Do you have an interest in participating in 4-H beyond Placer County? Is leadership one of your sparks? If so, I'd like to share some information about the California Diamond Clover Award.
The Diamond Clover award is the highest achievement for a 4-H youth member. All 4-Hers are eligible for the award once they achieve all the requirements. It will take several years to complete them, but along the way you will have fun, learn new things, and participate in many club, county, and CA 4-H level activities.
I created a plan myself toward this award. After finishing the last requirement in March 2021, I recently submitted my application and an essay for the award. The 4-H Incentives and Recognition Advisory Committee will now review my application and essay when they meet later this quarter.
Here are my top tips for any other 4-Her who is interested in beginning their journey toward the Diamond Clover Award.
Tip #1 – Read more about the California Diamond Clover Award. The University of California 4-H Youth Development Program website lists the requirements. Knowing what they are will help you plan for achieving them. http://4h.ucanr.edu/Resources/Member_Resources/Scholarships_-_Awards/4-H_Diamond_Clover_Awards/
Tip #2 – Create objectives and build a plan to reach those objectives. Several of the requirements include being a member of a state level advisory committees, leading a major event or activity, serving as an evaluator at presentation days, and participating in state level leadership conferences, just to name a few. Having a plan will help you decide when you want to and can take on new responsibilities. Don't get frustrated if your plan is several years long. The best things are worth working hard for.
Tip #3 – Find a 4-H friend who is interested in working toward the Diamond Clover Award. You can share the experiences with someone else, cheer each on and maybe even participate in some of the requirements together.
Tip #4 – Talk about your Diamond Clover Award goal with your 4-H club leader, project leaders and 4-H Community Education Specialist. Let them know what you're doing. You won't be surprised to find these individuals will help support you toward your goal.
Tip #5 – Familiarize yourself with the various 4-H State Advisory Committees. These committees use an application process to build their membership. The deadline to apply is usually May 31st. Not every Advisory Committee needs new members each year, so determine which ones do and apply for one that matches your interests.
- Author: John Gardner
Vortechs Robotics (FRC team 3257) won the 2021 FIRST Infinite Recharge Sacramento Valley, Phosphorus Regional. Additionally, the team won an award for its robot's autonomous capabilities (Autonomous is where the robot is driverless and completes certain tasks using its programing and sensors).
The Vortechs team is a 4-H robotics project comprised of up of high school students from South Placer County high schools and homeschooling students.The team constructs its robots in Roseville and tests the robot at Love of Learning Homeschool Learning Center in Rocklin. The high school students begin the project year by analyzing the current year's competition rules, goals and objectives of the robot. Next, they design an engineer the robot and its mechanisms to achieve the goals and objectives. Then they create CAD designs and begin manufacturing the robot. Next the electrical group begins wiring the robot and creating their elaborate electrical boards. Finally, the robot is off to the programming group where they will design and program custom software to achieve the goals set by FRC (First Robotics Competition). After all this is completed it's usually time to start developing the upgrades. The process takes a lot of time but in the end the students learn great lessons on working together and achieving goals.
- Author: Natalie Cunha
Placer County 4-H Spirit Week, July 7th-14th, 2021 was created by this year's Placer County Ambassador Team! The Ambassadors put extensive thought into what they wanted to do for our 4-H members this year and a 4-H Spirit Week is what they came up with. Part of the County Ambassador's annual mission is to work on a project over the year. This year with limited in-person events the Ambassadors had ample time to think about what would help their county 4-H program despite the challenging year. Since we were all unsure when, how, or where exactly we would all be able to gather in-person again it was difficult to come up with a plan of action. Each day of the week was themed, with activities for all age groups!
Here is a recap on the activities that were offered:
The photos above, were just some of the photos turned in for Placer County 4-H Spirit Week. All 4-H members were able to participate in Placer County 4-H Spirit week virtually.
"I wanted to put together Placer County 4-H Spirit week to encourage people to participate in 4-H. This year has been difficult to participate, so finding a way for members of all ages and levels to participate and have a good time was important!" - Alex
"I was very excited to help but together the 2021 Placer County 4-H Spirit Week because I knew it would be a great way to help get 4-Hers involved in the program again. This past year has been very difficult for us all and participation has struggled as a result of it. But I knew that if we could do something fun for the youth, everyone would enjoy it and help us get back into 4-H events and activities again." - Myah
"I wanted to put together 4-H spirit week to give those maybe stuck at home something fun and exciting to do." - Margaret
