- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Field trips are out, but the learning continues at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Students who are involved with UC Cooperative Extension's 4-H Youth Development program will compete virtually in a unique pumpkin-growing contest centered at the 330-acre research station in Parlier.
The program replaces traditional in-person educational events offered to schools, which were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, teams will be organized and assigned to small plots of pumpkins. The remote teams will act as farm managers and use an imaginary budget to decide on the use of micronutrients, fertilizers, pollinators, pest control, fungicides and irrigation practices. All the farming will be conducted by Kearney staff and progress shared frequently via the pumpkin project's Instagram account, @UCCE_KARE_pumpkins.
As part of the project,
- Prizes will be offered for the teams with the highest yield and quality of pumpkins.
- Students interested in engineering will compete with homemade catapults in a “pumpkin chunkin'” contest
- 4-H members who love cooking and baking may enter items in a cooking and baking with pumpkin contest.
- Artistic participants can submit entries for pumpkin carving and decorating contests.
- Animal enthusiasts will feed pumpkins to elephants at the Chaffee Zoo.
“They will be doing all things pumpkin,” said Ryan Puckett, Kearney outreach coordinator, who is working closely with outreach mentor, Julie Pedraza, a staff research associate at the center.
The Kearney event will give the 4-H members activities in a time when 4-H program opportunities have diminished due to various restrictions and closures.
“COVID hit really hard,” said Predaza, who has served as a judge and consultant for traditional 4-H competitions in sewing, baking, community service and public speaking. “The Fresno Fair might be cancelled. Projects are on hold. 4-H members are waiting to see if they will be able to do regular competitions. We decided to launch our first virtual program.”
The first Zoom contestant meeting will be the first week of August.
- Author: Ricardo A. Vela
The purpose of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15) is to recognize the contributions and vital presence of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States. President Lyndon Johnson first approved Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968, and it was expanded to a full month by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
Why does Hispanic Heritage Month run from mid-September to mid-October? The date was chosen to bookend two milestones for Spanish speaking countries: the celebration of independence from Spain for Mexico, Chile, and, five Central American nations (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica) and Columbus Day / Día de la Raza. This day is mostly celebrated by the Italian Americans rather than Spanish-speaking immigrants.
In the fabric of our society, the impact of Hispanics is undeniable. It is important for the new generations that our contributions in forging this great nation are valued beyond food and music. From astronauts to physicists, Hispanics have contributed to better our lives. A few examples:
- Luis Walter Alvarez was an American experimental physicist, inventor, and professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968.
- Franklin Ramón Chang Díaz is a Costa Rican American mechanical engineer, physicist, former NASA astronaut.
- Ellen O. Ochoa is a Hispanic-American engineer, former astronaut and former Director of the Johnson Space Center.
UC ANR joins in the celebration of Hispanic heritage by profiling four Latino academics, advisors, educators who serve their communities, day after day, applying the UC ANR public values:
- Fe Moncloa - 4-H Youth Development Advisor, UCCE Santa Clara County
- Jairo Diaz - Director of the UC Desert Research and Extension Center
- María de la Fuente – UC Cooperative Extension director in Monterey County and UCCE Farm & Master Gardener Advisor, Monterey & Santa Cruz counties.
- Aileen Carrasco-Trujillo - Bilingual Nutrition Educator, UCCE Santa Clara County
Teens 13 to 19 years old and adults are invited to spend the weekend at beautiful Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria Nov. 1-3 developing their health and well-being at the 4-H annual Mindfulness Retreat. Participants will increase their personal skills in leading a healthy lifestyle, and gain skills needed to be health advocates in their communities. The retreat will focus on stress management, relationship building, nutrition, and a general understanding of mindfulness.
Activities include yoga, art, quiet listening, and time outside in nature.
The Mindfulness Retreat fee is $275 per person, including registration, lodging and meals. For more information and to register, visit the retreat calendar page. The registration deadline is Oct. 1.
Below are comments from teens who attended a previous 4-H Mindfulness Retreat.
Jada: The mindfulness retreat was refreshing for me to be able to worry about nothing but the present. I loved the morning yoga and and making collages. This weekend reminded me that I should stop and take a total break from everything more often, and that I don't have to constantly be accomplishing something. I learned that visualizing things, like the glitter in a moody jar, when I meditate or practice mindfulness helps me to focus.
TJ: Given the opportunity to focus on myself and the present for a weekend with no worries about the future was an amazing experience. I spent time learning more about myself, learning about others, and learning mindful tools to help me get through my everyday life. From meditating on the beach, tons of arts and crafts, hilarious skits, and meeting new friends, it was an experience I will remember for a very long time!
Rose: The mindfulness retreat was an enlightening experience that impacted me in so many ways. With all my college applications due, I've been extremely busy and extremely stressed. The retreat really opened my eyes to the impact that stress can make on my social, mental and emotional health. I was able to leave the retreat with mindfulness strategies that I now use to help me relieve stress, such as collaging, deep breathing, and journaling.
Addy: The mindfulness retreat was a great weekend for stressed teens and adults. It gave everyone some time to step back and live in the moment instead of being obsessed with future plans and responsibilities. The retreat provided everyone with helpful tools that will keep you on track, and keep your stress levels down. This retreat really opened my eyes to what meditation and mindful breathing is capable of and I now use these techniques as a daily stress reliever. This was an unforgettable experience that I would highly recommend people of all ages.
- Author: Mcircicillo@ucanr.edu
- Contact: Jennifer Bitker, (805) 234-5409, Jennifer@anddesignpro.com
4-H, the largest youth development program in the nation, is calling on all 4-H supporters to raise their hands to help bring 4-H to 10 million youth by 2025. Currently 4-H empowers nearly six million young people in every county across America, including 142,277 4-H'ers in California.
For more than 100 years, the 4-H impact on young people has been immeasurable. “Having experienced our programs first-hand, our supporters and alumni know best what a positive impact 4-H had on them growing up, which is why we're reaching out to them to support the next generation of true leaders,” said Mary Ciricillo, California 4-H Foundation Director.
“Whether they're running Fortune 100 companies, performing to sold-out crowds, leading community programs or volunteering to empower local youth, 4‑H supporters and alumni are the epitome of true leadership,” said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO, National 4‑H Council. “We now have the perfect opportunity to pay it forward by raising our hands for 4-H, ensuring that the next generation has the opportunity to benefit from the experience.”
Raise Your Hand
As part of the Raise Your Hand call to action (running April 1 – May 15), 4-H is asking the millions of 4‑H supporters and alumni across the nation, to ‘Raise Your Hand' and pay it forward in support of providing the hands-on learning that empowers kids across America.
Joining is easy – alumni & friends can go online to www.4-H.org/raiseyourhand, vote for your state, and fill in their details. Raising a hand in this way is a vote towards a $20,000, $10,000 or $5,000 award for the states with the most hands raised, including California. Then support the activation by tweeting, posting and sharing their #4HGrown experience, or support and tag fellow supporters and alumni by asking them to raise their hands for their state.
“4-H gives kids the opportunity to learn by doing, to grow from not only the encouragements brought by success, but also through challenges and failures, as these skills will help them to handle whatever life may throw their way,” explains Jennifer Nettles, Grammy-award winning musician, actress and 4‑H national spokesperson.
About California 4-H
4-H, the nation's largest youth development organization grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. The University of California 4-H Youth Development Program promotes hands-on, experiential learning for all youth ages 5-19. Our 4-H programs are delivered locally through the County University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) offices. Find your county UCCE office. 4-H is offered in 57 out of 58 counties in California.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The joyful reunion of two 4-H children, Leia and Caroline Carrico, with their parents after spending 44 hours lost in the Humboldt County wilderness in early March has raised awareness about the benefits to youth involved in the UC Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Program.
Established more than 100 years ago, UC Cooperative Extension launched 4-H to teach children research-based agriculture and rural living skills. Over time, it has evolved dramatically, reaching children in urban centers, inner cities, suburbs as well as rural communities with leadership opportunities, life skills, nutrition education and other information to help them grow into resilient adults.
The Carrico children, ages 5 and 8, had participated in a 4-H outdoor training training program. They lived in a rural area and were well acquainted with the redwood forest surrounding their home. Recalling lessons they learned, the sisters stayed in place when they realized they were lost – a key survival skill, said Yana Valachovic, director of UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. There were more things they learned from 4-H project leader Justin Lehnert's teaching that helped them survive unscathed.
“Justin told them to leave signs. Searchers found granola bar wrappers and deep boot marks. They knew that they should shelter in a dry place,” Valachovic said. “They knew to keep positive and how to find safe drinking water without endangering themselves by drinking from a creek.”
The 4-H program in Humboldt County has been inundated with calls for a curriculum that can be used elsewhere to teach these valuable skills. The UC 4-H Youth Development advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, Dorina Espinoza, is working with Lehnert to develop a project sheet so the survival skills used by the Carrico sisters can be made available in 4-H and other settings to young people throughout the U.S.
The sisters' odyssey and its happy conclusion shows the hoped-for result of the research-based 4-H learning model, Espinoza said.
“The sisters are smart girls,” Espinoza said “They attribute their application of survival skills to family camping trips, movies about people who get lost and 4-H adventures. 4-H reinforced new or existing skills. We know kids learn with multiple exposures. 4-H is a hands-on approach to learning that other settings don't offer.”
In 4-H, children choose “projects” they are interested in. The projects are led by adult volunteers from the community.
“What's different about 4-H is we have adult volunteers who develop partnerships with youth. They partner in learning, leadership and decision making,” Espinoza said. “That's a beautiful part of 4-H.”
Lehnert is a 4-H parent and volunteer who operates a business in Humboldt centered on enjoying the outdoors.
“Justin brings years of personal and professional experience, having completed a Wilderness First Responder Course of the National Outdoor Leadership School. He studied outdoor recreation at Feather River College and has been an outdoor recreation enthusiast for years,” Espinoza said. “We are so very grateful to Justin for sharing his expertise with our 4-H community.”
Californians can find UC Cooperative Extension 4-H projects near them at http://4h.ucanr.edu.
