Time and Change

Soon I will move my tassel from left to right. If you asked me 5 years ago, I never would have said time would just fly. All of the people I have met, dear friends I have made, and all of the memories that will stay with me until my last days. It is bittersweet, the final page of this chapter of my life will soon be complete. What‘s next, I can‘t wait to see!! Time and change will surely show, how firm thy friendship ... OHIO!
                             

                                                                   

Graduation 11 days away?!?!

Oh come let's sing Ohio's praise
And songs to Alma Mater raise
While our hearts rebounding thrill
With joy which death alone can still
Summer's heat or winter's cold
The seasons pass the years will roll
Time and change will surely show
How firm thy friendship ... OHIO!

Its not just a day off of school

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day and weekend. We think of this day as no school or great sales at the store but we would not have any of these things without those wonderful individuals that gave their life for our country. Remember that Monday is more than relaxing and enjoying, it is a national day of giving thanks and honoring the memory of those who did the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

THANK YOU to all who have served and are serving to protect this great country, the United States of America!

4-H Social Media Training - Webinar Series

Join National 4-H Council for its premier 4-H Social Media webinar series on Wednesdays in May and June.

These interactive and instructive 45-minute tutorials will help you develop social media strategies that create platforms that are engaging, interactive, safe and effective. Built for those who are new to social media, as well as advanced users, this series will help you harness the power of Facebook and Twitter to communicate with a variety of audiences. You’ll learn how to generate content, build community, increase participation and how to do it all in a safe manner for youth and adults alike.

• To attend, RSVP to individual sessions in the social media webinar series.  
• After you have submitted your RSVP, use this link to join your selected webinars on the scheduled dates.   
• No password or previous login is required.You will be prompted to enter as a guest and audio connection information will appear.
  Questions? Contact Ashley Lusk at mailto:4Hmarketing@4-H.org?subject=Social%20Media%20Webinars  

Basic Users:

Choosing Your Channels- Wednesday, May 18, 2011 2 PM EST
Start off your social media ventures by discovering how a quick survey of your audience can help you understand their interest and investment in social media.  This session will also focus on finding your primary audience and how they will affect your engagement online. Finally, examine how a social media strategy can help you meet your organizational goals.

• Choosing Your Channels PowerPoint Presentation  

• Choosing Your Channels Webinar Recording 
• Choosing Your Channels Q&A  

 Building Your Social Media Channels - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 2 PM EST
Should you develop a page or a group? Who will build and manage your pages? What privacy settings should you consider? What is a hashtag anyway? Get to the nuts and bolts of creating your own social media channels, as National 4-H Council’s social media team lead you through a step-by-step process of preparing your own Facebook and Twitter pages.

Advanced Users:

Content Generation- Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 2PM EST
Generating content can be easy when you use the incredible resources of the 4-H Community. Learn how to build an editorial calendar, schedule your updates in advance using tools like Hootsuite, and how to use eXtension to collect general content for your social media outlets.
Online Safety Best Practices - Wednesday, June 8, 2011, 2 PM EST
The best way to build a 4-H network is to create a secure online community for both adults and youth. Social media experts will provide you with an outline of best practices for adult volunteers who may be interacting with youth online, as well as a series of recommended privacy settings to keep youth and adults safe on your pages.
Measuring your Impact- Wednesday,  June 15, 2011, 2 PM EST
Make sure your efforts are generating the maximum impact. Discover a series of free metric systems including Facebook Insights, Hootsuite and more.

Cloverbud Sharing

                                                             

                       
I was honored to be asked again to be in charge of my county's Cloverbud Sharing that takes place during the "Extravaganza". On July 16th, all of the youth taking "still" projects are judge to decide county winners and state fair representatives. At this time, the Cloverbuds come and share what they learned during the year. These kids are sooo cute. Some do not want to talk at all and I have others that could talk all day about the events they did. Each youth is to bring a poster with pictures to show their activities. Some will also bring items they made. I truly love working with these little 4-Hers in the making.

A "good job" into something that no longer looks like work

Today's society is changing so fast and our views of work and important jobs is too. Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel show "Dirty Jobs" approached congress this past week to address the issue of our society loosing focus on the importance of manual skill labor. Our country was built by craftsmen, plumbers, construction workers, welders, and so many other talented blue collar jobs.

The testimony given by Mike Rowe is to work to change people's mind on the importance of skilled labor.

"Right now, American manufacturing is struggling to fill 200,000 vacant positions. There are 450,000 openings in trades, transportation and utilities. The skills gap is real, and it's getting wider. In Alabama, a third of all skilled tradesmen are over 55. They're retiring fast, and no one is there to replace them.

A few months ago in Atlanta I ran into Tom Vilsack, our Secretary of Agriculture. Tom told me about a governor who was unable to move forward on the construction of a power plant. The reason was telling. It wasn't a lack of funds. It wasn't a lack of support. It was a lack of qualified welders."

"In high schools, the vocational arts have all but vanished. We've elevated the importance of "higher education" to such a lofty perch that all other forms of knowledge are now labeled "alternative." Millions of parents and kids see apprenticeships and on-the-job-training opportunities as "vocational consolation prizes," best suited for those not cut out for a four-year degree. And still, we talk about millions of "shovel ready" jobs for a society that doesn't encourage people to pick up a shovel."

Please read this!!! http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/mike-rowe-senate-testimony.html
I have always been a huge fan of Mike Rowe but after seeing his efforts to try and help our country, I have a whole new respect for him.

Ag. Ed. Society Banquet

 

So last night was the Ag. Ed. Society End of the Year Banquet. It was a great time with fellow classmates and those in the department. The Banquet committee and all of the members did a great job organizing everything and putting on the whole deal. I am proud to say I have been a member of this great organization. Those involved, both students and advisors, have been wonderful to work with. Ag. Ed. Society is the best organization at the University hands down. Thank you for all of the memories and the Grey Award last night. I am really honored and touched to receive it. Keep up the great work and good luck to the new officers and members in the 128th year of Ag. Ed. Society.