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. 

Don't let the TRAINing leave the station without You!

Are you a community, church, 4-H, or school volunteer or teacher who works hard to do your best to keep youth on the track to a successful future?  Do you sometimes find yourself dragging your caboose because of the energy it takes to keep things from derailing? You are invited to get “On Track to Volunteer Success” at the annual Montana 4-H Leadership Forum, which MSU Extension and 4-H in Teton County are helping to plan with other counties in District 3.  The event is September 30-October 2 in Lewistown, Montana.  There are tickets available to several topic tracks and there are OPI (Office of Public Instruction) renewal units available for certified teachers.  Jump on board now and register by August 31 to receive a discounted ticket for $80.  If you need more time to consider, you can get a main cabin registration between September 1 and 14 for $100, and for those bringing up the caboose, registering between September 15 and September 23 the cost will be $150.

On Friday, September 30, the train leaves the station for several different tour locations. Tours at Bear Gulch Pictographs, Bos Terra and a tour of three manufacturing businesses in the heart of Montana, are just three of the eleven tours that should capture the interest of volunteers who serve in a wide variety of roles.  On Saturday, October 1, there are educational tracks including Family Consumer Science, Art, Agriculture, Communications, Science, Natural Resources and some general track items such as curriculum exploration and leadership.

Holly Hoffman, Keynote

Holly Hoffman, Survivor

There will be keynote speakers to keep some steam in your volunteer engine.  Holly Hoffman will help you not only survive, but thrive as a youth volunteer or educator.  Hoffman is the author of Your Winner Within and was a contestant on the Survivor television show.  Hoffman teaches how to focus thoughts, emotions and energy to succeed.  She offers encouragement and optimism and lays the tracks for self-discovery and enlightenment.  She will be the keynote speaker on October 2, as well as teaching one of the workshops on Saturday called, Lead Simply. 

Be sure to get your ticket on the Track to Volunteer Success. Contact MSU Extension in Teton County for more details or look online at www.montana4H.org.  Consider this message your first boarding call.  Thank you to all of you out there who are the conductors and engineers of educational opportunities for youth in our communities.  We appreciate the tracks you are laying with youth as they are fundamental to our future. 

Summer Time!

Teton County 4-H members, Jayelyn Ruckman, Ali Willekes, Claire Ruckman, Kylee Ruckman, Maria Murnane and Watson Snyder, all competed at the Montana State 4-H Congress July 7-10 on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman.  The 4-Hers competed in livestock evaluation, horse evaluation and demonstrations contest.  Jayelyn Ruckman, competing for her last time at Congress, placed second overall in livestock evaluation.  Ruckman plans to attend Casper College on the livestock judging team, putting her well-developed skills to use.  Ruckman also received the Anton and Helga Sunsted Pioneer scholarship to use for her college expenses.

Ali Willekes, Claire Ruckman and Kylee Ruckman formed a livestock judging team with Cascade County 4-H member, Natalie Gerard.  (Because Jayelyn Ruckman had previously competed at Western National, she was unable to participate on the team.)  The team placed second in the contest, aided by individual scores from Claire Ruckman placing sixth overall, Kylee Ruckman placing ninth and Ali Willekes, competing for her first time, placing nineteenth and soundly in the top half of individuals. 

Maria Murnane was an individual competitor in the horse judging and placed sixth.  She is in her second year competing in that category.

Watson Snyder, the only first-time competitor in the delegation, placed fifth with his demonstration titled, Second Fiddle to None.  Snyder taught about the parts of the violin and foot positions of the violin while sharing about the power of the violin to give hope and inspiration.  Snyder was called back for the finals round and has earned a spot on the Montana delegation to National 4-H Congress this fall in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Sarah Hodgskiss and her family joined Teton County for the final banquet at Congress where she received the W. Doyle Stocks scholarship.  Hodgskiss will attend MSU Bozeman this fall. 

Besides competitive events at Congress, delegates participate in team-building activities, educational workshops and leadership training.  The Teton County group attended classes on animal science taught by Dr. Rachel Endecott and Phil Merta, Lead with Resilience taught by Mandie Reed, Rangelands taught by Dan Lucas and Youth Leadership Institute taught by Campbell Barrett. 

The group, chaperoned by Jane Wolery, enjoyed two excellent presentations during general sessions.  Ben Glenn, the Chalk Guy, spoke about overcoming adversity and how to take struggles and turn them into triumphs.  To emphasize his point, he creates an artwork with chalk on a giant board in front of the audience.  His “performance art” is set to music and drives home the point about creating beauty in one’s own life, using all life experiences to create a masterpiece. 

The delegation agreed that one of the highlights of the conference was listening to Dr. Eugene Schoenfeld, a holocaust survivor born in Czechoslovakia.  At 89 years, Dr. Schoenfeld stood for nearly 90 minutes recounting his story and holding the audience in rapt attention.  Schoenfeld’s message was one of compassion and humanity.  Even as he answered questions from the audience, his answers were more than factual, they were lessons in how to forgive, heal, and treat others. He said he felt our jobs on earth were to learn how to treat each other more humanely.  Schoenfeld survived concentration camps in Auschwitz, Warsaw, Dachau and Muhldorf.  Many of his family members did not survive the atrocities. 

The theme of 4-H Congress was “The Amazing Race” and lessons abounded at Congress in how to be part of the most amazing race, the human race.  

Chemical -- Reaction!  Seventy-one people took part recently in the education explosion at the Teton County 4-H Mad Lab July 14-16 at Camp Rotary.  Ten 4-H camp counselors have been working to plan camp since February.  Camp counselors learn leadership, communication and team skills while preparing the lessons, activities, recreation, camp fires and classes at 4-H camp.

With the science theme, campers learned everything from baking science to rocket launching.  Classes ranged from thought-provoking, with Honore Holmquist sharing about cerebral palsy and letting campers sample some of the challenges she faces with muscle control to inspiring, with Caroline Roeder teaching cryptology.  As a result, many coded messages where found throughout 4-H Camp.  There were active classes involving sport science with Zane Somerfeld investigating pressure in balls to movement science with dance classes by Watson Snyder and Hanna Konen.  Maria Murnane, Austin Rogers and Katelyn Antonsen helped 4-H members experiment with emulsion, bubbles, acid-base reactions, lava lamps, and bouncy balls.  Annie Townsend and Javy Somerfeld provide art science classes with glass etching and clay fossil creations.  Watson Snyder organized two classes on rocketry and was assisted by  the other counselors.  Caroline Roeder and Katelyn Antonsen assisted with a cupcake experiment with Caroline Rogers and Jane Wolery.  Members rotated through stations learning about gluten, leavening, measurements and a decorating station where they made a campfire cupcake.  Caroline Roeder and Katelyn Antonsen also played mind games with campers sharing some of what they learned about neuroscience through their participation in the eight-month 4-H BioScience program last year. 

4-H Camp provides an opportunity for youth to develop leadership and team-building skills, independence and belonging, and to learn new skills.  Campers enjoy games, camp fires, singing, dances and outdoor recreation in addition to the classes at camp.  The Teton County 4-H program welcomes both 4-H members and non-members to attend and participate in their yearly youth camp activities.  

4-H Project Day

Today, several Teton County 4-H members did arts, crafts, baking and cooking.  We learned science snippets with each of the four crafts -- glass etching, tile stenciling, chalkboard coaster painting and decoupage.  We also learned about acid-base reactions and leavening.  Some of our older 4-H members helped plan the lessons and teach.

We also listened to Logan Ley, 4-H alum, talk about careers in photography and photo styling.  He shared some of the details of the work he does preparing advertising photo shoots.  Unfortunately, he didn't stay to help me get any good photos of the cookies.  I sure could have used a food stylist!

I told the 4-H members, that I'd post the recipes they made on my blog, so now they are here for you to enjoy, too!

Melting Moments

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Cookies:

2/3 c. cornstarch

1 c. flour unsifted

1/3 c. powdered sugar

1 c. real butter

Sift flour and cornstarch together, set aside.  Cream butter and sugar together.  Once creamed add dry ingredients.  Drop by teaspoonful (very small) or roll into teaspoon-size balls.  Put on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Frosting:

2 c. powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. butter (soft, but not melted)

Dash of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. almond extract

Whipping cream or milk

Cream together sugar, butter, salt and extracts.  Slowly add enough cream to make a spreadable frosting.  When cookies have cooled, frost.

Chocolate Snowballs

¾ c. butter, softened

½ c. sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1 c. chocolate chips

Powdered sugar

In large bowl cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla, mix well.  Combine the flour and salt.  Stir into cream mixture.  Fold in the chips and nuts.  Roll into 1 inch balls.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes. Put on cooling racks.  Cool cookies slightly and then roll in powdered sugar. 

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

1 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. baking cocoa

¼ c. butter

¼ c. milk

1 c. quick cook oats

¼ c. flaked coconut

2 Tbsp. peanut butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cocoa, add butter and milk.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils.  Boil for one minute.  Remove from heat.  Add oats, coconut, peanut butter and vanilla.  Let stand until it can hold shape on a spoon.  Drop by spoonful onto waxed paper.  Let set.

Branch chalkboard coasters