Sewing Workshops Offered

If you are a 4-H member needing a bit of sewing assistance as you prepare for our 4-H Fashion Review Contest, Carolyn Langley will be holding help sessions on the following afternoons:

Wednesday, April 16, Wednesday, April 23, Wednesday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 7 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM here at North Carolina Cooperative Extension Center, 112 West Walker Avenue, Asheboro.

Beginning Sewers can choose from a pattern selected for their skill level when they register to attend.

To register, please call Dawn at 318-6000.

As a reminder our Fashion Review and Talent Show is being held on Thursday, May 22 at North Asheboro Middle School in Asheboro.

We will begin at 7:00 PM and conclude by 8:30 PM.

Careers in the Horse Industry

Are you a 4-H member with an interest in Horses? Do you think about a career in the horse industry? Well this workshop, sponsored by 4-H in Randolph, Rowan, Davidson and Davie Counties may be the workshop for you.

On Tuesday, April 29 horse professionals will be available to discuss careers in the horse industry.
The workshop will be held at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Center in Rowan County, Salisbury, NC

Check out this flyer

4-H Citizenship NC Focus

Did you know that the 4th Annual 4-H Citizenship North Carolina Focus will be held on June 16-18, 2008 in Raleigh at the Sheraton Downtown?

*Who can attend?*
Two youth from Randolph County ages 14-19. We can also recruit adult volunteers to attend. All are selected by the application process.

*What does it cost?*
Registration fees are $120.00 per person (youth and adult), including 2 nights lodging and meals during the conference. (The remaining cost is covered by donors and other funding sources.)

*How do I apply?*
Applications must be RECEIVED in the State 4-H Office by May 1, 2008.

Adult Application Form

Youth Application Form

Tentative Agenda

Host Families Needed

Our 4-H International Exchange program has month Long and High School Japanese youth who need to be placed by May 1.

We have 4 more month long girls and 9 more month long boys who need homes, as well as 2 chaperons. The students will be here July 23- August 19. There are 2 Year long High School delegates so far that need homes, 1 Japanese girl and 1 Japanese boy.

Month long students must be placed with a host sibling of the the same gender and within 2 years of the same age. Also, families must provide 3 references, and the application which should be signed by an Extension employee, and an in-home interview must be completed before the students can be permanently placed with a family.

Biographies for each child may be found here:

For more information please call NC Cooperative Extension, Randolph County Center at 336-318-6000 and speak with County Extension Director, Carolyn Langley

Poultry Institute Applications Due April 15

Are you interested in learning more about the Poultry Industry? Did you know that it is the third leading comodity in Randolph County? Poultry is big business and North Carolina State University is sponsoring an institute for youth to learn more about the industry.

The summer institute is a four-day, four-night conference designed to broaden the high school student’s understanding of the educational disciplines, scholarship opportunities, careers and industries related to poultry science.

Any high school student (rising 11th and 12th graders) with an interest in the biological sciences or a career in the poultry industry may apply to attend. You must list as a reference a high school science teacher, counselor, County Extension agent, 4H leader or vocational agriculture instructor. We also request a brief personal statement of why you would like to attend. There will be space for two adults to attend the conference as well.

Here is the first step: Check out the application!
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/4h/summerinstitute/pssi_registration.pdf


For additional information: E-mail: melissa_scherpereel@ncsu.edu or
call (919) 515-5403.

Dairy Quiz Bowl - April 12, 2008

Randolph County is registered to have three teams competing in the 2008 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl competition! Coach Jason Wright has been practicing with teams and Kerri Beth Frazier, Student at North Carolina State University has also assisted with coaching!

Junior 4-H Members registered to compete include:
Team 1
Sydney Davis
Evan Gunter
Mickey Jo Grubb
Cole Davis


Team 2
Emma Wicker
Rachel Osborne
Shanna Langley

Senior Team 4-H members registered to compete include:
Katie Wicker
Courtney Elliott
Terri Lane Frazier
Adam Frazier

The competition will be held in Statesville at the Iredell County Extension Center

Operation Military Kids Presentation

Cody Williams, 4-H Club member from Randolph County did a presentation at Teen Retreat on Speak Out for Military Kids (SOMK)!

He led two sessions with a total of 20 youth participating!

SOMK is a community service opportunity to train military and non-military youth to establish Speakers Bureaus to advocate for military-connected youth affected by deployment. Cody explained to 4-H’ers the importance of advocating for youth whose parents may be deployed in service to our country.

Teen Retreat A Blast!

We had a fantastic time at Teen Retreat! We met many 4-H members from other counties, enjoyed workshops on leadership, dancing, art and so much more! Here are a few pictures of the weekend.

Human Race on Saturday, March 15

Don't forget this weekend is the HUMAN RACE! We will meet at 9:30 AM on Saturday at Memorial Park on Church St. in Asheboro. Did you turn your money into Jody? If not, please call and let us know. Our telephone number is 318-6000.

Following the Human Race we will travel to Betsy Jeff Penn 4-H Camp to participate in Teen Retreat! The following youth will participate including: Heather Allred, Katelyn Jarrell, Cody Williams and Ben Talbott.

Watch the blog for all the pictures and stories about the retreat and the fundraising walk!

4-H Leader Training

Our project record training scheduled in January got cancelled due to bad weather! Our new date is Tuesday, March 18 at North Carolina Cooperative Extension. The training will begin at 6:30 PM. Remember we are at our new offices on 112 West Walker Avenue in Asheboro. To register call Dawn Cheek at 336-318-6000, or email me at: barbara_swanson@ncsu.edu

4-H: A Program That Works!

Several recent national studies affirm the 4-H benefit:
4-H members are 50% less likely than non 4-H members to smoke cigarettes, shoplift, or use illegal drugs.
4-H members are 20% more likely to hold a leadership position in their school or community than non 4-H members.
4-H members are 24% more likely to get involved in projects that "help others" than are non 4-H members.
4-H members are 65% more likely than non 4-H members to have held conversations with an adult other than a parent that lasted 10 minutes or more within the past month.
40% of 4-H alumni have completed a university degree, compared to 28% nationwide.

In addition 4-H youth:
Master skills to make career and life choices.
Connect to communities and learn to give back to others.
Mature in self-discipline and responsibility.
Learn to better understand themselves.
Become independent thinkers.
Develop lifelong friendships and long-term relationships with caring adults.

Art is Alive in Siler City!

Thanks to the creative spirit of Jody Terry, 4-H Program Assistant, 9 youth and two adults took a trip to Siler City to explore the ARTS on Saturday, March 8. With the help of Sue Szary, Director of the NC Arts Incubator in historic downtown
Siler City, we explored art from weaving, painting, stained glass, clay, blacksmithing and so much more! The five hour visit allowed 4-H members an opportunity to see and explore a variety of art in Siler City.

The state theme of 4-H is "COME SEE EXPRESS". Members also painted a piece of pottery which will be fired and picked up and delivered to members next week.

One special 4-H Project was highlighted: Randolph County 4-H club member Jessie Talbott gave the group a special viewing of her 4-H Ambassador Project: A Painted Mural Celebrating the ARTS and its integration with 4-H!

Youth will now go back home and have a better understanding of the variety of arts available to them to explore!

Horticulture Training Offered

Horticulture Contest

The 2008 Horticulture Judging and Identification Contest will be held:
Monday, July 21, Time TBA

...Did you know that begonias are a tart and tasty snack?
...Or that a form of aspirin first came from willow trees?
...Have you ever seen basil seeds germinate before your eyes?

The Horticulture Judging and Identification Contest is a great way to introduce the very cool stories that plants are hoping to tell. This contest is a training program concerned with teaching youth to recognize and identify some of the most important horticultural crops, to learn criteria influencing quality and to be able to answer questions and solve problems relating to the art and science of horticulture. There are three portions of the test, including knowledge, judging and identification.

Youth ages 9-19 are welcome to participate in the horticulture contest at state congress. Youth ages 9-19 can compete individually, but it is required that youth 15-19 form a team of 3-4 indidividuals to be eligible to continue on and compete at the National Finals at the National Junior Horticultural Association annual convention as a 4-H team. Individual state winners, ages 15-19, are welcome to compete at NJHA, but currently there is no funding to support their national efforts. Team members must be 15 years old by December 31 of the current year to compete in the national contest. The highest total county score is declared the state winner. The winning team members each receive a $150 scholarship towards expenses to the NJHA Convention. The three highest scoring individuals become the official team.

Any youth interested in just trying out the Horticulture Contest are welcome to attend and either take it as a practice or simply to observe.

For more information about this Horticulture Opportunity, call us here at the Extension Office at 318-6000.

Human Race - March 15

The Human Race will soon be a reality for all of us! The Human Race is a fundrasier to support local Randolph County non-profit agencies like 4-H!

4-H members need to turn their collected money into Jody Terry, 4-H Program Assistant by Wednesday, March 12. Jody will make a deposit with the Volunteer Center and then all we have to do is show up on Saturday, March 15 and walk the 3 miles along with hundreds of other Randolph County residents. The walk / run will be held at Memorial Park located on Church Street in Asheboro. 4-H members are asked to meet with us at the park at 9:30 AM on March 15. The walk will begin promptly at 10:00 AM.

The best part of the Human Race is that Randolph County 4-H will receive a check for 75% of whatever monies 4-H raises. That is the best return on a fundraiser that I have found!

If you have any questions about our Human Race participation, contact us at 336-318-6000.

Winterfest - Art Exploration this weekend!

Randolph County youth who registered for the 2008 Winterfest activity that got cancelled because of bad weather will be heading out for a make up ART activity this weekend.

Jody Terry, 4-H Program Assistant has arranged a fantastic trip to Siler City for a day exploring the ARTS.

During our activity, we will be introduced to the Mural designed and painted by Jessie Talbott, Randolph County 4-H member and a 4-H Ambassador. The mural was the culmination of Jessies Ambassador Project.

Watch this space for a review of all the fun!

We Love Our New Office Space

Well we survived! Yes, we packed, moved and now have unpacked and moved into our new office space at 112 West Walker Avenue in Asheboro. We are located in the same building as the Sandhills Mental Health Center. Our offices are located on the lower level and Mental Health is located on the top floors.

Stop by and check it out! We still have some boxes to go through, but we feel the extra space we have will suit us nicely.