Podcasts about southwest district

John and Cobie discuss what 4-H Project Achievement Days are and how it helps younger 4-H’ers develop life skills. Transcript: Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford. Dr. John Long: Well, if you're hearing that really hip kind of funky music, that means we are here for another 4-H-4-U-2 podcast. I am John Long. Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford. Dr. John Long: We are pretty excited today about the weather outside. It's absolutely phenomenal outside. When I got up this morning it felt like it was spring all over again. Cobie Rutherford: I know. I don't feel like we had any days like this even in April, when it was raining every day. Where our spring was consumed by water. Dr. John Long: Yes, very much so. Very much so. And you'll hear us talking about the weather so much because we know what's coming. July, August. We're going enjoy every little cool snap we have. But that's part of it, and that's where we live and that's something we have to just deal with I guess. Dr. John Long: So Cobie, we have our starting off, we just finished up Congress when this is being recorded. Congress, as we talked about before, is basically the senior only event. Now we've got some other events coming up very shortly that are basically something for the younger kids today. So let's talk about that and exactly what that entails. Cobie Rutherford: So the events John's describing here is Project Achievement Days and we have four that are dispersed around the States. One hosted in each region of the State by the regional offices. So the Northeast Regional Extension and Research Center is hosting the first one we have coming up. We'll have one hosted of course by the Northwest or any center. Then Southeast and Southwest will host them. Cobie Rutherford: And John, really that's when the agents get together and they plan these contests for junior 4-H'ers. These 4-H'ers are between 8 and 13 for the most part. Some younger ones may do an exhibit or two, but for the most part they're between 8 and 13. They do things like visual presentations, judging contest, miscellaneous contest, like the bicycle rodeo, the bicycle contest. It seems like it's going to be a lot of fun for these kids. Dr. John Long: It is. I always enjoyed doing the Project Achievement Days and anytime I get to judge a contest, such as visual presentations or being in a judging contest, kind of overseeing that. I really love the visual presentations that calls each year. It gets kind of funny because even if I'm not a judge, I may be there to ask a question and I sincerely ask a question out of curiosity to be educated. Dr. John Long: Because every year that I go, a lot of these young people, they will do a presentation and it's like, "Wow. I never knew that." Sincerely, this is not for score, this is just out of just pure wanting base knowledge I guess of the topic. So really cool stuff that young people are involved in and you can tell they put a lot of time and effort into the presentations and their preparation for the event. Cobie Rutherford: I think about those visual presentations. A lot of times they kind of pick a topic that they're interested in, but also at the same time they don't know a whole lot about. So they have this chance to do a research project, so to speak, and then present what they found to a layman audience. Cobie Rutherford: I think that's what's most cool about that. They're able to almost do what extension agents do. Take knowledge that is out there that's been published or, that comes from really good sources and then transpose that to something that they understand or they could share and teach to their peers. Dr. John Long: Right. Of course that goes back to probably one of the first questions that always gets asked, and it's kind of a can answer was our question is, "Why did you choose this topic?" And they can surely come up with the fact of how they really got interested in this specific topic or going back to even what I was telling Matt about rank curiosity about, why something is the way it is. So it is a great opportunity for them to get out there. Dr. John Long: I think one of my favorite, as you mentioned, some of the younger kids will come and they'll do a visual presentation, a poster board presentation. I remember one of my favorite ones being how to play the guitar. This is a little kid, he came up, he had a cowboy hat on. He was decked out and he had his little guitar. I mean, that little fella could flat out play. I tried to play a little bit, but he could play. Dr. John Long: And that was something that he was interested in and he was trying to teach others about it. I, in fact, I went up to him and asked him, I was like, "Basically tell me about your project." And he was sincere, even at a young age, very sincere on trying to teach me how to play a G chord. Cobie Rutherford: I remember in high school giving visual presentations. One of my friends one time gave one on, how to clean her glasses. She had forgot to prepare and she didn't have anything written down or anything done. It just totally slipped her mind. This girl got up in front of our class and just came up with that topic out of the blue and said, "I'm going to demonstrate how I clean my glasses." Cobie Rutherford: Dr. Long I'm telling you, this girl gave the best feature and our teacher gave her a hundred because she completely winged it and demonstrated the proper way and how she took everything apart. I mean, I'm sure she knew what she was doing. Cobie Rutherford: But I think back from a 4-H level, one of our guiding principles, we talk about the big M quite a bit, and the M stands for mastery. We talk about if you're able to get up and give a presentation on a topic of your choice and teach others about it, well you've really started to master that topic from my opinion. So visual presentations really help us drive that point home. Dr. John Long: Well. Yeah, and I totally agree that visual presentations, I think they serve going back as far as a transfer knowledge. But it also allows that individual the opportunity to get up in front of a crowd and actually be able to speak. We talk about public speaking. Well, visual presentations give you the opportunity to actually get up and speak on a topic that you know about. I know that sounds kind of [inaudible 00:07:21], but that's the truth. Dr. John Long: A lot of times for me, I didn't have that exposure. So some of the first times that I actually spoke in public or actually in front of extremely large crowds of people at older ages. So you can imagine the amount of life skills that these young people are being taught simply by being exposed to speaking in front of people. Dr. John Long: Whether you remember the presentation or not, or whether you'll even remember what you spoke on. You took that step to get up and being able to present. Being able to talk to people is one of the key things that you're going to really need as far as a life skill later in life. It's one of the biggest problems that people face, is communication. Cobie Rutherford: Right. That's exactly right. I think that the Project Achievement Days are such a good platform for these kids. They're the first time to give a visual presentation or a public speech or whatever event they choose to do because it's a friendly audience. It's for somebody that is there listening that's going to help them get better. I think the children know that going into it, so it's perfect platform. Dr. John Long: So when we talk about Project Achievement, Days, how does a young person get involved in going to Project Achievement Day? Cobie Rutherford: Well, I think the primary way that most children get involved is by reaching out to their 4-H agent or their County agent. Every County in Mississippi has an extension office and they have someone there that can be a resource to them. So if you're interested in participating in Project Achievement Day, it would just be as easy as calling your local extension office or even reaching out to us at the state office and we could point you in the right direction. Dr. John Long: Absolutely. Absolutely. Just go to the website and you can find a wealth of information either in your County or in regards to who your agent or agents are. They will be more than happy to help you. Even like you said, we are as well. So we talked about and visual presentations, we talked about very briefly about judging contest. So let's talk about what exactly or just give a few topics in which young people actually present on are or what contest they're in. Cobie Rutherford: So for the judging contest, there are several different components. You can participate in dairy judging, I think we talked about that or not dairy judging, dairy products judging. We don't have live animals at this contest, but- Dr. John Long: We may have metallic tasting ice cream. Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's exactly right. So dairy products judging would be definitely a fun one to do. Consumer judging is actually one of the most popular ones. I guess being new to this whole Project Achievement Day and where it's Congress still, I don't know a whole lot about that contest. But apparently it attracts a whole lot of different types of children with a lot of different interests. Cobie Rutherford: The way I understanding, correct me if I'm wrong here, but basically they have to make choices that everyday consumers make, whether it's the grocery store, looking at apparels or just anything like the consumer would buy. So it might be washing powders or, I don't know what all it could be. Cobie Rutherford: But basically the kids have to make a decision on which product is the best for their buck and then give a set of reasons and defend that product. So I think that's pretty cool. Then we have the course in wildlife habitat judging. And you probably know more about that than I do. Dr. John Long: I need to learn more. Cobie Rutherford: I haven't seen that contest- Dr. John Long: It's pretty cool. Cobie Rutherford: In real life, but I know it's a lot of interest and when they get to a senior level and come to Congress and participate in that, there's national trip that goes with it. So this always popular. And then poultry judging. I talked to Jessica Wells, who... We need to get her on here. Dr. John Long: Yeah, she wouldn't be great. Cobie Rutherford: She'd be really good. She's actually taken some birds up to Verona this week. Dr. John Long: Is she really? Cobie Rutherford: For judging. Dr. John Long: That awesome. One of my favorite things in poultry judging is the egg candling. Oh, I love that. I don't know what it is. Just that aerial light I guess and then there's this egg setting on top of it, but I know it sounds weird. But I don't know that much about candling, but it looks very interesting. Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. I don't know a whole lot about it either. I like to eat eggs and chicken, but outside of that, I know a few breeds of chickens. I had some chickens at one time. Dr. John Long: You did? Cobie Rutherford: I did. Yeah. Dr. John Long: Oh, really. I want chickens. Cobie Rutherford: They're okay. I'll like them just to look at, I don't really want to go out and gather their eggs or do any of that. Thanks to Mississippi and thousands of poultry farmers who do that for us. Dr. John Long: That's right. That's right. Cobie Rutherford: I'm content going to the grocery store. Dr. John Long: That seems like a throw back to what we used to have I guess before modern conveniences. But yeah, it's a lot easier. I think you probably, be better of to... Well, no, I don't. Do your own thing, I guess. If you want to do it, do it. But yeah. That's my plan is to have chickens and a beehive, couple of bee boxes some one day. Cobie Rutherford: I think beehives would be a a pretty neat venture to go into. I'm not saying I won't have chickens, but I'm going to have chickens just to look at. Dr. John Long: I'm thinking you'd say you will have chickens, but you might not have them for production purposes. Cobie Rutherford: We might not go out there and get their eggs. Dr. John Long: Speaking on honeybees and things like that. I get involved in this entomology portion that we have at Project Achievement Day. I'll tell you what, last year I really had a awesome experience because I saw this young man from the Southwest District, he's always been super interested in entomology ever since he was young. Dr. John Long: I've seen him come up through 4-H and this may be his last Project Achievement Day before he moves into senior or he may have already moved into a senior. I can't remember. But anyway, he has just been eaten up with entomology and he came up to me last year, he and his mother. She said, "He's got to tell you about the book he wrote." And sure enough, he had written a book on beneficial insects in the garden. Cobie Rutherford: Wow. Dr. John Long: Yeah. And he was working on another book talking about fire ants in Mississippi. So this is a young- Cobie Rutherford: Less than 13. Dr. John Long: Oh, yeah. Cobie Rutherford: Wow. Dr. John Long: I mean pictures, the whole nine yard. It was really awesome. So it's just stuff like that. It kind of says, "Yeah, there's some very positive things that happen at Project Achievement Day for sure. Cobie Rutherford: I think is just going through all this stuff and looking at all the different opportunities. That entomology stuff actually intrigues me more than anything. Because I don't know that a lot of States have an entomology program in the 4-H. Dr. John Long: They might not. I don't know. I don't know. Cobie Rutherford: I'm not sure. I don't recall seeing that when I grew up in the Alabama system. There may have been one, but I just may not have been aware of it. Dr. John Long: Every state needs one. Cobie Rutherford: I was visiting with [Dr. Gordon 00:15:11], our entomology specialist a few weeks ago. I've always known that insects outnumber humans and outnumber all other life forms together. But there's a lot of careers available in entomology. Dr. John Long: Very much so. Very much so. And that's perfect, like I said, speaking to that young man, see this is a perfect gateway. If you're interested in something you just never can tell, it could turn into a career path that starts them on a journey for the rest of their life. So there's a lot of opportunities to try different things. I think that's one of the things that that Project Achievement Day does. Dr. John Long: It provides that opportunity that you can select a topic and go with it and really dig in and get information and that's a lot of fun to me. Plus we have some fun stuff that goes on as well, as far as just entertainment activities. What about that? We have, it's kind of like Congress, we had a share of the fun. So I think we're going to have something like that- Cobie Rutherford: Got to share the fun again, the the big talent show, the modeling squad. They've got some pretty cool workshops coming up at the Project Achievement Day this week in Verona. Dr. John Long: What do they have? Cobie Rutherford: One, that I'm very interested in, is a dog training workshop. Basically, this renowned dog handler is coming up and bringing his dog and going teach the 4-H'ers how they can train their dog to do certain things like heal and how to positively reinforced different behaviors. How to get the doll to do what you want it to do. I think that's just going to be really neat to see you. Dr. John Long: I'm going to go and see that one. Cobie Rutherford: I went through a dog obedience class with my dog a few weeks ago and it was actually more of a learning experience for me than it was my dog. Because the dog knows what she wants to do and I just have to teach her how to do what I want her to. My way of communicating with her was different than what the instructor thought I should do. Dr. John Long: I thought my dog's is going to need training. I think it goes the other way. Man, I'll be asleep in the chair and he'll come up and bump me in the cheek to let me know, I said, "Okay, go outside." So yeah. That's going to be good to see. I think that I'm going to be really interested in that. But there's always something, Cobie Rutherford: There's a lot of careers in the pet industry too, so. Dr. John Long: Oh, yeah. Big time. Cobie Rutherford: There's actually a visual presentation on pet care. [crosstalk 00:17:50] There's quite a few children that are signed up for that. Dr. John Long: Awesome. Awesome. Well, we look forward to that. Now you're saying we've got the... I'm talking like I don't know because we're going to be there. But Northeast is tomorrow. Cobie Rutherford: June, 14th. Dr. John Long: I mean June, I'm already in July. But as you said, things are flying by, aren't they? Cobie Rutherford: Right. Dr. John Long: June 14th, is going to be the Northeast Project Achievement Day. Then what's the date to the other ones? Oh, he's had a lot- Cobie Rutherford: July the 8th, it starts on a Tuesday. Dr. John Long: Yes. That's correct. Cobie Rutherford: They go 8th, 9th and 10th. Dr. John Long: Yeah. We'll be on the road. That is a fun road trip to be on. So we're going to go to Southeast and Southwest and then Northwest in that order. Cobie Rutherford: So Laurel, Raymond to Morehead. Dr. John Long: Yes, yes, yes. Cobie Rutherford: I'm excited to get to Morehead, I've never been there. Dr. John Long: Oh, it's a cool campus. I love it. I love it. And they have a lot of cool activities on the... They have at the center of the campus. I know for the past two years they've done archery and stuff like that. Yes. Kind of like, "Hey, if you're not in a contest, come have fun with us over here." Cobie Rutherford: That's pretty cool. Dr. John Long: Yep. Yep. Cobie Rutherford: They're bigger that I thought they'd be. So there's 441 people that'll be at the one, this week. Dr. John Long: Tomorrow? Cobie Rutherford: Yes, tomorrow. Dr. John Long: Oh wow. Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. That's huge. That's how many they're preparing lunch for us. Dr. John Long: Good night. That's a lot. That is a lot. Cobie Rutherford: It's exciting. Dr. John Long: We're all looking forward to it and we neglected to say that we have a special silent guest with us. Evelyn Phillips is here. I did say that right, didn't it? Evelyn Phillips:           Yes. Dr. John Long: Okay. She said I did. Okay. So she is going to be helping us this summer and, and she's nodding in approval off camera, I mean off of mic. So we appreciate her and we hope we didn't bore you too much to death. But this is 4-H-4-U-2, and we're going to keep talking about and youth development and it's what we do and that's who we are. So that's what we're going to be doing. Hey from here on out. Cobie Rutherford: That's right. Dr. John Long: So anything else coming up Cobie you want to mention? Cobie Rutherford: We'll save that for the next podcast. Dr. John Long: Oh, I cannot wait. We've got some really good things I think lined up for next podcasts or for next few podcasts you're going to really find interesting. So we're going to leave you with that cliff hanger and you all come and join us again. Please subscribe to 4-H-4-U-2. Dr. John Long: You can go on the iTunes app now and subscribe to us. That's where we're going to be, I guess broadcasting from, for lack of a better term. Because I'm still learning here. But anyway, go and subscribe to 4-H-4-U-2, and if you have any questions on a 4-H in your area or in the state, where do they need to go? What website is that going? Cobie Rutherford: It's extension.msstate.edu. Dr. John Long: Awesome. Well, thank you all for joining us and we'll see you next time. Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

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