| Spotlight on Youth - June 9, 2010 |
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Parkway FFA presents check to Children’s Miracle Network
DAYTON, Ind. — On May 13, members of the Parkway FFA officer team presented Debbie Butner from the Children’s Hospital in Dayton, with a check for $1,500 at Parkway High School. Also present were several Parkway students that have been treated at Children’s Hospital, including Jackson Ross, Justin Johnston, Gage Regedanz, Elijah Sherman-Parks, Savannah Freeman, and Sierra Freeman. Throughout the past year, the Parkway FFA raised the money that was donated in several ways. The FFA holds recycling one Saturday a month for the community. Also, the chapter held an aluminum can drive earlier this spring. Lastly, all of the profits from the Daddy-Daughter Dance, held at the end of April, also went toward this cause.
Michigan youth receives SARE grant for student report
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following recipients have been awarded grants from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) for their projects, which are listed below. The grants were awarded as part of NCR-SARE’s Youth Grant Program.
The North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) has made public the youth whose projects were recently recommended for funding as through the Farmer Rancher Grant Program. 19 projects have been selected this year for funding in the region.
These are grants for up to $400 are for on-farm research, demonstration, or education projects by youth ages 8-18. Research and demonstration projects are for hands-on efforts to explore sustainable agriculture issues and practices.
Education projects can involve teaching others about sustainable agriculture or attending a sustainable agriculture conference, workshop, or camp.
Funding considerations are made based on how well the applicant articulates the nature of the research and education components of their sustainable agriculture grant proposals. NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region.
Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, and nonprofit organizations.
In addition, regional representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and NCR agribusinesses, state agencies, and foundations sit at the table to distribute grant money.
Since 1988, the USDA’s NCR-SARE program has awarded more than $40 million worth of competitive grants to farmers and ranchers, researchers, educators, public and private institutions, nonprofit groups, and others exploring sustainable agriculture in 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
A recipient from the Farm World readership area included: Megan Brown, of Central Lake, Mich. for her student report on the Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference.
Tennessee 4-H partners with TSC in Clover Promotion
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — 4-H is all about teamwork and partnerships. Now Tennessee’s largest youth development organization has worked successfully with a corporate partner to raise thousands of dollars to assist this program.
Customers at 900 Tractor Supply Stores nationwide and throughout Tennessee donated more than $303,000 to 4-H between March 26 and April 18, 2010. This was part of the “Clover Promotion” where customers could give a dollar (or more if they so desired) to purchase a hand-sized paper replica of the famed 4-H symbol. In Tennessee, $14,810 was raised.
All 100 percent of the money donated goes to 4-H Initiatives,” Crowe says.
Obion County 4-H’ers really got into the spirit of this fund raiser.
And they’ve got the video to prove it.
The 4-H’ers won first place in a Facebook video contest among all the Tractor Supply Store locations nationwide for their demonstration of how the process worked. In the video, 4-H Agent Una Baker first talks about the program. Then viewers see someone making a donation by purchasing a paper clover in the store. Then 4-H’ers hang the clover on a tree. That’s an actual tree - donated from the farm of UT Extension Director Tim Smith, which he dug up and planted in a container. The award-winning video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVpmx2X9uHk
“Helping with the Clover Leaf campaign was great,” says Obion County 4-H’er Luke Davis. “I got to meet people in the community and enjoyed helping out the workers at Tractor Supply. Best of all, our county won!”
Obion County 4-H Agent Una Baker is proud of her youngsters for their hard work, and she appreciates the lessons taught by the campaign. “The Obion County 4-H program has approximately 1,400 members,” she says. “4-H’ers develop essential life skills such as responsibility, ethical decision-making, and they develop skills that help them succeed in the work force.”
Not only did the Obion County 4-H’ers raise more than $800 through the paper clover campaign, they also receive a $250 gift certificate to Tractor Supply as First Prize for their Facebook video.
The Tractor Supply campaign was most successful in Smith County, where customers donated more than $1,000 to 4-H.
This is the 100th year for 4-H in Tennessee, and also the 100th year for UT Extension. As part of the Centennial, the state 4-H office is looking to re-connect with past 4-H’ers.
If the heart bleeds green and an individual is a former 4-Her, call 865-974-2128 or e-mail jcrowe3@utk.edu
Ft. Recovery FFA agronomy judging team places fifth
FT. RECOVERY, Ohio — Recently, the Ft. Recovery FFA agronomy team members Michelle Brackman, Laura Braun, Andrea Lennartz, Melissa Lochtefeld, Amanda Pottkotter, Heather Pottkotter, Jodi Pottkotter and Samantha Schoenherr traveled to the State Fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio and placed fifth in the state.
The agronomy team had to identify weeds, seeds, and insects, and make fertilizer and herbicide recommendations. They will receive a banner at the State FFA Convention to hang in the classroom. |
| 6/9/2010 |
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