Oahu 4-H - Newsletters

It was a beautiful way to start the month of May! Aunty Lisa set the mood with God's blessings for the event, participants and hands that made the food. The menu catered by Aunty Lynette Lo Tom was so 'delish', and the sweet fruit punch made by Aunty Sakaye was very refreshing! The program and favors were in perfect sync! Gorgeous prom gowns and dresses were modeled and the decorations & balloons definitely set the stage... Mysteries of the Masquerade Fashion Review revealed Erin Voss' business outfit as 'Best in Show'. To our very talented entertainers and emcees... WOW and awesome job! The photographs/exhibits added dimension to the revue and congratulations to the purple ribbon winners and everyone who participated! We are grateful for the fashion and photography judges for providing their time and excellent critique and to Uncle Walter as DJ, the event turned out perfect! To Aunty Rose, mahalo mahalo mahalo, we couldn't have done it without your guidance and support!

The next Council meeting date will change to Sunday, May 22, 2011, 3:00 pm. It is the election meeting, so those running for office must be present a short speech of your qualifications. The following individuals were nominated to run for office at the April Council meeting:

President: Farin Fukunaga, Aiko Doike
VP: Evan Hashizume, Zachary Fielding, Erin Voss, Dwayne Marie Edades
Secretary: Jonathan Lum, Aiko Doike, Dwayne Marie Edades, Julianne Matsumoto
Treasurer: Sean Lee, Kyrra Lau-Eglinton, Aiko Doike, Farin Fukunaga
Seargent at Arms: Kyrra Lau-Eglinton. Staci Kohashi, Kara Dooley
Historian: Jon Lum, Erin Voss, Farin Fukunaga, Staci Kohashi, Julianne Matsumoto, and Kyrra Lau-Eglinton

It is that time of the year in which the Betty Zane Shimabukuro Charitable Drawing is held. She was a former Assistant 4-H Program Leader in Hawaii who strongly believed in supporting 4-H Volunteer Leaders through training and learning opportunities so they could better teach youth in our communities. Each year, the Hawaii State 4-H Leaders’ Federation conducts a Charitable Drawing to support a Leadership Development Fund in Betty’s name. Oahu County is donating three boxes of goodies featuring specialty items and products made on Oahu. We would like your suggestions and donations to fill these boxes. Also, if you want to make a donation to the fund, tickets are $2.00. Tickets are needed to win one of the many prizes. Please call Rose at 622 4185 for tickets.

Have you been keeping track of what you have been doing through out the year? Now, is the time to start putting all your records together so you can fill out the 4-H record books? The due date is June 30th for clover buds, junior and senior record book. You should fill out all the projects and activities that you were involved in this year. You should write a story which tells your accomplishments and failures if you had any and how you overcame it.

I have met with a couple of seniors who wanted to complete the portfolio to try your chance at attending the National 4-H Congress. Those individuals please keep working on the portfolio and I am extending the due date to May 20th. If you have any questions, please call me.

Each club leader is asked to bring 2-3 printed 8x10 photos of 4-H club work from this year.

As you are reading this newsletter, Bertha Kaui, Maryknoll and Nick Spotkaeff and I are on the “first” 4-H Leader’s Forum that is a cruise from Seattle, Washington to Juneau, Alaska. The seven day cruise departs Seattle on Saturday, May 7 and return on the 14th. Washington State is hosting this year’s leader forum and it should be a fun and educational experience. While the ship is sailing, the forum delegates will participate in over 70 educational workshops planned by 4-H staff and volunteer leaders. When the ship docks at a port, the delegates can select from various shore excursions. The ship will be filled with about 700 4-H leaders, staff and their families from the thirteen Western States and Canada. Hawaii is scheduled to host this forum in 2013.

March 2013 will bring 500 or more 4-H Leaders from the mainland to Hawaii for the Western Region 4-H Leaders Forum. 4-H Strives for Excellence is the theme for this forum to be held at the Marriott Waikiki.

The planning committee chaired by Dena Souza and Gary Heusel has begun its work and is currently seeking adult and teen volunteers for committees to make certain this is a forum the volunteers will remember as a highlight of their 4-H volunteer career. Committees include: Finance, Logistics, Program, and Public Relations. Anyone interested in serving on a committee should contact their county 4-H educator, Dena Souza at souza_dena@yahoo.com or Gary Heusel at HeuselG@ctahr.hawaii.edu. March 21 – 24, 2013 are the tentative dates pending approval from the Marriott.

On March 30, 2011, the Keyblade Bearers, a 4-H club

here in Hawaii, discovered many new things as we ventured to the State Capitol for Agricultural Awareness Day. The entire group, which consists of eleven homeschooled kids from the ages of four to seventeen, all had something to share about this exciting experience.

“If I learned one thing from [this trip to the Capitol], it is that there are so much more aspects to agriculture than I thought. It was intriguing to see all the different stands and their emphasis,” 11th grader Lanson Hoopai shares. In the halls of the 4th floor of the Capitol, many exhibitors set up their stands to share their expansive knowledge and helpful tips for taking care of the environment.

“It was enjoyable to walk around with friends to look at other display boards and taste all the delicious food. It was also very cool to hear about the rainforest and erosion,” Kira Gumban, an 11th grader, stated. Indeed, a common interest amongst the 4H members was the delectable samples served at the culinary exhibits. “It was very interesting! The curry rice and the andagi were my favorites!” Arissa Gumban, a 6th grader in our group, said. One exhibit, which was run by the Naked Cow Dairy, the only dairy on Oahu, served a variety of butters on bread, which a few of us thoroughly enjoyed. “I liked hanging out with my friends and eating a bunch of new kinds of food. I took a question from the [butter exhibit], and [tried to answer correctly to win a bucket of butter], but I didn’t get the question right,” Joseph Lockwood, a 6th grader in our club, shared. Matthew Uyehara, a 5th grader, also enjoyed the samples. His younger brother, Andrew, a 3rd grader, joined him in his opinion. “The Agricultural Awareness was very interesting because they had a lot of tips on helping the environment. My favorite exhibit was ours. We were also the only teenagers there,” Larissa Hoopai, a 7th grader, shared.

We were, in fact, the only teenaged group present. Our square foot garden and aquaponics exhibits piqued many people’s interest. One of our members baked her delicious sweet potato bread as samples for our exhibit.

Another common interest a few of us shared was in the Invasive Species exhibit, run by the Oahu Invasive Species Committee. It included a python, encased, of course, a tarantula, bearded dragon, and a Madagascar giant day gecko. “Lots of food. I loved the exhibit on the invasive species! The tarantula was the best!” Jacob Lockwood, an 11th grader, marveled. Joining him was his younger brother Joseph, who stated enthusiastically, “…I also liked the seeing the invasive species board and all the giant reptiles!” Matthew told us about his interest particularly in the python.

In summary, we were all fond of the samples, were fascinated by the strange, scaly reptiles of the invasive species exhibit, enjoyed fellowshipping with one another, and most importantly, we hope to use this new founded knowledge to better ourselves in helping the beautiful environment of Hawaii.

Four 4-H members represented Hawaii recently at the National 4-H Conference. This annual event is the premier professional and leadership development program for 4-H members and is the pinnacle experience in 4-H Citizenship, providing the opportunity for young people to connect, learn, engage, lead and impact their communities, their nation and their world. The conference was held April 2nd-7th at the National 4-H Youth conference center in Maryland. The Hawaii delegation consisted of Matthew Kawamura from Kauai, Issac DeMello, Ruth Evans, Kellie Iwasaki from Hilo and chaperone Becky Settlage. During their 6-day stay members participated in workshops, toured the Washington DC area and made visits to Capitol Hill to talk story with Representative Hirono, Representative Hanabusa and Senator Akaka of their experiences and telling of the impacts 4-H has had on Hawaii youth.

On Friday, April 29, Aikahi Elementary School sponsored a Yellow Ribbon day event which recognized students from military families. The military children who have a parent who is currently deployed was able to do activities throughout the day on the OMK Mobile Tech Lab and were presented Hero Packs during the school assembly.

Check out the link to the KHON news which shows OMK Project Coordinator, Kiki Yoshimoto running the MTL.

4-H National Headquarters and National 4-H Council are pleased to reveal that the 2011 National Science Experiment is Wired for Wind, an in-depth look at renewable energy technologies in the form of wind-power. Developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension program, this three-tiered experiment will help 4-H young people to enhance their science, engineering, technology and applied math skills by allowing them to:

This year, 4-H National Youth Science Day will take place on October 5, 2011. On this day, hundreds of thousands of young people across the United States and the world will simultaneously become scientists for a day as they connect important scientific lessons to civic engagement.

4-H youth are a living, breathing, culture-changing movement for doing the right thing, breaking through obstacles and pushing the country forward to successfully face the challenges of the future. Participation in 4-H National Youth Science Day is meant to help spark an early passion for science, engineering and math and to encourage young people to consider these paths of study and future careers.

To learn more about 4-H National Youth Science Day, how you can participate locally or to download program materials, go to www.4-H.org/NYSD

The Youth Leadership Award recognizes an individual (14 to 26 years of age) who exhibit leadership and excellence through his or her work to help preserve our natural world, protect animals or benefit our human community. This year's recipients of the Jane Goodall Global Leadership Awards will be presented at an event in Los Angeles on the evening of Saturday, September 24, 2011. http://bit.ly/gernIO

Nominate a program for the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award and be highlighted in one of Afterschool Alliance's Issue Briefs: Providing Opportunities for Service Learning for Middle School Students; Aligning Afterschool with the School Day for Middle School; Addressing Middle School Bullying; and Supporting Literacy for Middle School Students. Awardees and other notable nominees will be recognized in the related Issue Brief and in the final compendium. Each of the 5 recipients will receive an award of $10,000 to be used to continue or improve upon the highlighted program. http://bit.ly/kKQCIl

In response to the devastating tornadoes ripping across the deep south which have killed over 200 people at latest count, DoSomething.org is offering 10 special $500 grants for community action projects that directly relate to domestic disaster relief. Whether your program will help those affected by the recent southern storms or Texas wildfires, we'll support the best ideas that will give back to communities fast. http://bit.ly/lbpKpU

"Embracing Mistakes" is the theme for the 2011 WKCD Graduation Speech Contest, because we want to hear from you—whether you are a senior or a freshman—about the good side of getting things wrong. The contest is open to youth ages 12 to 19. The speech must be 300 - 500 words long and address the theme, "Embracing Mistakes." There will be five winners ($100 gift certificate from Amazon.com). Winning speeches along with honorable mentions will appear on the WKCD website. http://bit.ly/map7rW

4-H Clover Corner News
For additional articles on 4-H youth development nationwide, check out the National 4-H Clover Corner News at http://www.4hblogs.org/ccn/

If you have a disability and require special assistance during any of our planned 4-H activities, please call the applicable County Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent two weeks prior to the event.