Extension Events

Do you have your pencil or calendar out?  Today I’ll be giving you an Extension Events listing for Teton County, and, of course, we invite our surrounding areas to take part.

First up, this Saturday, August 26 is the MSU Innovation Road Show:  Sharing Innovative Ideas One Town at a Time.  A group of seven PhDs from MSU will be speaking at this FREE event at 12:30 p.m. at the Stage Stop Inn.  The event will be completed around 2:30 p.m.  Topics range from driverless cars, grain genetics, tiny houses, Asian history, Native health, nanotechnology and invasive plants.

Next in the line-up of FREE educational offerings are the Small Business Webinars. These webinars are scheduled the first Thursday of every month at 11 a.m.  The first class is on Understanding Credit Card Processing for Businesses.  This class was developed in direct response to a request from a Teton County business owner.  The webinars are free and will last 30 minutes.  There is a chat room for questions and answers during the live webinars.  They will be recorded and posted online.  Go to www.msucommunitydevelopment.org/smallbusiness.html to learn more.  Questions can be sent to commdev@montana.edu.  For the first webinar on Thursday, September 7, we will be hosting a group viewing in Choteau at the library.  Business owners can come together to learn, not only from the webinar, but from each other.  Again, these webinars are free and can be viewed from your computer or device or you can join us Sept. 7 at 11 a.m. at the Choteau Library.  Other webinars on the schedule so far are October 5 at 11 a.m., Getting Your Small Business Online, and November 2 at 11 a.m., Developing Your Story: A Foundation for Funding.

Mark your calendar for October 3 to be in Choteau from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Leading Local. 

 The Leading Local program will focus on personal leadership skills, board member engagement and organizational management. Board members and staff will come away feeling better prepared to serve on a board, council or committee. They will recognize the components of an effective meeting and have a good understanding of different personality styles and how to work effectively together. Participants will learn about tools to increase participation on boards, board member engagement and recruitment strategies for high potential board members. The class will include Real Colors Personality Inventory and Emotional Intelligence, Energizing Your Organization and Engaging Your Board, plus more!  The class will be taught primarily by Dan Clark of the MSU Extension Local Government Center.  This class is being provided FREE to the public by our generous sponsors, MSU Extension in Teton and Pondera Counties, 3 Rivers Communication, City of Choteau and the Stage Stop Inn.  Registration is appreciated and can be made by contacting MSU Extension in Teton County at 466-2492 or teton@montana.edu. 

But wait, there’s more!  On October 4, Dan Clark will teach a Board Training class from 6-9 p.m. at the Stage Stop Inn, again, FREE to the public with the same generous sponsors as the Leading Local class.  Anyone who serves on any board in our area or is thinking about serving on a board should take this highly informative, engaging class. MSU Extension in Teton County at 466-2492 or teton@montana.edu. 

We have some upcoming wellness classes, too!  In conjunction with the Teton County Health Department, MSU Extension in Teton County is offering the Living Life Well with Chronic Conditions and Diseases Class.  Classes will be on Mondays from 6-8 p.m. at the Choteau Library starting on September 11 and running through October 16.  Instructors for the class are Glenn Deuchler, Betty Lou Deuchler and me, Jane Wolery.  Registration is required and the series costs $20.  Call 466-2462 to register. 

And, that’s not all … We are excited to be teaching the YAM – Youth Aware of Mental Health class to ninth grade students in Fairfield in September and October.  YAM is a mental health resiliency program that, when tested in Europe, provided the best evidence for preventing suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts in adolescents.  The class, taught by Jane Wolery and Luke Coccoli, gives basic mental health information, coping skills and emotional intelligence training, problem-solving and positive peer relations. 

Wolery is also looking forward to providing a class call Teen Time and Tension Tips on September 6 for the Dutton-Brady youth at the Dutton Park from 6-8 p.m.

We have a few more things to pin down in our September and October calendars, but for now, that is our Extension Events update.  We hope to see you participating in one of the many Extension offerings in the upcoming weeks! 

All Shook Up!

I have been thinking about snow globes.  Sometimes they just sit there so pretty on the shelf and then someone comes by and shakes them and the snow falls softly until it settles again.  Other times someone comes by and really, really shakes them up.  You wonder how the little figurines inside don’t fall out of place.  At times my home finances feel like a snow globe – sometimes calm and settled and then sometimes something happens and it feels like our finances have been shaken up again.  The vehicle breaks down, someone needs surgery, there is a job change … it often doesn’t take much for serenity to be turned upside down!  

If you’d like to take control of your finances, MSU Extension has great resources in our Solid Finances series.  The Solid Finances program was started in 2013 and includes weekly financial webinars.  This year’s series includes topics such as health care insurance options for those nearing retirement, avoiding financial scams, Banking 101, and estate planning and family legacies.  Each webinar can be joined live on Wednesdays at noon.  This year’s webinars started on October 5, but the great news is that all webinars are recorded.  In fact, you can listen to any of the 50 webinars that are posted on the MSU Extension Solid Finances webpage.  Some of the recorded webinars include topics such as understanding credit scores, teens and money and how to reduce debt.  

There are topics for every stage of life. If your financial world is pretty settled, like a snow globe on shelf, it doesn’t hurt to dust it off every once in a while and take a look at it to be sure.  If your financial world is a little shaky, it might just do to take advantage of the free resources to establish Solid Finances.  

Autumn Update

While I was at the Senior Center in Fairfield last week teaching a class with Brent Roeder on frauds and scams, a woman mentioned how much she enjoyed reading the Extension articles in the newspapers.  I admitted that I have been absent from newsprint recently, which she had noticed.  I felt it would be worthwhile to do an update on the family consumer science side of MSU Extension in Teton County.  After the full 4-H summer season of educational events, I took a few days off in early August, but did write a grant application during that time.  I am excited to announce that we received a $10,000 grant from 3 Rivers and CoBank.  About the same time I received word that the grant application I wrote for Montana Financial Education Coalition was funded at $750.  Both of these grants were written to further efforts primarily in financial education from preschool age through the lifespan.  We will be purchasing a traveling iPad lab to enhance the student learning experience.  The traveling technology lab will be used by Extension throughout the region.

In August, I was invited to teach teamwork lessons for the Shelby School faculty and staff, and the Choteau volleyball team graciously let me practice the team building activities with them first.  I had the pleasure of teaching the Real Colors™ personality inventory for the Dutton-Brady faculty.  The class helps participants decipher their natural strengths, but also look for ways to appreciate and communicate with those who have very different strengths and approaches.  The class improves relationships.  The faculty will use the information to create classroom lessons for various personality strengths.

This past year, I have been involved in mental health training and attended the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) training in Conrad and Youth Mental Health First Aid classes in Shelby.  I have been working with Mark Schure from MSU on the Thrive program.  Shure was in Teton County to hold two focus groups on the potential benefit of online cognitive behavior therapy for rural communities.  Sandy Bailey, MSU Extension Family and Human Development Specialist, is part of a team at MSU who has received a sizable grant to further work in mental health in Montana.  I look forward to learning the next steps at MSU Extension Annual Conference in Bozeman and to bringing the information to Teton County.

September was a very full and productive month.  Montana hosted the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Science conference at Big Sky.  I chaired the promotional committee.  More than 700 colleagues from across the nation attended.  Planning the conference was nearly a two-year effort.  I applied and was selected to teach a four-hour session on the Art of Science and how to use science concepts to enhance FCS, 4-H and youth development programs.  My colleague, Roubie Younkin, and I were selected for a Showcase of Excellence session with Operation Concession Intervention and connected with more than 200 colleagues during that session.  I also taught Assistive Devices during one of the concurrent sessions.  You may be asking, “What difference does that make to our county?”  It allows the Extension work being done in Teton County to be shared on a national platform.  Hosting the event was an opportunity for the FCS Extension professionals in Montana to build even closer relationships, which really help as we share educational programs across the state.  During the conference I was able to attend sessions and bring back ideas for more educational programming in Teton County.  For years, I have been using classes and materials from my Extension colleagues across the nation to teach in Teton County.  It was great to meet the people behind the research and lesson plans, as well as be able to share knowledge from our county.

On the heels of the NEAFCS conference, I attended training Helena on Chronic Disease Management.  Glenn Deuchler, from Teton County Public Health, Betty Deuchler, volunteer, and I are preparing for the third session in a six-part series for people in Teton County to learn management tools to assist as they cope with a chronic disease or condition.  A total of XX people are attending this first series.  In September, Glenn Deuchler and I also continued our research with Cornell and MSU Extension through the Strong Hearts program.  The program is a National Institute of Health funded research project on cardiac disease prevention for rural women.  MSU Extension in Teton County is starting into the third year with this research project.  

Teton County 4-H was one of six counties responsible for hosting the Montana 4-H State Leadership Forum in September.  Our county handled registration, budget and finance, and evaluation.  The office staff was integral in preparing for this event that trained 170 4-H volunteers and members.  Seven Teton County volunteers and members attended the event in Lewistown.  Watson Snyder represented Teton County in his position as State 4-H Ambassador President.  While at the leadership forum, my colleague, Alice Burchak, Toole County, and I were able to unveil the 4-H communication curriculum we have been working on for nearly a year.  Other Extension colleagues joined the team and have created additional lessons for youth in the public speaking and communications area.  I am very excited to get the new curriculum in the hands of 4-H volunteers and members in Teton County and that it will be used across the state.

In October, I have been teaching a variety of classes in Teton County including the chronic disease management class, hand-washing and germ reduction at preschools, fraud and scam protection as Senior Centers and the recent Babysitter Boot Camp where twelve area youth received six hours of instruction.  We have had our planning meetings for 4-H for the year and are working on the teen leadership program.  The 4-H Food Drive in Choteau was last week and brought in nearly 1700 pounds of food and close to $500 in donations for the Teton County Food Pantry.  A team of 4-H youth plans the event each year and gains leadership skills coordinating the event. Brent Roeder, Ag Agent, and Susan Antonsen, 4-H volunteer, chaperoned six Teton County 4-H youth at the Ambassador Fall Training in Bozeman last weekend.  Research shows that the youth who learn leadership skills through 4-H apply those skills when they become adults serving in a variety of capacities in their communities.

I am looking forward to a new line up of classes in November including Strong People, Powerful Tools for Caregivers and Cooking in the Slow Lane.  

Building Strength: Strong People

The MSU Extension Office in Teton County plans to offer the StrongPeople strength training class in Choteau starting November 1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Class will be from noon-1:00 p.m. and will continue through December 20.  This strength training class is a one-hour class, two days a week and will be held at Choteau City Hall.  Participants work through a series of weight-lifting and strength-training exercises.  Strength training improves:  muscle mass, strength, balance, bone density, arthritis symptoms, metabolic rate, glucose/lipid profiles and mental health.  The class is based on research from Dr. Miriam Nelson of Tufts University. The program, which uses free weights, is adaptable for a variety of fitness levels, and is available to both men and women.  The strength training class, taught by Jane Wolery, is for participants who are ages 16-100.  A minimum of 10 registered participants is required to offer the class.  

Please call the MSU Teton County Extension for registration packet and information about the StrongPeople class. The StrongPeople class does require a series of paperwork, including medical release forms.  The registration packets can be mailed or emailed to potential participants, as well as picked up at the Extension Office. The first 20 people with completed registration materials are guaranteed a spot in the class.  Others will be put on a waiting list. If there is ample interest, a second session may be added at 8:30 a.m.

Participants of previous classes have reported a variety of improvements, including relief from chronic pain, improved strength, increased sleep quality and an uplifted mental attitude.   

The StrongPeople participants will get an educational bonus with a variety of daily discussion topics from MSU Extension Family Consumer Science.  

2016 Montana 4-H Congress

The 2016 Montana 4-H Congress started and ended well for Teton County.  The event began with a Montana 4-H Ambassador meeting where the new slate of State 4-H Officers was announced.  After announcing four officer positions that fourteen youth from across the state were vying for, it was announced that Watson Snyder, of Teton County, was selected as president.  4-H members applying for state officers complete a two-day interview process. 

The second day of Congress, all of the Teton County 4-H delegates competed in contests.  Maria Murnane, Caroline Roeder, Kylee Ruckman, Claire Ruckman and Watson Snyder made up the livestock evaluation team for Teton County, judging several classes of livestock and giving reasons.  Hanna Antonsen competed in the Stir-Ups contest, a “top chef” style cooking event.  Antonsen made zucchini boats using green pulses.  The theme for the event focused on pulse crops, as it is the International Year of the Pulse.  In addition to being judged on her food safety, cooking and plating skills, Antonsen also gave an oral presentation for judges.  Daniel Asselstine competed in the new video contest with his video on the importance of character and what builds character.  The video contest entailed showing a video, giving a presentation on the video and an interview with judges.  An additional benefit to this contest was that one of the judges, Aaron Pruitt with Montana PBS, was very instructional and offered an impromptu tour of the PBS facilities for all video contestants.  Annie Townsend and Hannah Konen both competed in the fashion revue with wool lined ensembles. The fashion revue contestants are judges on sewing, poise, modeling and an interview with judges.

After competitions were completed, Teton County 4-H members enjoyed guest speakers and a range of workshops including robotics, natural resources, agriculture, career exploration and self-defense.  The state contest winners were announced with Teton County Livestock Judging Team placing sixth, Hanna Antonsen placing sixth in Stir-Ups and Daniel Asselstine placing second in video.  During the closing banquet, Kyra Bouma was recognized as a Barbara Edens Memorial 4-H Scholarship winner.  Townsend and Konen modeled their wool outfits in front of a crowd of 400 people.  Konen was announced as the first place winner in the fashion revue, earning trip to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta.  Townsend, who had submitted a state award application, story and creative project, was announces as a 4-H State Award winner in textiles.  She will also attend National 4-H Congress to represent Montana. 

The delegation was chaperoned by Brent Roeder and Jane Wolery, MSU Extension Agents in Teton County.  The group was also joined by Janae Ruckman who assisted with the livestock judging contest, Tammy and Katie Townsend, Jason Asselstine and RT and Susan Snyder.  Jayelyn Ruckman, Teton County 4-H Alum, was in attendance as an MSU Extension intern serving in Gallatin County. 

Free Estate Planning Classes in the Golden Triangle!

Estate Planning Classes

in the Golden Triangle Area

Marsha A. Goetting, Ph.D., CFP, CFCS

Extension Family Economics Specialist

P.O. Box 172800
Bozeman, MT 59717-2800
phone: (406) 994-5695 fax: (406) 994-4838
E-mail: goetting@montana.edu 

Marsha A. Goetting is a Professor and Extension Family Economics Specialist at Montana State University in Bozeman.

She has presented over 800 workshops reaching over 25,000 Montanans with financial and estate planning information. She has also authored over 75 MontGuides and bulletins and has received national, regional, and state awards for her financial management and estate planning programs.

An Extension Directory can be found here.

March 9, 2015 - Teton County 

Transferring Your Farm or Ranch to the Next Generation

·         Stage Stop Inn

1005 Main Ave N

Choteau, MT 59422

·         Noon-1:30 p.m.

·         Free – Register by contacting MSU Extension in Teton County 466-2491 or click here to email to register!

Individual or Family Financial Consultations (30 minutes each)

·         Stage Stop Inn

·         2:00-2:30 p.m., 2:30-3:00 p.m., 3:00-3:30 p.m., 3:30-4:00 p.m., 4:00-4:30 p.m., 4:30-5:00 p.m.

Estate Planning

Think You Know Who Receives Your Property When You Pass Away?  Think Again …

·         Stage Stop Inn

1005 Main Ave N

Choteau, MT 59422

·         6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

·         Free – Register by contacting MSU Extension in Teton County 466-2491

March 10, 2015 – Choteau

Individual or Family Financial Consultations (30 minutes each)

·         Stage Stop Inn

·         8:00-8:30 a.m., 8:30-9:00 a.m., 9:00-9:30 a.m., 9:30-10:00 a.m., 10:00-10:30 a.m.

March 10, 2015 - Toole County

Estate Planning

·         Sunburst Library

Sunburst, MT

·         1:30—3:30 p.m.

·         Comfort Inn of Shelby

455 McKinley

Shelby, MT

·         6:30 p.m.

March 11, 2015 - Liberty County

Estate Planning

Steps everyone can take to simplify estate planning and gift giving

·         Sweetgrass Lodge

511 1^st St. W.

Chester, MT 59522

·         6:00 p.m.

March 12, 2015 – Blackfeet 

Estate Planning

Why everyone needs a will..what happens if you don’t have one”

·         Blackfeet Tribal Conference Room

Browning, MT 59417

·         1:00-3:00 p.m.

·         Contact the Blackfeet Extension Office for more information at 338-2650

March 12, 2015 – Glacier County

Estate Planning

·         Glacier County Courthouse Annex

Cut Bank, MT  59427

·         6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

·         Free—Please pre-register for material at 873-2239 or click here to register via email

March 13, 2015 – Blaine County

Estate Planning

·         Montana Seed Show

Harlem High School

Harlem, MT

·         10:00 a.m. - Noon

* Marsha Goetting will also be presenting on Credit Card Smarts to the 6^th graders at the Chinook Meadowlark Elementary that afternoon.

MSU Extension

I just wanted to share a few video links with you!

Extension and MSU

100 Years! MSU Extension