The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
(Vol. 17 No. 30)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
My theme for today’s message is the importance of gathering impact from your programs. I am going to use an example of gathering impact from Sedgwick County. Bev Dunning has been working to get the best budgetary outcome through the county commission. Additionally, some of the participants of programs are also sending messages to the local commissioners. Following are a few key statements that would begin to make an excellent impact report / success story. The information collected could have come from using a series of well planned questions of 4-H parents. This is from one parent who has been involved with 4-H for several years and multiple children. I've sorted the information into responses to three global questions.
How has 4-H community club involvement helped your child in self-worth and self-confidence?
Through the small groups of 4-H families, my girls have gotten practice and have become comfortable trying new things, and even public speaking. My girls now are very accomplished in speech contests, school presentations, and job interviews largely due to the experiences they have gotten in 4-H. Unlike so many competitive programs out there, 4-H rewards trying—whether you win or lose is much less important than whether you have tried. The one on one feedback by a judge gives them something to improve on, and lots of positive encouragement.
How has 4-H community club involvement helped your child in caring and compassion?
Our club and many others have monthly service projects. In any one year, our club of 20 families has collected 1000’s of used shoes which were traded in for a wheel chair accessible van for the Veteran’s hospital, bakes dozens of cookies which were taken to Ronald McDonald houses, put on talent/variety shows for nursing homes, sent 50+ hand written letters overseas to service men, and collected electronics to be donated to Starkey. Multiply this by the 20 4-H clubs in Sedgwick County, and you have some great volunteering going on.
How has 4-H community club involvement helped your child to build connections with others?
There are many opportunities for serving on small committees, then leading a committee, teaching a project, etc. 4-H is one of the few things out there, where kids don’t have to be super athletic to be a leader!!! They can learn leadership and team work through small one on one activities, and through club or county wide activities. 4-H also brings families together. Unlike scouting or sports, the whole family participates in the activities and contests. 4-H builds community, because all parents are expected to help - and most do! Many parents contributing, means kids get exposed to so many interests, and talents.
Now there was much more that this parent said, and all this was without the questions and prompting. But, wouldn’t it be great to have this kind of an evaluative report on which to draw the value of the educational programs from which you are involved?
Read on into the next topic... evidence of program impact can emerge anytime, and this system offers a means by which to store that info.
Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
NURSERYWORKS CONFERENCE
K-State’s 1st NurseryWorks Conference June 15-16: From Business and Marketing to Root Ball Shaving
How to improve root systems on trees of any age will be the lead topic at NurseryWorks, June 15-16. The event is Kansas State University’s first conference for those engaged or interested in nursery crop production and sales.
Participants can attend in Manhattan, or take part in the major sessions from their own computer online. Discussions will be interactive, using audience response systems (clickers) and Internet social media (with K-State horticulture students as guides).
“The field has a surprising amount of new research on root systems, as well as interesting experiences from some professionals who treat defects. We’ll learn about all kinds of techniques for producing stable, healthy trees – ranging from using the correct liner trays to shaving root balls to increase anchorage,” said Cheryl Boyer, conference co-director and K-State Research and Extension’s nursery crops specialist.
Leading the “root” session will be Ed Gilman, professor of urban trees and landscape plants at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Other sessions and their leaders will be:
* Estimating the wholesale cost of nursery production – Tom Fernandez, introducing a new spreadsheet tool from Michigan State University Extension.
* Managing your nursery’s brand online – Meg Cloud, Stark Bro’s social media expert who helped the almost 200-year-old nursery grow with and manage an online presence.
* Best management practices for your weed control program – Charles Gillam, Auburn University weed scientist and industry-recognized expert in new herbicide options.
* Best management practices for quality field-grown nursery crops – Kansas native Ted Bilderback, now director of the J.C. Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University, who’ll address soil preparation and amendments, planting density, pruning, and cover crops that reduce soil erosion.
* Building local alliances: Growers and retail garden centers – roundtable discussion led by Bilderback, who has worked with North Carolina’s successful Johnston County Nursery Marketing Association.
* What you must do to sell, import or export live plants from Kansas – Jeff Vogel, Kansas Department of Agriculture expert on regulatory plant issues from the state perspective – pest threats included.
Those attending online will be able to see and hear the sessions, as well as participate in discussions, Boyer said. Those attending at K-State will have an array of additional opportunities.
The Manhattan-only sessions will include 1) a silent auction for Kansas-hardy, container-grown plants, 2) a tree walk through the Manhattan campus; 3) your-choice, hands-on workshops about grafting, pruning shade trees, identifying diseases, sprayer calibration/weed identification, and local nursery operations; and 4) a catered barbecue dinner in the K-State Gardens, concluding with a live auction for balled-and-burlapped specimens.
“We’re hoping participants will take this opportunity to network, as well as – find people with common interests and perhaps even connect with new sources or outlets,” said Jason Griffin, co-director of the conference and director of K-State’s John C. Pair Horticulture Center near Wichita.
NurseryWorks participants will be able to earn up to 8.5 hours of International Society of Arboriculture CEU's, Griffin added, as well as 4 hours of Kansas Pesticide Applicator training credits in both category 3A and category 3C. Many of those hours will be available online.
The fees for those who register by June 3 are $75 for the nursery people and educators who’ll attend in Manhattan, $50 for students, and $30 for those who’ll participate online. (Businesses registering five or more people get a discount.) Registrations received after June 3 will cost $15 more.
A full description of the conference, its activities and speakers, as well as the options and instructions for registering are available on the NurseryWorks website at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/nursery-works/.
For more information: Cheryl Boyer is at 785-532-3504 (or, 6173) and crboyer@ksu.edu. Jason Griffin is at 316-788-0492 or jgriffin@ksu.edu. --Christy Dipman cdipman@ksu.edu
4-H NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE DAY TO FOCUS ON WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
4-H National Headquarters and National 4-H Council recently announced the 2011 National Science Experiment, Wired for Wind,
which will introduce young people to the possibilities of using wind as
a clean, widely available, and low-cost source of renewable energy.
This exciting annual youth science event brings together youth from all
around the nation to complete a single, innovative experiment on 4-H National Youth Science Day, which will be held on Wednesday, October 5.
Designed
by the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension and working in
partnership with KidWind, the 2011 National Science Experiment will
demonstrate how implementing alternatives to traditional energy
production can have a positive impact on communities and ecosystems. 4-H
youth will enhance their engineering skills by designing, building and
testing two different wind turbine models. Wired for Wind will
also help youth relate their scientific experiences back to their own
lives as they determine the best location for a wind farm in their state
or local area by calculating wind power and studying wind data and
maps.
“We created this year’s experiment to help
young people understand the important link between energy, the
environment and their community,” said F. John Hay, Associate Extension
Educator in Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska
– Lincoln Extension, who developed the National Science Experiment.
“Ultimately, we hope that this experiment will inspire young people to
continue their interest in science and engineering throughout their
secondary education, into college and on into career opportunities.”
“Now entering its fourth year, 4-H National Youth Science Day
will again bring young people face-to-face with the challenges of
today’s global economy,” said Donald T. Floyd, Jr., National 4-H Council
president and CEO. “Involving youth early in fun and exciting
scientific exploration is paramount to encouraging their future interest
in science and engineering careers.
"4-H National Youth Science Day
is a great opportunity for young people across the country to have a
hands-on experience about a current science topic. Introducing science
and technology innovation to youth is why 4-H started more than 100
years ago,” said Lisa Lauxman, director of 4-H National Headquarters.
“In the Wired for Wind experiment, youth will explore the
science and engineering of wind energy technology, which may be the
spark that encourages them to learn more about wind and other
alternative energy sources and discuss the implications for the
communities where they live."
Every year, 4-H National
Headquarters and National 4-H Council invite Cooperative Extension
System faculty and staff from the nation’s 109 land-grant colleges and
universities to submit proposals outlining and detailing an innovative
experiment for youth to conduct during 4 H National Youth Science Day.
Once received, a committee made up of staff from 4-H National
Headquarters and National 4-H Council along with a cohort of experts in
the field of education, energy and science, review all of the proposals
and select that year’s National Science Experiment.
For more information on 4-H National Youth Science Day, click here. This year’s 4-H National Youth Science Day has been jointly sponsored by Toyota, BAE and KidWind. --Barbara Stone bjstone@ksu.edu
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