Oahu 4-H - Newsletters

I hope all of you are enjoying the New Year so far! It was great to see so much of you at the Food Show held on January 24th, 2009 at the Pearl City High school cafeteria. I hope all of you who attended had a great time, and I congratulate all the 4-Hers who participated on a job well done! Seeing all of the unique displays and recipes was exciting. At the food show, Kyrra described the duties of the officers in preparation for the next council meeting. Be sure to keep an open mind as to who you would like to nominate from your clubs. Nominations will be at the next council meeting on March 8th. Elections will take place at the following council meeting.

Some events to be looking forward to are the County Camp this month, and our Car Wash fundraiser. You will be receiving information if not in this newsletter, via e-mail or phone calls. I hope all of you can make it to the camp and car wash! The more help the better!

On Saturday, January 24th, 2009, the annual 4-H Food Show was held at the Pearl City High school Cafeteria. With a plethora of participants, the event was a success and memorable for all. This year’s food show brought in 14 new participants. The theme was an Asian theme, which consisted of: Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai foods. Each participant was asked to complete a form that included questions concerning the nutritional value of their dish. On that night, each participant had a maximum of one hour to set up their display for the judges, without the help of an adult. The participants’ ages ranged from the cloverbud division to the senior division.

The awards presented were as follows: For the President’s choice, Michael Voss in the Cloverbud Division for his Baked Ham and Eggs. In the Junior Division, Shyla Ikari for her Crispy Won Tons with Oriental Dipping Sauce. In the Intermediate Division, Staci Kohashi for her Hijiki no nimono. And in the Senior division, Justin Tabbay for his Philly Brownie Cheesecake. The winner of the Hawaii Food Industry Association Award with a $100 check was Erin Voss. For our Seniors, the $500 Kraft scholarship went to Sara Hashizume and the $260 Kraft scholarship went to Tobi Kaneshiro. For the Intermediate division Top of Show, Staci Kohashi. And for the Senior division Top of Show, Dayna Domingo.

I would like to extend my dearest thanks to: our pre-judges, Mrs. Julia Cabatu, Ms. Jodi Leandro and Ms. Rhoda Yoshino. Our judges, Jennifer Chun, Dorothy Colby, Erin Kanno, Carol Nardello, June Snadrich, Lori Shimomura-Sakamoto, Gerald Shintaku, Ed Thompson, Amber Vuong, Lori Wong, Mark Suiso and Kenneth Ortiz. And of course, the people who helped in making this food show a possibility for us, our committees. Chair club – Pot of Gold, Awards – Gail Yakushiji and Erlene Matsuyama, Cookbooks – Edna Wong, Place Mats – Clover Kids, Registration – Just Us, Host/Hostess – Just Us, Judging – Farrington FCCLA Chapter, Scoring – 4-H alumni, PA Systems – Walter Horikawa, Program – Pot of Gold, Clean-up – Warriors and Entertainment – Farrington FCCLA Chapter. Last but not least, my mom, Susan Inafuku and Aunty Rose for their help and guidance in planning this event.

Hey Everyone! The 4-H county camp has been confirmed to be on the weekend of Febraury 28 and 29. Further information will be sent to the participating clubs through email. We hope to see you there!

We are continuing the leader training for the County that Maryknoll used to conduct. It will be on Friday evening on February 20, 2009 at the Urban Garden at 6:30 pm. The dinner theme will be Chinese. One of the items on the agenda will be the Leader Federation event. Please let me call me at 622-4185 if you can make it.

On Decemeber 22, 2008, the Bennett Youth Center Theater & Drama 4-H club performed a very humorous holiday play. The play was a modern take on various fairy tales, and what might happen if characters like Little Bo Peep or Jack from the Beanstalk had to go meet Santa. After the play, other youth from the center sang holiday songs with props and costumes to the theme, “Rock Around the Christmas Tree.”

Caption: Two members of the Bennett Youth Center
Drama 4-H club perform in holiday play

Also at Bennett, the Veterinary Science club has wrapped up for the year, after learning about animals and visiting a vet clinic. Ms. Donna Malone, who led the club is now helping a new group of youth learn about robotics with their new Lego Robotics kits.

This month, Aliamanu School Age will begin conducting their 4-H clubs. Kindergarteners will be having fun cooking with 4-H Microwave Magic curriculum. A Polynesian dance and culture 4-H club has met and had an introduction to hula and will be doing lei making. Over at the AMR Teen Center, cooking club continues to meet and the gardening club is seeing progress on their sweet potatoes.

All the military 4-H leaders were invited to training and a meeting that was held January 15th at the AMR school age site. Those who attended got a refresher on record-book keeping and discussed various ways to motivate youth to keep records and be creative to keep it fun. Also, the group made plans to hold four separate spring 4-H events themed around Head, Heart, Hands and Health. Each Army site including Bennett Youth Center, AMR/Fort Shafter, Helemano and the Teen Center will host a small group of 4-Hers to come share projects and learn from each other. They will invite other military 4-H sites from the Navy and Air Force to participate.

Carmen Golay

This year a new program has been introduced for the Military 4-H programs in Hawaii, Japan and Kwajalein, which the Oahu Extension staff support. Similar to other 4-H Award programs around the country, certificates will be offered to youth from Cloverbud age up to Senior 4-Hers. Requirements for a Cloverbuds, for instance include doing a record book, six hours of project work and two hours of community service. Responsibilities and required hours of project and community service time increase as youth grow older, with Bronze, Silver and Gold levels available.

Although we are already half-way through the 4-H year for military clubs, leaders report that many youth are close to meeting some of the basic requirements for a Bronze recognition, having completed several hours of project work and community service already. Leaders and Extension staff hope the new award program will encourage youth to complete record books and make the extra effort to be recognized. Record books are generally due at the beginning of May, but 4-H leaders are encouraged to have youth turn in early for the award, especially if the military family is leaving the islands.

What if you could save the lives of more than 200 children by simply saving a piece of trash? Well, the students of the Zama Middle and High School did just that by collecting nearly 50,000 bottle caps in one month during a competition hosted by the Camp Zama Youth Center.

The goal of the competition was to raise awareness about the Japan Committee "Vaccines for the World’s Children" (JCV) initiative that collects plastic bottle caps and turns them into vaccines for children in developing countries in Asia. The bottle caps are cut up, mixed with scrap wood and used in moldings for concrete. The money raised from the sale of these moldings is then used to buy the lifesaving vaccines, according to the JCV website.

With the help of the Youth Center’s Citizenship Club, the 48,584 bottle caps were counted and equaled about $10.93. While $10.93 seems like a small amount, the money goes a long way. The money can buy 218 whooping cough vaccines, 156 diphtheria vaccines, 78 polio vaccines, or 12 measles vaccines. In other words, when considering the whooping cough vaccine, each seventh grader saved the lives of two children.

The bottle cap competition was something that was so easy to do, said 11th grader Mei Okumura, 17. The competition made everyone aware of what is going on outside of Japan and the U.S.

The same competition is now taking place at Arnn Elementary School and McKibbin says he expects similar, if not better, results.

“I will probably keep saving bottle caps after the competition," said 12th grader Daniel Dulay, 17. "It feels good because you’re helping save lives.”

* If any 4-H club would like to help save bottle caps for the Camp Zama teens, send them to Claire Nakatsuka (956-7196 or email nakatsuk@hawaii.edu) and we will get them to Japan.

The Camp Zama Technology club spent their winter break fixing computers.

They started the week long project with 14 complete personal computers and set out to prove that curiosity and ingenuity could help this younger age to accomplish something never tried before.

By the end of the week, everyone have had a chance to touch and work with the internal components of a personal computer, learned things like binary language, the differences between ROM and RAM and, examples of input and output devices among other things. The group was able to rescue 12 computers, loaded them with the latest Linux operating system release and gave them out as prices for participation.

“The funniest part was when we were working on the computers and Mr. Rivera (our leader) dropped one of the computers. He just told us to be careful” hahaha… (Nicholas W. 8yrs)

“We had fun and I got to keep my computer. That’s cool because, if I break it, I can fix it!” (C.J., 10yrs)

“Yeah, I can fix a computer now but, I will charge you…” (Keith P., 7yrs)

The computers were donated by the Navy and obtained by Mr. Ervin Lawrence, Camp Zama CYS Functional Technology Specialist from air station Atsugi. Mr. Rivera is the leader of this group.

Thanks to the help of many young people, Hero Packs are being distributed to children whose moms or dads are away helping protect our country.

Dr. Gary Heusel became the Hawaii State 4-H Leader January 26, 2009. His primary responsibility is to provide leadership and support for salaried and volunteer staff as they strive “to make the best better” for 4-H families, members and volunteers. His office is in 213 Gilmore Hall on the University of Hawaii Manoa campus.

Dr. Heusel was an Illinois 4-H member before earning his degree from the University of Illinois and beginning his career with 4-H as a county extension educator. He worked in three Illinois counties including some of the most rural areas of the state and for eight years as the senior advisor for the Chicago 4-H program. He served as the volunteer and international specialist on the Georgia 4-H staff and directed the Community Cares program for National 4-H Council and USDA. He was State 4-H Leader for South Dakota and Nebraska and chair of the State 4-H Leaders of the U.S. He has been a board member for the National Association of 4-H agents and received the distinguished service award from that organization.

During his career he has worked with educators, community leaders, youth and adult volunteers across the U.S. and in seven other countries including eight months in Armenia starting 4-H in that former Soviet State. He is a staunch believer in the value of “learning by doing” and “serving to learn”. He is professor emeritus of education and leadership at the University of Nebraska.

He has been an active community volunteer for family, youth and church programs. He and Karen, a former 4-H member and extension educator, have been married for 33 years. Their son, Jason, lives in Nebraska.

The Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps (HYCC) is a summer experiential education and community service program for young people to learn the principles of natural resource stewardship and the importance of sustaining Hawaii’s unique natural environment. The program is looking for participants to spend six weeks “in the field” with natural resource managers, educators, scientists and community leaders learning about Hawaiian plants and animals, native ecosystems, watersheds, historic sites, aquaculture, and the current demands being placed on Hawaii’s natural resources.

Position Information: A team of 10-12 participants will be chosen from college underclassman and current high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have demonstrated an interest in protecting the natural environment of Hawaii. No prior experience is necessary, however, the program is outdoors service based and will be physically demanding. A positive attitude, an interest in learning, curiosity about interpreting nature, and the physical ability and desire to work on outdoor projects will also be important.

Participants will learn about the mission and challenges of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and other conservation organizations by taking part in service projects, field trips, and presentations by the various conservation and government organizations.

Members will participate in program activities Monday through Friday. The program will involve all weekdays and some weekends. Members on the islands of Hawaii and Kauai may have extensive camping requirements (from Monday through Friday) throughout the program. The participants may also spend two weeks on neighbor islands. Neighbor island travel, accommodations, and other miscellaneous expenses will be covered by DLNR. Participants will receive a $1,000 stipend, and if eligible will also receive three botany or biology college credits awarded by the University of Hawaii. Participants will gain valuable experiential education throughout the program and will meet potential role models who work in fields related to resource management and conservation biology. In addition they will learn skills such as teamwork, resource interpretation, organization, and decision-making. Best of all, they will receive exposure to some of the most interesting and beautiful natural areas in Hawaii.

Availability: There will be one to three teams of 10 to 12 members each on the following islands: Kauai, Molokai, Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island.

If you are interested in joining our team for the summer write, email, or just call!

Application Requirements: Two references (reference forms provided) and a completed application form. Application packet downloadable online.

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.

We welcome your story ideas and 4-H job listings.
Please e-mail them to nakatsuk@hawaii.edu

Oahu 4-H Newsletter Online