Spring Break in Mexico!

A tall breed of agave

“Water is a problem”
“The Spanish came to Mexico for two reasons: to spread Catholicism and to get rich!”

Hey PA 4-H! I’m writing this blog just after getting back from our 2014 Capital Days. It was an amazing event that was very rewarding for those involved, as well as PA 4-H as a whole! However, I know some of my teammates will have amazing blogs describing Capital Days, so I want to take this chance to tell you about another amazing trip that I recently returned from.

I know what most of you will automatically think when I tell you that I went to Mexico for spring break, but I can assure you that it is not what you think. I got the chance to go on a spring break study abroad trip to Guanajuato, Mexico. The cool part is that the trip was led by the honorable Sam Hays Jr, who is a former PA House Whip and PA Secretary of Ag. He used his contacts with the University of Guanajuato and other local residents to give us an amazing trip.

Irrigation

Church where the Mexican War of
Independence Started

               



















          On the trip, the above quotes came up over and over again. The single largest problem facing the state of Guanajuato is the lack of water. They are drawing water from their aquifers at a non-sustainable rate. Most of that water is used to support the states huge agricultural sector. We learned of the strategies they are implementing to make their precious water resources more sustainable. We also got to learn about the local history that includes Spanish rule, and Mexico’s fight for independence.

A Strawberry Field

A view of Guanajuato

                While on the trip, my area of focus was on agricultural plants. I learned about how important the agave plant is to the economy, namely through it’s being made into tequila. I found it interesting how much of the fresh produce they harvest gets shipped to the US in the winter months. Agriculture truly is a global business! And of course, we got plenty of time to relax enjoy the culture of Guanajuato at night. I love how social the culture is in general. Every night, the streets were as busy as the OCMD boardwalk, full of residents enjoying life with each other. It was a sharp contrast to the US, where our culture is based on having events at home. In Mexico, the culture is based outside in the warm air!

               
              If you ever get the chance to study abroad in life, I strongly encourage you to take full advantage of it. My trip was life changing. It gave me a better understanding of the world we live in, how we can celebrate our differences, and how we can work together to create a better quality of life for all.

               In closing I want to thank everyone who attended Capital Days, and all those who made it possible. I had a blast helping to put it on. I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have in store for State Days! Have a great month!

My fellow PSU Altoona students and I

Nate Repetz
2013/2014 PA 4-H State Council
President  

March Recap

The calendar claims it is spring, as March comes to an end.  But winter weather is still lingering on.  Even the majority of our  goats that we expected to deliver in March have held out for April.
March started with Winter Academy at Dublin Gap.  I was a counselor again this year. It was a fun experience.  It would have been nice to see more 4-Hers there, but the turnout from Perry County was up this year.
In Perry County, March is the month from breakout meetings for the Livestock Club.  This year I went to Swine, Sheep and Market Goat breakout meetings.  So far my barn is starting to fill up with project animals now.  The steer has been here since October, now pigs and market goats have made their entrance.  Just one more species to go.
Newport School District held their Winter Sports Reception to recognize students and coaches.  I earned my Wrestling  pin for on my varsity letter. I've decided to add off-season wrestling to my schedule of things to do.
4-H Kick-Off was held this month too.  Our turn out was down this year, but we also held Kick-Off at a new location.  Hopefully next year will be better!
Perry County Officer Training was a fun way to teach the roles of the club offices to the members. Each club sent members to join the fun and learn about the role, and duties of club officers.
2014 Capitol Days was amazing!  The turnout was even better this year than last.  It is wonderful to see so many 4-H youth  participate in leadership activities. Parli Pro (parliamentary procedure),  how to read a bill and visits with state officials were the educational parts of our weekend.  But dances, a capitol tour and a museum visit added fun and time to visit with friends both new and old.
Plus I managed to fit in regular club meetings, school, work, and time with family and friends this month.  But as I watch each month zip by with everything I'm doing, I'm starting to wish it would slow down.  My time as a 4-H State Council Representative is on it's last half now.  It seems to be flying by too fast.

Until next month,
H.Wyett Johnson

Capital Days

Greetings 4-Her's!

Capital Days went smashingly! It was amazing to see how quickly all of you guys picked up Parli Pro, and your enthusiasm for the bill was truly awesome! I know how we all feel about Parli Pro being a little heavy, but you all worked really well together to pass the amendments. Congratulations! (If you want a quick laugh and catchy tune click this and have a little fun with it!)

We heard a lot of positive comments from you guys, and its always fun to go to the dances and get to interact with some of you on a personal level. To everyone I danced with, and to everyone who was a part of that AMAZING circle with the whole group (so everyone basically) I just wanted to thank you for making the dance so much fun this year!

THe Legislative Brunch was particularly great, and our speakers did a fantastic job with their 4-H stories and speeches! I hope everyone enjoyed their visits with the legislators! I know that we, as a council, enjoyed ours!

I'm sure you all noticed that I photographed several moments, so I thought I'd share some of them with you here!

Once more, I would just like to thank everyone for participating and for making the weekend amazing!

Sincerely,
Amber J Pound
Council Historian

Capital Days: A huge Success!

Hello 4-Her's!

I am pleased  to announce that Capital days was amazing! There were double the number of 4-H members in attendance this year, compared to last. The bill went so well, and everyone was participating.

I wish I could still be a delegate and experience Capital Days, SLC, and State Days from a front row view, but being a State Council member and being able to be behind the scenes is so great. I can't wait for the rest of the year as a member, but my term is coming to a close too soon. I love my council family, and all the delegates that attend our events and make them as amazing as possible.

Capital Days was definitely added to my list of memories on council. I talked to several legislators about my 4-H story and how my life has been influenced by all the friends, memories, and projects. I heard other 4-H members stories and was greatly motivated by their life journey that they credit to 4-H. It is amazing that 4-H covers such a broad range of topics including civics.

4-H has changed me and so many others. I loved hearing all the stories at Capital Days from members and their story. Without 4-H opportunities, my life and the lives of many others would be entirely different, so don't over look what you have in the 4-H program.

Signing off,
Kaitlin Rogers
Vice President of Events

Capitol Days!!!

Hello it's your state council reporter again! I would like to say that I had a fun time at Capitol Days with my State Council group know as my State Council family. This was my first time going this exciting event and when I say exciting I was being serious. Our theme for Capitol Days was "Citizenship Makes You A Hero". The State Council was there for 4 days Friday-Monday, and throughout those 4 days that I was there, I got to learn a lot of cool information about Capitol Days. Friday the State Council group did a team building workshop, talk about the bill, went over ice breakers, and did a lot practice on a workshop which was on "Be A Parli Pro" that the State Council team was going to leading. Saturday is we practice workshop over and over again until it went smooth. That Saturday night all the delegate from the whole state started arriving and that night State Council leads some ice breakers for the kids to get to know one each other and then we did our workshop. Sunday night we did a mock session and also had a dance. We had two parties for the mock session and they were the Avengers and Justice League and the mock session was a successful. Monday morning we had a legislative bunch where all the delegates met there legislative. After that the State Council when to go over to the Capital and each of us got to meet up with our legislative and had a few words with them. I would have to say that I have a lot of fun being there with 85 deal hate and my State Council team.

First time at Capital days rocked!

Hello Pennsylvania 4-H!

Another month has passed. This time with one of the "big three" (Nate and I's nickname for the three big state events that the Council helps with), Capital Days! I have never been to Capital days before and I have to tell you, I didn't know if I would like it. When I heard that it was related to parliamentary procedure and politics, I was a little skeptical as to whether I would like it or not. But I am happy to report that it surpassed all of my expectations and was better than I could have imagined!

The Council arrived early on Friday morning so that we could prepare and rehearse for the weekend ahead. 

After a long day of planning and preparing, we dressed up for a night on the town! We went to The Firehouse, a restaurant a few minutes from our hotel. It had some pretty awesome food and it was a lot of fun to go there! 

The next day brought a little more preparing before the 85 delegates (around double the number of delegates from last year) showed up. When they arrived we started with some superhero icebreakers! Then we assembled the Council! (As pictured below.) 

After dinner the Council taught a workshop on parliamentary procedure (the methods and procedures to follow within a meeting). Then we split into two different groups, the Avengers and the Justice League, for our mock party discussion sessions. I was the chair for the Avengers session and it was really fun getting to lead and to apply my knowledge of parliamentary procedure. 

The next day (Sunday) there were workshops and a Capitol building tour. We also had a formal etiquette lunch. In the evening we had a debate and discussion involving both groups together. It was pretty intense and was so much fun! We finished out the evening with a neon dance!

Today (Monday) we had a legislative brunch! There were over 50 legislators that came and had brunch with delegates from their district of the state. After the brunch concluded, the Council went to the Capitol building to have meetings with many legislators. It was pretty awesome getting to meet all of them. We were even shown the House Floor, which is where the state House of Representatives meets to conduct business. 

So overal, this weekend was a really great experience for me where I met new people, learned about citizenship and government, and had a whole lot of fun in the process!

Until next month, 

Jesse Isenberg 

2013/2014 Pennsylvania State 4-H Council
Vice President of Operations

Capital Days Bound!

It's that time of year again, Capital Days is quickly approaching.  Nervous, excited, anxious, right now that's me.  This will be my first Capital Days ever! It's crazy, that for as many years as I have attended SLC, I have never been to Capital Days. Any pointers for this weekend would be great!  I am completely over packed and ready to go.  Capital Days here I come! One might think that I was going for weeks with everything I have packed. Over pack much? Yep, that's me everywhere I go.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, spring will be here shortly.  Maybe shortly isn't the right word, how about hopeful it will get here.  It's the end of March and I still have snow in spots! I haven't seen one flower, any green grass, nothing, just nothing besides ugly brown trees.  Oh how I miss bright green grass, the wind blowing through my hair, and the sun shining brightly.  For the record, I did wear shorts this month.

Track season is well underway now.  The day I don't have to put 5,000 layers on to go to practice will be great.  The days I really enjoy practice is when I have my favorite pair of shorts and a t-shirt on. With this weather it hasn't happened very often, if at all. Do you know how hard it is to run with a bunch of layers on? Let's just say that should be an event in itself.

For our very first meet it was SUPPOSED to be warm and sunny.  Well the weather man was wrong.  The sun didn't shine and the wind blew.  Luckily for me it was great meet!  My hurdle times weren't great and my jumps were not very far but I felt amazing in each event.  It was a fantastic way to kick of the start of the track season.

Now I'm Capital Days bound and ready for a terrific weekend with 4-H members across the state.

See you at Capital Days,

Megan Anderson

Thank yous

Hello Pennsylvania 4-H,

Today I would like to write about something I feel very important about. Thank Yous. Everyone wants to be thanked for what they do. From your teacher passing out a papers, to your mom who filled your gas tank. Thank you's can also come in many forms. There are the awards that can be received. There are post on Facebook where people thank friends for a good night out. There are the thank you note cards that are rarely received that make each one so special. But I find that the most important are the in person thank you's. From a hand shake, to a nod, people appreciate it. So I challenge you, to take a minute and remember to thank people. Because everyone deserves a thank you. So thank you Pennsylvania 4-H, for the opportunity you have given me to represent you.

Forever 4-H,
Alexandra Adams
2013-2014 Pennsylvania 4-H Vice President of Internal Affairs

February Schmebruary

Hello Folks!
Whew. This month, despite being only 28 days, seemed to go on forever! There were some bright points however, including Winter Academy, and my sister's birthday!

In the beginning of this month I went to a training session to get ready for Winter Academy, which is a winter overnight camp my region participates in, and also become certified in First Aid! Woohoo! I officially know CPR and first response techniques now, so hopefully I'll never actually need to use those skills, but if I do need them at least I have them!

Sarah, my older sister turned 20 on the 8th and I just wanted to take this space to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And thanks for always supporting me and making sure I don't freak out unnecessarily. She's my number one fan, and I always vet my actions against her shining example of what it means to be awesome. She's my role model and I really appreciate everything she's done for me through the years. I couldn't have done it without her!

Winter Academy itself was a blast and it actually just wrapped up yesterday. It was great to see the campers again, and my fellow counselors. Both Nate and Wyett were there, and I can only hope they had as much fun as I did.

Sincerely Your State Council Historian,
Amber J Pound

Will the snow ever end?!?!

Hey everybody!
Here's my question: will it ever stop snowing?!?! I mean, it's ridiculous! Don't get me wrong, I love snow, but it has made February a very trying month! With all the snow days, and just snow in general, 4-H has been difficult to get to. We had to reschedule an officers meeting three times!! Three!!!
But, you just have to remember that hopefully by the end of March, it will all go away and be better!

Lydia

An Ode to 4-H

Hello 4-H loves!

February is over, and love it or hate it, one of the main events of February is Valentine's Day. So whether or not you had a Valentine this year, we all love something in common: 4-H!

So I guess it's the perfect occasion for a cheesy 4-H love poem. I apologize in advance.

Clovers are green,

Ribbons are blue,

Oh, 4-H,

I love you!

Piggies are pink,

Steer are black,

The memories 4-H has given me

I would never give back.

Needles are silver,

Flowers are every color,

4-H has given me an experience

Like no other.

Tractors are green,

Well, sometimes they’re red,

I don’t know the difference

So my opinion will remain unsaid.

Cookies are brown,

Sheep are white,

with the skills I’ve learned in 4-H,

I’ve soared to a new height.

Council polos are navy,

Leadership is gold,

I will remember 4-H

Even when I’m old.

Reserve Grand Champion is purple,

Best of Show is also purple,

I’ll finish my poem now

Since nothing rhymes with purple.

Have a marvelous March!

Sophie Hutchinson, Council Representative

brendins snow filled month

The month of February has been a cold and snow filled one it has seemed that there is so much snow it seemed very other day there was snow and it just wouldn’t melt either it was a lot of fun though all of the sledding and snowmobiling that we were  able to get in the year. In the beginning of the month I had attended the PASRBA convention and had shown my rabbits there I had such a blast to go and show there I got to see a lot of my friends there. I took breed with my silver marten Sable Sr doe both days out of twelve rabbits. Then the big snow storms came in the next couple weeks it was amazing to see how much sow we had this month and the freeze line in the ground is deep at this rate we won’t be able to get in the field till April to go and start breaking ground.  This month was a great one that will go down in the record books as the coldest.