School Tour Gudies for San Antonio Livestock Show

4-H youth in the 9-12 grades may volunteer to serve as a school tour guide at the San Antonio Livestock Show. Youth will need to commit their entire day to serving in this leadership role and must be academically eligible to be excused from school in February.  Youth must register for their day of choice by December 17th. Once you sign up, you are fully committed, so be sure to check your schedule before signing up.

Click here to sign up as a tour guide!

Swine Validation: Monday, November 24th

Don't forget that swine validation is on Monday, November 24, 2014 at the EXPO Center
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Don't forget to bring your ethics form!

Duds to Dazzle Workshop - January 19, 2015

The Texas 4-H Duds to Dazzle Clothing & Textiles Competition goes one step beyond, utilizing the knowledge and skills learned in the project, while increasing awareness of the impact of the clothing & textile industry on the environment, specifically the waste stream. In the competition, teams of 4-H members will re-design and re-purpose discarded garments.


Check out the flyer for more information: Click Here

Nutrition Quiz Bowl - Tuesday, February 10th - Kerrville

Contest and Learning Opportunity - If interested, please email Cory, this is a team event of 3-4 members of the same age division.

This contest helps participants increase their knowledge of basic nutrition, consumer information, food and kitchen safety, food preparation skills and storage, and nutrition and health. This contest will follow the rules and procedures listed in the Texas 4-H Quiz Bowl Study Guide, 4-H 3-2.030. The State 4-H Food & Nutrition Quiz Bowl Study Guide should be utilized for support information. These documents will be released by the beginning of September and will be posted at this website. If there are significant changes from the State FDRM unit related to NQB, we will update this letter and re-send to the counties after we receive the information. http://fcs.tamu.edu/youth/index.php#food - click under 2015 State 4-H Food & Nutrition Quiz Bowl Study Guide (PDF)
Official references by age group include:

Juniors ➔ Safe Home Food Storage (Texas AgriLife Extension publication B-5031, rev. 8/02)
➔ Nutrient Needs at a Glance (Texas AgriLife Extension publication E-589, rev. 7/11)
➔ USDA My Plate
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-tips/ten-tips.html
Focus on these tip sheets:
Choose MyPlate Got Dairy Today?
Add more Vegetables to Your Day With Protein Foods, Variety is Key
Focus on Fruits Healthy Eating for Vegetarians
Make Half Your Grains Whole Salt and Sodium
Be Food Safe
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/MyPlate/GettingStartedWithMyPlate.pdf
 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Executive Summary (DGA):
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/PolicyDoc/ExecSumm.pdf

Intermediates ➔ All Junior References PLUS
➔ AAFCS Food: A Handbook of Terminology, Purchasing and Preparation, 11th edition
➔ ADA Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, 4th Edition – Pages 1-51

Seniors ➔ All Junior and Intermediate Resources PLUS
➔ ADA Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, 4th Edition – Entire book

Educational and Contest Opportunity--Wildlife Alliance for Youth (WAY)

The Wildlife Alliance for Youth (WAY) is a contest developed for Texas youth to study and learn wildlife biology, ecology, habitat management, and hunting skills. WAY has been adopted and used in FFA competition for several years. Although each contest has a 4-H Division, 4-H participation has never been large. WAY offers another potential activity for 4-H members.

Though most locations are yet to be determined, the following dates have been finalized for 2014-2015:

Region 1-April 14, 2015
Region 2-April 21, 2015
Region 3-April 16, 2015, Welder Wildlife Foundation, Sinton, TX
Region 4-November 5, 2014
Region 5-April 15, 2015

For any 4-H leaders interested, the study guide is referenced as (4400) Wildlife/Recreation CDE Guide, 2011. This study guide is available for $25 from:
Instructional Materials Services, Texas A&M University
2588 TAMUS
College Station, TX 77843-2588
http://store.im.tamu.edu/4400-WildlifeRecr-CDE-Guide-2011-P621.aspx

The best way for 4-H Leaders to find information on local and regional contests is to communicate with ag science teachers at the local high school(s), or to check online at http://www.JudgingCard.com in the "Calendar of Events".

County Food Challenge Contest - November 18th

The 4-H Food Challenge is a contest that allows 4-H members to demonstrate their culinary knowledge and skills. From a set of predetermined ingredients provided, teams of 3 to 5 4-H members must develop a recipe and prepare the dish within 40 minutes. Teams then make a presentation to a judging panel, explaining the preparation steps, serving size, food safety concerns, nutrition value and cost of the dish.

County Contest - November 18th (Two teams per age division advance to district)
District Contest - December 13th in San Marcos

Registration form and 2014-2015 Food Challenge Manual can be found at the following link:
http://travis-tx.tamu.edu/4-h-programs/4-h-events/

Submit registration forms by November 13th 

Food Show and Food Challenge Judges Needed - December 13th

We are in need of some volunteers to help judge the District 10 Food Show and Food Challenge on Saturday, December 13th. The event will be held at Texas State University in San Marcos. If interested please email Cory at cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu.

District 11 Shooting Sports Coach's Training

We are please to announce that District 11 will be hosting a Shooting Sports Coaches Training for Rifle, Archery, Shotgun and Pistol in Victoria TX on January 10-11, 2015.

This training is open to any potential coaches across the state.

• Registration will be conducted through 4‐H Connect.
• Look for 2015 District 11 4-H Shooting Sports Coaches Certification - Archery, Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun.
• Registration opens on November 14 through December 19, 2014.
• Late Registration is December 20 – January 5, 2015
• Please pay close attention to the deadline!
• Cost is $120 for regular registration.  Late registration fee is $145.

Participants MUST have completed and passed the Background Check PRIOR to registering for the event, so if they have not completed this, they should do so IMMEDIATELY! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

Additional details:

• Registration will cover meals and course materials.
• Only one discipline certification (archery, pistol, rifle, or shotgun) is obtainable per participant per training.
• Lodging will not be provided for registrants.
• Event will begin at 8:00am on Saturday, January 10 and tentatively end at noon on Sunday, January 11, 2015.
• Tentative schedule, what to bring list, and release forms attached. Additional details will be sent to those that register.

2014 Travis County 4-H Food Show Results

Travis County 4-H had it largest turnout in years for the county food show.Thank you to all who participated and to our volunteers for judging.

Level 1 Rifle Coach School

An NRA/USAS/CMP-sanctioned Smallbore Rifle/Air Rifle Coach Course will be held Nov 22-23, 2014, at Hill Country Shooting Sports Center, Kerrville Texas.

For more information, click HERE 

Youth Horticulture Competitions at Houston Livestock Show

Texas 4-H Photograpy Workshop

The Texas 4-H Youth Development Program is excited to team with the Harris County 4-H Photography Leaders to host a statewide photography workshop on Saturday, December 6th at the Harris County Extension Office in Houston, Texas.  This workshop will be a hands-on workshop filled with interactive experiences for 4-H members and leaders in the photography project.  Volunteers from various professional photography clubs in the Houston area have teamed up to lead the innovative and creative workshops (see attachment for descriptions).

The workshop is limited to the first 100 registration due to the structure of the sessions.  Participants will be able to participate in two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon, with lunch time photography opportunities as well.  Registration is only $25.00 and covers all registration materials and lunch.  Deadline for registering on 4-H CONNECT is November 28th, but early registration is encouraged due to the limited number of slots.

Click Here and look under heading of State Events

Thanksgiving Dinner - Hosted by Creedmoor 4-H Club

Virtual Volunteer Conferences - November 19 & 20

The Texas 4-H Youth Development Program is pleased to announce the schedule for the Virtual 4-H Volunteer Conference, scheduled for November 19th and 20th. Twelve educational workshops will be offered as a part of the virtual conference during the daytime hours on both days. A promotion brochure and schedule are attached.

All sessions will be conducted via the TTVN WebMeeting System. No pre-registration is required, and there is no fee to participate. All sessions are set to record, as well, and will be posted online after the virtual conference.

Volunteers can go directly to the training(s) by clicking on the name of the session they want to attend. It will take them directly to the online training. Workshop descriptions and more information about the virtual conference, as well as links to each of the sessions, are available at:                     texas4-h.tamu.edu/volunteer_conference.

Please share this information with your 4-H volunteers and encourage them to participate.