 |
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service |
|
Vol. 16, No. 2
November 10, 2009 ...Word from the
Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research WORD FROM THE
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH My hopes are that EVERY website on the KSRE system prominently display the KSRE logo to assure clientele are aware of the source of the knowledge being conveyed through the website. I ask that you take a critical look at all your webpages and be absolutely certain that anyone from anywhere would know the source of the knowledge being conveyed through that website is coming through K-State and K-State Research and Extension. The beauty of our logo is that it very effectively conveys both brands. State Budget. News last week indicates state government appears be facing another round of significant budget shortfalls. Governor Parkinson has promised he will balance the budget with necessary cuts prior to state legislature coming into session in January. Stay tuned in the next several weeks for any announcements coming from the Board of Regents regarding impacts on University budgets. Great Quote from the Book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. "Sometimes when I consider what wonderful consequences come from little things..... I am tempted to think.... there are no little things." Bruce Barton. 7 Habits Training. Last week twenty nine individuals from across K-State Research and Extension had a great experience by participating in the 7 Habits training put on by a great team from the University of Nebraska Extension. Those having gone through the training included: Mahbub Alam, Rod Buchele, Bruce Chladny, Amy Collins, Melinda Daily, Sherry Davis, Robyn Deines, Jeanne Falk, Leah Robinson, Beth Hinshaw, Jody Holthaus, Tim Jones, Amy Jordan, Ankush Joshi, Steve Keely, Keith Martin, Karaline Mayer, Kent McKinnis, Sarah Mietzner, Josh Morris, Jennifer Ploeger, Brian Rees, Pam Van Horn, Keith Van Skike, Stu Warren, Deb Wood, and Bill Wood. Additionally, we welcomed two faculty from NDSU Extension, Steve Sagaser and Margaret Tweten, who joined the group at Rock Springs 4-H Center last week for the training. Ask any of them about the training. I hope we can bring this opportunity back again in 2010. Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
SAVE THE DATE!!! --Dorothy Doan ddoan@ksu.edu
THANK YOU FROM
CHARLOTTE SHOUP OLSEN
HIGH
PLAINS ENERGY TEAM OFFERING WEBINARS Seminar #1 - Managing Your
Expectations - Sizing a Small Wind Turbine to Your Load Seminar #2 - Understanding Wind
Energy Leases
ECONOMIST BARRY FLINCHBAUGH TO SPEAK
IN COWLEY COUNTY - Flinchbaugh has taught at Kansas State since 1971, focusing on national agricultural and economic policy. He is much sought after as a speaker, and has authored more than 100 publications, including an agricultural policy textbook. On three occasions, students of the KSU College of Agriculture have given him the Outstanding Teacher Award. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. at Purdue University. The evening will start with a pork loin feed at 6 p.m. and Dr. Flinchbaugh’s presentation will follow at 7 p.m. The cost is $5 per person and pre-registration for meal reservation would be appreciated by Tuesday, November 17. This meeting is sponsored by K-State Research and Extension Cowley County. If interested or if you would like additional information, please contact the Cowley County Extension Office at either 620-221-5450 or cl@ksu.edu . --Jill Zimmerman jazimmer@ksu.edu
"ALL ABOARD FOR
KAE4-HA" At the Regional Breakfast, Beth Hecht was the recipient of the Educational Technology Award, and Phyllis Kriesel the Regional Communicator Award for Feature Story, Published Photo and News Story. Completing terms of leadership were Sarah Maass, who has been the Vice President for Research, Evaluation and Programs;; and Anna Muir, who was the Regional Contact for Member Recognition. One of the benefits of membership is the opportunity to participate in these professional development events. Save the dates of October 24-28, 2010 and plan to travel to Phoenix, Arizona! Jim Adams is the treasurer for KAE4-HA and would be glad to accept your dues before December 1. --Lori Shoemaker lshoemak@ksu.edu MARK YOUR CALENDAR... Mark your calendar for Saturday, November 21, from 3 - 6 p.m. for a retirement reception. Glenda Keller, District Director, will retire on January 3, 2010 after serving Extension for the past 44 years. The reception will precede the 4-H Achievement Banquet, and will be held in the Washington County High School Library. At the same time a farewell for Ross Mosteller will be taking place. Please stop by and wish Glenda and Ross congratulations. A memory book will be put together for Glenda, please bring letters or memoirs with you to the reception. --River Valley Extension District
EVERYONE READY® If you work with volunteers at any level, you are encouraged to make this a key part of their personal professional development plan. To register, go to: http://nextgeneration.4-h.org/volunteerism/ . Registration information is on the right side of the page. Once you are signed in, you will go to a welcome and information page. To start the Everyone Ready® online course click on the Everyone Ready® box on the upper right side. Take some time to explore the other volunteerism resources on this opening page. There is a new topic every month, starting the third Monday of the
month.
The current topic is a self instruction guide titled - Volunteer
Program
Manager: A Task Analysis of the Role and its Significant Issues,” The next topic, (starting November 16), is an online instruction class titled: “New Approaches to Recruitment”, Trainer: Susan J. Ellis. All previous topics will be archived, so they are always available. --Rod Buchele rbuchele@ksu.edu
MARIE’S PICKS . . .
**Pratt County has nearly 60,000 acres in CRP contracts scheduled to expire over the next three years. Producers need ways to bring these acres back into economically feasible crop production. K-State Research and Extension facilitated a "What to Do with Expiring CRP Contracts?" tour and program in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Thirty-one participants witnessed examples of farmers who previously turned CRP back to active production. They learned the "do’s and don’ts" of this process.**All elementary students learned why proper hand washing is necessary to help prevent illness. Fifty-seven adults participating as teams in the Healthy Check Challenge program are improving their lifestyle. **When Kiowa County hosted the 2009 spring Master Gardener training, 20 people took the training for the first time and two people attended the class for advance training hours. Of the 20 new Master Gardeners, 16 completed their volunteer hours in time to attend the Advanced Master Gardener training in October in Manhattan. Over a six-month time period, the 16 volunteer educators provided 640 hours of horticulture training in six counties in Southwest Kansas. **Seniors gained an understanding of how cons and scams occur, ways to detect a scam, and what to do if they suspect someone is trying to fraud them by attending a Senior Finance Abuse session. --One elderly couple came in for help with their health insurance. They purchased a plan from a salesman who contacted them and were afraid they had made a serious error, as it sounded too good to be true. After further investigation with the company by asking questions, the couple learned that their decision making process was sound and the policy plan would save them several thousand dollars. They were relieved to know they had a good policy and were very grateful for the assistance. The lady said to her husband as they were leaving, "I didn't know the Extension Office could help us with this." **Middle school aged youth will use basic money management skills gained through participating in Moola Venture. The participants are aware of the costs associated with living in the real world; how to do a budget; the difference between checks, debit cards, and credit cards; and the importance of saving money. The participants will pay themselves first and be responsible with their money. More than $500 was saved by the Moola Venture participants in their piggy banks over the four-week class session. All of the students that completed their evaluation (13 of 19) indicated that they would be putting money in savings on a regular basis. --One Moola Venture student recently won a $100 bill in a drawing at a meeting. The 12-year old proudly announced to the audience that he would pay himself first by putting 10% of the $100 in his savings account! --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
THREE NIMBLE 4-H MEMBERS GOING TO TAIWAN! Last week we received a call from Josh Svaty, the Acting Secretary for the Kansas Department of Agriculture. He had an opportunity/challenge for us. Governor Parkinson had just returned from a trip to Taiwan where he learned about an opportunity for Kansas youth to travel to Taiwan. The Governor asked Mr. Svaty to see if it would be possible to select three youth to travel to Taiwan…in two weeks!!
At 4 p.m. Thursday, we received enough details to announce a selection process and a message went out to Extension Offices, FFA advisors, recent IFYE delegates, Collegiate 4-H members, and Youth Council members. Information was also posted on the Kansas 4-H Facebook fan page.
In the 24 hours from the time we announced this opportunity until essays were due, we received eleven excellent applications!! The selection committee is please to announce the Kansas delegates will be Michelle Hill from Sedgwick County, Shelbie Smith from Edwards County, and Sarah Works from Allen County!
We hope this opportunity will be available again next year, and if so, we hope to provide much more information with much more lead time. At Annual Conference, Pat McNally urged us all to be nimble in responding to opportunities! Those who shared this opportunity with these three youth will have forever impacted their lives with this international experience! --Justin Wiebers jwiebers@ksu.edu
CITIZENSHIP WASHINGTON FOCUS APPLICATIONS POSTED Applications have been posted for the 2010 CWF trip. There is also a document available only to Extension staff when you log in on the page. The “Timeline, Checklist and Nomination Form” has secret information only for you!!
Quick Facts: Dates: Thursday, June 10, through Monday, June 21, 2010 Where: Cross country road trip to Washington D.C. and back!! Who: Delegates must be 15 to 18 years old by January 1, 2010
Three to five chaperones are needed too! They must be at least 21 years old and VIP registered. (No cost for chaperones).
If any of your youth should be applying for CWF, the application and additional information is available on the Kansas 4-H web site at http://www.Kansas4-H.org/CWF . --Justin Wiebers jwiebers@ksu.edu
DISCOVERY DAYS CREW APPLICATIONS POSTED The Discovery Days Action Team is looking for a few good leaders! These leaders, known as CREW members, are responsible for facilitating ice-breakers and promoting a general sense of fellowship and belonging among Discovery Days delegates.
CREW members must be at least 16 years old and have attended Discovery Days in the past. Additional requirements and responsibilities can be found on the Discovery Days web page at http://www.Kansas4-H.org/DiscoveryDays .
CREW member opportunities will also be promoted at KYLF. --Justin Wiebers jwiebers@ksu.edu
FINAL ORDER FOR “4-H AWESOME” T-SHIRTS A final order for the lime green “4-H Awesome” shirts will be submitted November 16 so shirts can be ready for delivery December 1. If anyone wants to place an order, please fax a complete order form to the State 4-H Office by noon on Monday, November 16.
The order form is available at http://www.Kansas4-H.org/YC . --Justin Wiebers jwiebers@ksu.edu
KANSAS STATE FAIR 4-H DIVISION SURVEY https://surveys.ksu.edu/TS?offeringId=150206 During the rush of the State Fair, we don't take the time we should to consider how to 'Make the best better." So now that it has cooled down a bit, we're looking for feedback and suggestions for the 4-H divisions at the Kansas State Fair.
There are 12 open-ended questions to spur your thoughts about various components of the 4-H processes around the State Fair. There's also an additional open-ended question at the end since we probably missed something.
We appreciate your help and would love to see your ideas and thoughts on how we can improve. Feel free to leave questions blank if you don’t have any responses on some questions.
Survey Closes November 11. --Justin Wiebers jwiebers@ksu.edu
December
1-3, twenty state and local partner organizations, including K- State
Research and Extension, will host "Cultivating Healthy Kansans," a
leadership summit on health promotion and chronic disease prevention.
The summit, to be held in Topeka, will feature national, regional,
state and local speakers focused on disease self-management, quality
of care, environmental and social influences on health, the built
environment, community planning and smart growth and effective
collaborations to impact chronic disease and injury prevention.
Coaches Bill
Snyder and Bill Self are honorary co-chairs and will both present at
the Summit.
To register
for the conference, click
www.cultivatinghealthykansans.org .
You can also
contact Elaine Johannes,
ejohanne@ksu.edu , who is on the planning committee for the
Summit. --Elaine Johannes
NEW RESOURCE
FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT This newsletter was created for use by all local Extension units in the state. Our goal is that counties will distribute the newsletter to stakeholders in their community and help to further K-State Research and Extension's ties to local community development efforts. The PFT's concept was to create a newsletter that can be sent as is, or that can be customized with local information. Therefore, there are some sections in the newsletter that can be edited at the local level. In addition, counties are encouraged to personalize the newsletter with county name on the front page and county address on the back page. Directions for making these changes were sent to county offices last week. Consider sending this letter to county commissioners, community development PDC members, local city council representatives, school board members, PRIDE groups, economic development organizations, Chambers of Commerce, and anyone else who has a stake in local community development. The newsletter can be distributed electronically, hard copy and/or posted to your local unit website. It will be published by the Community Development PFT quarterly and distributed to local units in electronic form. Please share any suggestions for improvement, articles, success stories related to the newsletter, or questions with the following individuals: Dan Kahl, dankahl@ksu.edu ; Jennifer Wilson, jrwilson@ksu.edu ; David Key, dkey@ksu.edu ; Debra Bolton, dbolton@ksu.edu ; Trudy Rice trice@ksu.edu . --Trudy Rice
COMMUNICATION MINUTE: NEWSLETTERS APPEAL TO CURRENT USERS In his 1988 doctoral dissertation, Jim Lindquist reported that 57 percent of all Kansans used newsletters as an information source. In 2007, K-State Research and Extension's statewide telephone survey showed that more than 3 in 4 Kansans consider newsletters as "very effective" or "somewhat effective" ways to find information. Lindquist's study found that the use of newsletters was highest in rural areas and for Kansans who were already involved with an Extension program ("users"). The 2007 survey also indicates high usage among rural residents (83.3%) and current users (86.9%), but also among young adults (84.4%), non-users (75%) and suburban residents (72.6%). Professional design and printing services are available through K-State Research and Extension's Department of Communications, often at a savings to you over other options. For more information, contact Greg LeValley at glevalle@ksu.edu . --Pat Melgares melgares@ksu.edu
OCTOBER
EXTENSION AGENT PERSONNEL CHANGES Nathan Geiger, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Doniphan County, resigned effective October 16, 2009. Layla Z. El-Chami, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in Sedgwick County, resigned effective October 16, 2009. Donna Martinson, Family and Consumer
Sciences Agent in Geary County, retired effective October 31, 2009.
KSRE MASTER
CALENDAR Please Submit Items no later than Noon on Monday to include in the following Tuesday Letter to: tuesday@ksre.ksu.edu . Put the word "Tuesday" in the subject line. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. |