture contest at State Field Day at UC Davis. The contest is open to all ages, but if you're 15-18 and you score in the top four, then you can qualify for the state team and represent California at the National Junior Horticultural Association convention. If you'd like to get some practice first, you can also try the horticulture contest at Bay/Coast Area Field Day.
2017 National Horticulture Association Convention
Last month, I attended the 2017 National Junior Horticultural Association Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana as part of the California 4-H Horticulture Team. It was an amazing experience! The convention was a 4-day-long opportunity for youth all around the nation to learn more about horticulture through a myriad of contests, workshops, field trips, and other activities. The highlight, as it is every year, was the Horticulture Identification Contest, where contestants had to identify a hundred different samples of plants in four different categories: fruits, vegetables, flowers, and landscape ornamentals. These could be presented in almost any format, ranging from fruits and flowers to seeds and leaves or even pieces of bark.
Learning about horticulture through hands-on activities
Perhaps the best part about the attending the convention was being part of the California team. Through months of study sessions, we had not only improved on our horticultural knowledge, but also had also become good friends. By the time of the convention, we were a solid team, a close-knit group of collaborators working toward achieving a shared goal. The friendship and camaraderie we experienced together is an experience that is truly unparalleled.
Finishing 3rd, 2nd and 1st!
Our 4-H team did quite well: we finished 3rd in the horticulture identification contest, 2nd in the state display contest, and 1st in the horticulture Jeopardy contest. In addition, our California open team also did well: they placed 1st in their category for the horticulture identification contest.
I'm looking forward to competing again next year!
For more information about the 4-H Horticulture Team and the State Field Day competition, please contact DeAnn Tenhunfeld at dtenhunfeld@ucanr.edu.
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- Author: Regina O'Brien
- Editor: Jenna Colburn
Regina O'Brien was one of the delegates representing California 4-H at the 2017 Citizenship Washington Focus-Presidential Inauguration. For the first time, 4-H'ers were invited to attend the presidential inauguration. This was not about politics or supporting specific candidates. Planning for this event started a year in advance. Participants and chaperones had to sign up by April 2016, way before the November election. This unique experience was about giving 4-H youth an opportunity to witness in person a key feature of our democracy - a peaceful transfer of power.
Delegates participated in the standard program of a Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) Conference, with the addition of being able to witness a presidential inauguration in person. The National 4-H Citizenship Washington Focus conference is an annual event that invites 4-H youth from around the country to learn about civic engagement in our nation's capital.
Reading about Regina's experience at the Citizenship Washington Focus conference – it may inspire you to sign up for next year's CWF!
My Trip to CWF-PI
by Regina O'Brien, Santa Rosa Valley 4-H, Ventura County
In January of this year, I attended Citizenship Washington Focus-Presidential Inauguration, also known as CWF-PI for short. CWF-PI, which is normally held in the summer, was a special edition of a program that outlined these special topics:
- The meaning and importance of our democracy
- The history of the president
- The election process
- The role of the media
- Discovering the intricacies of the Executive Branch
- Careers in politics
We got to practice our role as citizens and what citizenship is to us
There were 26 delegates in total from our state of California--21 4-H'ers and 5 parent chaperones. We attended workshops, sessions, and huddles. We held our own mock election to run for president of CWF-PI, where I ran for election (and no, I didn't win).
The workshops included topics such as the role of our media reporting the facts and being the center of communication that emphasized our 1st amendment right of Freedom of Speech. I also got to attend workshops where we had speakers tell us about how important it is to think beyond yourself and better your own community. I really enjoyed all of our activities in our workshops, such as creating our own front newspaper article.
I think what stuck with me the most about citizenship was when one of the speakers defined it as, “what you do with your gum wrapper when no one is looking.”
Meeting people from other states
I got to meet people from as far as Alaska, and participated in a ‘pin trade' where we brought stuff with us representative of our respective states and got to bring back with us assortments of trinkets. I got pins from Florida all the way to Wisconsin. We all stayed together at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. I had 3 roommates from different parts of California.
Sightseeing in D.C.
At night, despite many road closures, we got to do some sightseeing in DC and visited the presidential memorials for Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt as well as the Martin Luther King memorial. We also visited the Lincoln Memorial, which was set up for the platforms to celebrate President-Elect Trump arriving in D.C. for the welcome celebration the next day. In addition to the memorials, we also went to the National Archives and saw the original Constitution, Articles of Confederation, and Declaration of Independence. Our group split up to go the Smithsonian museums. I chose the Air and Space Museum and got to see a little of the Natural History Museum. My mom chose to go to the American History Museum. A little-known fact is that admission to every Smithsonian museum is free!
The Presidential Inauguration
My mom had previously gotten us tickets to the red area to see the Inauguration in the morning. It was an exciting and historical moment to witness the peaceful transition of power.
After the Inauguration, we went to the Newseum to meet up with the rest of our group and enjoy a buffet catered by Wolfgang Puck and a front row seat to the Inaugural Parade.
That same night, we went on a dinner dance and cruise on the Potomac where we crossed over into Virginia.
CWF-PI was a once in a lifetime experience and I recommend that other 4-H'ers attend this event in the future.
Note: The Presidential Inauguration is held every four years so the next CWF-PI would be in 2021.
Register by Dec. 17 for the 2018 Citizenship Washington Focus
Registration is now open for next year's Citizenship Washington Focus conference, being held June 16 to 23, 2018. A special add-on for California 4-H delegates is the option of an extended trip, which continues after the conference through June 26 and includes visits to Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. See the Citizenship Washington Focus event page to learn more. Register by December 17, 2017 to save your space.
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- Author: Curtis Ullerich
The California 4-H Management Board is a youth-adult partnership at the highest level of California 4-H. As with all impactful roles, we face our share of challenges. Two challenges we're digging into right now are:
- Making participation in the management board more successful for youth
- Increasing the level of youth voice present in all our decisions
The management board bylaws say that at least half of our ten director positions (Article II, § 1a) and half of our committee membership (Article V, § 5a) should be filled by youth. In the inaugural year of the management board, we had three youth directors, and this year we have zero: We received no applications from current youth members for our three open director positions this year. We currently have 36 youth and 30 adults on our committees, though not every committee has a 1:1 or higher ratio of youth to adults.
Challenges in our team structure
The youth members of the director team during our first year reported that the position was particularly challenging. Our team structure required members to be very self-directed. While initiative is no strange concept to 4-H youth, the management board had very little historical context on which to draw. Similarly, role expectations weren't very clear, because they were speculative. The implementation committee that designed the management board structure couldn't know exactly how individual responsibilities and team goals would shake out. Being a director involves overseeing committee chairs who are often adults. This is a dynamic that many youth, even among 4-H'ers, haven't experienced yet, and was cited as a challenge.
How the management board plans to support youth participation
We have been doing some critical self-reflection to understand why director roles are challenging for youth, and how we can better promote the valuable opportunity of serving in one of these positions. We listened to feedback from our first youth chairs; we did an internal evaluation (see here for more on that); we reviewed the research on youth engagement and youth voice; and a small group of us synthesized this into a set of specific changes to make and points on which to double down. These are our current focus areas for improving youth participation and voice on the management board.
- Expect high quality youth-adult partnerships. Every team (directors, standing committees, event planning teams) within the management board will use Hart's Ladder to be mindful of developing strong youth-adult partnerships.
- Create a pipeline for youth members. We will help youth management board committee members prepare for larger leadership roles over time. We will help youth plan for positions on the management board as a pinnacle 4-H leadership experience, much like becoming a State Ambassador.
- Be more visible. We're making a point of being present at area and state events and finding ways to broaden our communications.
- Make youth directorship manageable. This one is challenging. We are considering ideas like having a coach for each youth director and having youth/adult co-directors. We proactively avoid the need for tribal knowledge so that new directors can quickly get up to speed. Part of this is creating role binders with processes for managing existing events, and for creating new programs.
- Prioritize youth voice in decisions. We're actively working to prevent poor youth-adult partnership strategies like tokenism and manipulation (see Hart's Ladder) and educating our directors and committees to recognize them. Our youth directors and youth committee members are our primary representatives of 4-H'er voice. When developing plans, like our proposal for the transition from sectional conferences to area Youth Summits, we will use tools like focus groups for broader youth inclusion.
4-H is powerful in part because it is youth-led
As the management board develops, we're committed to designing for inclusion. We'll re-evaluate over time and hope to arrive at a better place soon.
You can see this article in its original form and comment on it in Curtis's Facebook post (You do not have to have a Facebook account to read the post, but you will have to log in to Facebook to comment.)
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