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April 1, 2014 Leave a comment
Cody Bachtell of Tekamah got in the spirit of the 4-H Snow/Snowless Sculpture Contest this year with his entry titled “Make a Lasting Impact, Roll on with 4-H.”
Mary Loftis,
Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929
Fax: (402) 374-2930
Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu
Photo Credit/Mary Loftis.
March 25, 2014 Leave a comment
This project was made by Heidi Miller. Photo Credit/Denise Gilliland, Editor and Chief, Kat Country Hub.
March 17, 2014 Leave a comment
4-H week project by Faith Roscoe on display at Lyons Public Library. Photo Credit/Denise Gilliland, Editor and Chief, Kat Country Hub.
March 15, 2014 Leave a comment
Now is the time to start planning with your 4-H member(s) for the Burt County
4-H Public Speaking Contest. This is a highlight activity that reaps benefits for participating 4-H members now and in the future. Everyone wishes they felt more comfortable speaking in front of a group, but the only way to make that a reality is by doing it! And the younger they start the better they’ll be!
4-H members will need good speaking skills in school, work and throughout their lives, so do them a favor and do whatever it takes to encourage (push, bribe, etc.) them to take part in the 4-H Public Speaking Contest!
Mary Loftis
We’ve made the contests as “kid-friendly” as we can especially with the Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest. The 4-H speaker reads a 60 second PSA (no memorization needed) into a microphone from the back of the room with the audience and judge facing the opposite direction. They can add sound effects or music to complement their PSA. If they use music it should be in the Public Domain (non-copy write). You can go to the internet and look up music in the Public Domain…but don’t expect anything too new there…sorry! Additional details and information on the PSA Contest were in the March 4-H Newsletter so check it out or give us a call at 402-374-2929 and we’ll get you a copy.
When you give a 4-H speech, it is given from the front of the room and you are encouraged to use as few notes as possible, but to use gestures to make your message more interesting. Just like you don’t like to watch a speaker stand behind a table and look down the whole time to read a speech…no one else does either! Topics for the contest must be 4-H related and I always tell 4-H members when something goes really well, or really badly…it would make a GREAT speech because you’ve learned something in both situations. Speech length depends on your age, so call or check the newsletter for those details…or better yet, come to one of the Burt County 4-H Speech Workshops!
I will be offering assistance to our Burt County 4-H members to get them started on their speeches and PSA’s two evenings. These Speech and P.S.A. workshop sessions will be held in Tekamah in the courthouse meeting room on Monday, March 31 and in Lyons in the First National Bank, NE basement meeting room on Tuesday, April 1. Both sessions will begin at 6:30 p.m. but I would appreciate you letting me know you can attend by noon the day of the workshop so I don’t waste my time and mileage if no one plans to come. If these times or locations don’t work for you or your family please give me (Mary) a call at 402-374-2929 and we can make other arrangements.
The Burt County 4-H Public Speaking Contest is set for Monday, April 21 (the day after Easter) in the Presbyterian Church in Tekamah beginning at 6:30 p.m. Entry deadline is at NOON the day of the contest so a program for the evening can be made.
Use your Easter (Spring) Vacation to greatest benefit…become a Burt County
4-H Speech and/or PSA Contest speaker!
Last Call for 4-H Leader Banquet & Training
Did you forget? We want you to BEE sure to attend the 4-H Leader Event!
The Burt County 4-H Leader Banquet & Training will be held next Sunday, March 23 in the Bill Larson Building on the Fairgrounds in Oakland starting at 6:30 p.m. We REALLY want every Burt County 4-H Leader and 4-H Council member to attend for the fun, the food and the information.
Please call in your reservation by Thursday, March 20 so our caterer and guest speaker can make plans. Remember, you are encouraged to bring a guest and if you bring a potential new 4-H leader we’ll have a special prize for both of you!
Please call the UNL Extension Office at 402-374-2929, day or night and let us know you can make it! If it goes to voicemail just dial in 214 when it first comes on and you’ll get my voice mail! Thanks and hope to hear from you soon!
Mary Loftis,
Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929
Fax: (402) 374-2930
Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu
February 28, 2014 Leave a comment
By Mary Loftis
Extension Assistant
Mary Loftis
Burt County 4-H Week is March 2-8 and it will start off with a bang on Sunday, March 2 with the 4-H Achievement Celebration/Kickoff afternoon of fun. The family fun will begin at 3:00 p.m. at the Tekamah Auditorium with a variety of fun activities including nerf kickball and bingo.
At 4:00 we’ll shift gears to recognize our 4-H award winners and present pins to our 1, 5 and 10 year 4-H members and our senior 4-H’ers. In addition we will honor our 4-H leaders who have served 2, 5, 10 and 15 years.
Then we’ll shift into eating mode with pizza and pop followed by a movie with popcorn.
We’ll make sure everyone heads home in time for the Oscars.
Make sure you and your family are signed up for the fun so we know how many to plan for. Call the UNL Extension Office by Friday noon at 402-374-2929 to say you can make it. And make sure you invite anyone who might want to become a 4-H member. It’s a kickoff event, but could also show someone new what there is to do and win in 4-H also.
With 4-H Week on the horizon I want to remind all our 4-H Clubs to make plans to celebrate it with a 4-H store display for the week. Remember the Burt County 4-H Council is offering $50 for each club making a display in a store window. Please send me a picture of your window display so you can show your display and we can promote them during the fair too! You can email them to me at mloftis2@unl.edu
4-H members are also reminded to plan some type of promotion in school for 4-H Week. Make arrangements to visit elementary school classrooms and tell them about 4-H, what you learn, what you do, friends, etc. Also, Thursday, March 6 is “Wear your 4-H t-shirt to School Day!” If you can’t find yours or need a new one for the fair we have them in the Extension Office of course!
Keep in mind the 4-H Snow and Snowless Sculpture Contest…as it’s snowing as I write, hopefully we’ll have a few entries in the Snow categories…otherwise, you’ll just have to get more creative for the snowless ones! Remember to send a picture of you with your creation to me at mloftis2@unl.edu or to the UNL Extension Office at 111 N. 13th Street, Suite #6, Tekamah, NE 68061 by April 1.
East Oaks 4-H Pancake Feed
Although the East Oaks Pancake Feed isn’t “officially” part of 4-H Week, it’s an annual tradition I know the club members look forward to each year. Mark Sunday, March 16 on your calendars and make plans to eat breakfast or lunch with the East Oaks 4-H Club at the Vet’s Building in Oakland from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. It’s always a great time to see the 4-H members in action!
Mary Loftis,
Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929
Fax: (402) 374-2930
Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu
February 27, 2014 Leave a comment
The Burt County 4-H Mindstormers Robotics Team competed in the State 4-H First LEGO League (FLL) robotics competition on Saturday, February 22 at the SAC Museum near Ashland.
Team members are: Amelia & Caleb Schlichting of Lyons; Jacob Unwin, of Oakland; Michael Bracht of West Point; and Lucas Niewohner of
The Burt County Mindstormers 4-H Robotics team competed recently at the state First LEGO League competition at the SAC Museum near Ashland.
Showing off their LEGO robot and lots of proud smiles are: front row: Lucas Niewohner, Caleb Schlichting, Michael Bracht, Jacob Unwin and Amelia Schlichting. In the back row are their team coaches: Scott Niewohner and Tricia Bracht. Photo Credit/Michelle Niewohner.
4-H Mindstormers Robotics members are: Lucas Niewohner, Caleb Schlichting, Amelia Schlichtung, Jacob Unwin and Michael Bracht. Photo Credit/Rosa Schmidt.
Herman. Their coaches are Tricia Bracht and Scott Niewohner. This is the first year the group has entered competition and to go to state is quite an accomplishment.
The Burt County team was in first place through the first round of the Robot Game portion of competition, however there are three rounds and only the highest score out of the three rounds is counted. During this competition the team programs their robot to do it’s “disaster rescue.” The theme for this year’s competition was “Nature’s Fury”. The Mindstormers chose a tornado as the natural disaster they wanted their robot to address. These young robotic engineers ended up in 5th place out of 44 teams in the Robot Game competition.
The other three parts of the contest are judged by two judges including: project solutions, core values and robot design. Only the top three teams are recognized in these parts of the competition. The Burt County team did not place that high in these judging area so they remain unaware of how well they compared.
The top two teams from the state competition go on to nationals either in California or Toronto, Canada. Unfortunately the Burt County Mindstormers won’t be packing their bags or getting a passport to continue their robotics experience, but they still have plans in the works.
While the official First LEGO League competition is now finished for the year, the Mindstormers have entered their solutions for their tornado disaster situation in the “FLL Global Innovation Award” competition. According to the award website many FLL teams have had the innovative solutions they created through the FLL project lead to some amazing opportunities. These include local and national media coverage, meeting government leaders and seeing their invention be patented and brought to the market. For some, their inventions have changed lives.
I expect great things from this young Burt County group…maybe not this year, but certainly in the near future. They are an extremely talented group of 4-H members who hit the ground running their first year in the FLL robotics competition. Hat’s off to the 4-H Mindstormers and their coaches for a job well done!
Mary Loftis,
Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929
Fax: (402) 374-2930
Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu
January 31, 2014 Leave a comment
By Mary Loftis
Extension Assistant
Burt County Mindstormers 4-H Club took part in a qualifying First Lego League Robotics Competition on Saturday, January 25 in South Sioux City, NE.
Giving their Core Values poster presentation are team members: Lucas Niewohner, Jacob Unwin, Caleb Schlichting, Michael Bracht and Amelia Schlichting.
Robotics Club Qualifies for State. Photo Credit/Steve Schlichting.
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