Upcoming December 2017 Reminders

We hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving Break and are getting excited for Show & Contest Season!  Today is a little bittersweet as we celebrate our favorite 4-H Administrative Assistant, John, and wish him a happy retirement.  His official last day with us will be tomorrow; he will be here until 2:00 PM.  Our lovely front desk Administrative Assistant, Julissa, will be helping us out a little as we transition through December and post John’s position.  *sniffle* With that in mind, please be patient with our office through this transition and we’ll let you know of any updates! 

TCYS Reminders

• Bake Goods Entries – another reminder that recipes must be submitted online by tonight at 5pm! This form will come down at this time and there will be no option for exhibitors to submit past 5pm.  http://traviscountyyouthshow.org/page.aspx?ID=2357 

• Poultry Pick-ups will be Friday, December 1, 2017 
• Location: Lanier High School (1201 Payton Gin Rd) at the back of the school, nearest to the Ag Shop. 
• Time: 3pm-7pm
• Please remember to bring your own boxes for transportation. TCYS representatives will be there and will write down wing band numbers for our reference. 

Major Show Entries

• ·        We are putting the final touches on entering everything online and getting the physical copies postmarked
• ·        We are going to do another deposit next week; there are a couple of people who overpaid for entries, so we will be processing their refunds.  Please be patient with us since we won’t have John to make this as efficient as usual
• ·        We’ll send out more reminders to youth entered in contests to bring their indemnity forms the day of the contests as we get closer  to the shows

Tour Guide Opportunities

• ·        San Antonio – deadline to sign up is Friday, December 1^st at 12 noon; more information is posted at http://travis4h.blogspot.com/2017/10/2018-san-antonio-school-tour-guides.html
• ·        Rodeo Austin – deadline to sign up is Friday, December 22^nd at 12 noon; more information is posted at http://travis4h.blogspot.com/2017/11/2018-rodeo-austin-star-of-texas-school.html

District 10 Roundup

• ·        The District 10 office is processing through entries and finalizing volunteer schedules at this time
• ·        I am sending out a couple of emails for individuals who need to resubmit their entries so we can assist the District with this
• ·        Once everything is finalized, I will send out emails to volunteers and reminders for parents next week
• ·        Agents will be out of the office to facilitate the District 10 Roundup December 7^th - 9^th

College Tips with Collegewise – we have a presenter who is a college counselor and former 4-H’er providing a workshop on building resumes and navigating the college application and scholarship process at 6:30 PM on Monday, December 4^th, at the Extension Office.  Please let us know you are coming by signing up here.  More information is available at: http://travis4h.blogspot.com/2017/11/2017-workshop-college-admission-tips.html

As a reminder, our 4-H Agent, Mellanie, will be out of the office November 30^th through December 6^th for meetings and a family event.  She’ll be checking her emails periodically, but may not be able to respond immediately.  Once she gets back to town on December 6^th, she’ll be following up on items and preparing to go to Kerrville December 7^th - 9^th to assist at the District 10 Roundup.

Below is a list of upcoming opportunities and links to more information:

TRAVIS COUNTY EVENTS
Date of Event	Deadline to Apply	Name of Event
Wednesday, November 29, 2017	11/29	TCYS Youth Fair Recipes due online by 11:59 PM
Wednesday, November 29, 2017	NA	John's retirement lunch at the Extension Office
Friday, December 01, 2017	12/1	San Antonio School Tour Sign-ups due
Thursday, November 30 - December 6	NA	Mellanie out of the office - will periodically check emails and send reminders
Monday, December 4	NA	College Admission Tips with Collegewise - 6:30 PM at the Extension Office
Saturday, December 02, 2017	NA	Rabbit Showmanship Clinic at Akins High School 10:00 AM
Saturday, December 16, 2017	TBA	Rabbit Validation - Hendrickson HS - Hamann Agriculture Complex  9:30 a to 1p
Monday, December 18, 2017	NA	Travis County 4-H Photography Workshop - 6:30 PM at the Extension
DISTRICT 10 EVENTS
Date of Event	Deadline to Apply	Name of Event
Friday, December 8-9, 2017	11/9	District 10 Fall Roundup Events - be sure to see the contest changes! Reg. starts 10/24
Friday, February 02, 2018	1/22 - 2/1	District 10 Photography Contest (in 4-H CONNECT)
Thursday, April 19-21, 2018	TBA	District 10 Spring Roundup Events - be sure to see the contest changes!
EXTERNAL COUNTY, STATE,  AND NATIONAL EVENTS
Date of Event	Deadline to Apply	Name of Event
Saturday, December 02, 2017	TBA	Coastal Bend Classic Clinic & Show
Saturday, December 02, 2017	TBA	Guadalupe County Sumo-Bot Contest
Saturday, December 16, 2017	11/18	2017 Coryell County 4-H Jackpot Show
Saturday, December 16, 2017	12/16	Winterfest Extravaganza - Moore County (Dumas)
Friday, January 5-7, 2018	12/22	Teen Retreat at the Brownwood Center
Saturday, January 6-7, 2018	12/17	West Region 4-H Shooting Sports Coach Training (San Angelo)
Saturday, March 03, 2018	12/22	2017-2018 Gear Robotics Participation
Tuesday, March 20, 2018	10/23	Youth in Action Awards Ceremony in Washington DC
April 1-15, 2017	4/15	State Texas 4-H Photography Contest Rules & Guidelines

2018 Upcoming Scholarship Reminders

Currently posted Scholarship Opportunities (Click on the following titles to be taken to the original post):

• Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Scholarships
• Texas Farm Bureau Scholarships
• Texas 4-H Opportunity Scholarships (State Website, more information below)

 Scholarships Opportunities to look for in the Spring:

• Travis County Youth Show (TCYS) Scholarships
• Travis 4-H Scholarships
• Major Show Scholarships

2018 Texas 4-H Opportunity Scholarships

The 2018 Texas 4-H Opportunity Scholarship applications, guidelines, and examples are posted on the State 4-H Scholarship page.  If you missed out on the Scholarship Overview (Travis County) or the Scholarship Workshop (TAMU) and you have any questions about the scholarships or applications, please contact the Travis County Extension Office at 512-854-9600 or MLMickelson@ag.tamu.edu.  We’ll be happy to assist you. 

The timeline and deadlines for the Texas 4-H Opportunity Scholarship in Travis County are:

• November/December – youth need to complete the FAFSA
• December 31, 2017 – First Draft of Scholarship application is due to Mellanie (Word Doc via email)
• January 22, 2018 – Final Draft (original, hard copy, with all paperwork complete) due to Mellanie in the Extension Office
• April 13, 2018 – Applicants will be notified if they have been selected for an interview
• May 4-6, 2018 – Interviews take place in College Station
• June 12, 13, &/or 14, 2018 – Awards Assemblies/Banquets in College Station (State Roundup Attendance is mandatory)

Upcoming Nov/Dec 2017 Reminders: Dates and Eligibility Checks

Upcoming Program and Deadline Reminders:

• Tuesday, November 28 – Quality Counts test deadline for livestock exhibitors
• Wednesday, November 29 – TCYS Baked Good recipes submissions due by 4:59 PM
• Friday, December 1 – San Antonio Tour Guide Sign Ups are due
• Friday, December 1 – TCYS broiler pick ups (more information soon!)
• Monday, December 4 – College Admission Tips with Collegewise at 6:30 PM
• Friday, December 8-9 – District 10 Fall Roundup in Kerrville, TX
• Monday, December 11 – Travis County 4-H Council Holiday Party & Banquet Theme Selection at 6:30 PM at the Extension Office
• Monday, December 18 – Travis County 4-H Photography Workshop at 6:30 PM
• Friday, December 22 – Rodeo Austin Tour Guide Sign Ups are due
• Friday, December 22 – Teen Leadership Retreat sign-ups due

Eligibility Check & Club Attendance Reminders

This is a reminder for our parents and exhibitors that our office will be asking schools to verify eligibility in early December and January for those participating in TCYS.  We will continue checks throughout the spring for those participating in other events. Parents, please actively check your child’s grades.  Exhibitors, please be aware of your grades and work on them with your teachers now if there is a concern.

We want to remind everyone that the Extension Office and Agents do NOT make any decisions regarding school eligibility; your school registrar checks a box stating whether or not you are eligible.  Please keep in mind that some of the schools can’t provide this information until their grading period ends in January – right before TCYS.  We will do our best to notify you immediately via email if you are marked as ineligible, but please keep in mind this is based on when your school returns the form to us.

Please also be aware that TCYS will also ask our office to verify that you have attended at least 50% of your 4-H Club’s meetings since August of 2017.  We will be asking your Club Managers to verify this using their sign-in sheets. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 512-854-9600 or MLMickelson@ag.tamu.edu

Travis County 4-H Photography Workshop: Monday, December 18, 2017

2018 Texas Farm Bureau Scholarship Opportunities

There are Scholarship Opportunities available through the Texas Farm Bureau!  

The following information that is now available on the Texas Farm Bureau website.

There are several scholarship opportunities provided by Texas Farm Bureau. Three of the available scholarship programs are for high school students who have not yet graduated:

1. TFB District Scholarship - (39 scholarships available at $1,000 each) & (13 scholarships available at $1,500 each)

2. TFB Young Farmer & Rancher High School Scholarship - (13 scholarships available at $1,000 each)

3. TFB Dick Mitchell Memorial Scholarship - (1 scholarship available at $1,000)

This year the scholarship application process is online through a new portal called MyTFB. All information for the scholarships can be found on the Texas Farm Bureau website under the Youth Opportunities page. This includes deadlines, individual scholarship rules, eligibility, awards and the link to MyTFB. The direct link to the Youth Opportunities page is http://texasfarmbureau.org/youth/youth-opportunities/

All students applying for the above scholarships must be a member of a Texas Farm Bureau family, with membership remaining current during the duration of the scholarship. To become a Texas Farm Bureau member go to the following link: https://my.texasfarmbureau.org .  Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) is providing a complimentary membership to each of the more than 1,500 4-H clubs across the Lone Star State.

Click on “Don’t have a Membership” located within the “Sign Up” box on the MyTFB website.

All scholarship applications must be submitted online no later than midnight March 1, 2018. All applicants will be notified of the results by May 1, 2018.

The scholarships listed above represent a part of the total scholarship funds offered by Texas Farm Bureau. Other scholarship programs, including the Free Enterprise Speech Contest, will be announced later. You are encouraged to make eligible students, and their parents aware of these opportunities. If you have any questions, contact me at 254-399-5037 or mbalko@txfb.org.

2018 Houston Junior Market Lamb Scholarship (Hildebrand Scholarship)

2018 Houston Technical Scholarships

2018 Rodeo Austin (STAR of Texas) School Tour Guides

4-H youth in the 9-12 grades may volunteer to serve as a school tour guide at Rodeo Austin. Youth will need to commit their entire day from approximately 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM to serving in this leadership role and must be academically eligible to be excused from school in March. 

The dates this year include March 19-23, 2018.  Rodeo Austin expects over 6,000 attendees and will need approximately 75 tour guides per day to handle the classes.  We will receive a confirmation of sign-ups and more specific information for tour guides at the end of February.  

Youth must register for their day of choice by noon on Friday, December 22, 2017. Once you sign up, you are fully committed to that date, so be sure to triple check your schedule before signing up.

Click here to sign up as a tour guide!  A copy of your selection(s) will be emailed to the address submitted in the form.

Junior MasterChef is Casting !

2017 Workshop: College Admission Tips with CollegeWise

We have a cool opportunity for our youth and parents who have inquired about applying for college and other scholarship opportunities!  Join us on Monday, December 4, 2017, at 6:30 PM to talk about how to use your 4-H experience to your advantage.  We would love to see our 9th through 12th graders and answer any questions you have!  Let us know you are planning to attend by signing up here.

Teen Leadership Retreat

2017-2018 TTV GEAR Robotics Registration

GEAR Robotics Participation Registration is Now Open!

Welcome to the 2017-2018 TTU GEAR Robotics tournament season. We have an exciting season ahead of us. Dr. Karp is back from South Africa and we are delighted to have her back at the helm. Exciting additions have been made this season to help accommodate your scheduling and travel needs. This year, in addition to tournament sites being held at Texas Tech University and Midland, there will be an additional tournament site hosted by Frenship ISD in Wolfforth, Texas. We also offer a Virtual GEAR competition, in case you don’t want to travel at all or have teams that cannot make any of the tournament dates. To find out more about Virtual GEAR, please check out our website: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/coe/stem/gear/virtual.php

To participate in GEAR 2018, you must register your teams at https://goo.gl/forms/21r7v4lunmiMYBlo1.  Registration closes December 22, 2017. Through this registration you inform us that you will be participating in GEAR this year and indicate which tournament site you will be attending. You may select only one. (In addition, you may register 2 Virtual GEAR teams on the Virtual GEAR website mentioned above). The information you provide will help us plan this year’s activities and make preparations. THIS IS NOT YOUR GAME DAY REGISTRATION. The Game Day registration will be sent out at a later time.

Site Locations:

You may select the site that best accommodates your travel and scheduling needs, but each site will have limited registration space available. We strongly recommend that you choose the tournament site closest to you.

• The Texas Tech University site will be limited to 100 elementary and 100 middle school teams
• Midland will limit registration to 100 teams total
• Frenship ISD will accommodate 50 teams total

Each team must have a minimum of 3 students per team. A school/robotics program can participate with a maximum of 8 teams. We need the estimated number of participating teams for planning purpose only. You will have to confirm the exact number of teams participating in game day later.

Trial Run and Game Day Tournament Site Dates:

Location	Trial Run Date	Game Day Date
Texas Tech University	March 3, 2018	April 7, 2018
Midland ISD, Midland	March 3, 2018	April 14, 2018
Frenship ISD, Wolfforth	March 24, 2018	April 14, 2018

TTU will be hosting a joint kickoff event for all participants on the TTU campus on February 10, 2018. Winning teams from all three locations will qualify for playoffs at TTU in Lubbock.

This year’s challenge teaser:

For more information about GEAR Robotics go to https://www.depts.ttu.edu/coe/stem/gear/ .

Keep in mind that this is NOT a 4-H sponsored event, so they will follow the general GEAR rules found here:  http://www.gearrobotics.org/  (at the time of this posting, their website was down, so check back).  The new game rules are typically released in mid-February.

 

Location

Trial Run Date

Game Day Date

Texas Tech University

March 3, 2018

April 7, 2018

Midland ISD, Midland

March 3, 2018

April 14, 2018

Frenship ISD, Wolfforth

March 24, 2018

April 14, 2018