Weekly 4-H Update
Communications >> 4-H Update >> Volume 10, Number 39..................................... December 1, 2006
Attachments:
[ none for this week ]
Reminders:
- December 1: Catch-A-Calf applications due
- December 1: Urban Expansion reports due, State 4-H office
- December 12: 4-H Foundation board meeting, TBA
- December 25 - 27: University holiday, office closed
Fundraising Opportunity with Charlotte’s Web
Here’s an exciting fundraising opportunity 4-H has developed in conjunction with the live-action movie Charlotte’s Web coming to theatres nationwide
December 15.
For every ticket purchased to see Paramount Pictures and Walden Media's production of Charlotte's Web through www.fourhcouncil.edu, a donation of $1 will be made by Hollywood Movie Money to 4-H to support your state's 4-H program. Charlotte’s Web features the 4-H Emblem multiple times, and the themes portrayed speak directly to the great work that 4-H does in developing youth – building friendships, commitment to goals and having fun! It stars Dakota Fanning as Fern, and the voices of Julia Roberts and 4-H alumnus Reba McEntire, as well as many other noteworthy actors.
I encourage you to spread the word among everyone in your 4-H network. This is a great way to not only raise money for your 4-H program, but also an opportunity to tell people about the value of 4-H.
There are downloadable promotional tools to help you on www.fourhcouncil.edu. 4-H Supply also has a great holiday selection of 4-H gear; including the t-shirt Dakota Fanning wears as Fern in the movie at www.4-hmall.org/CW. Please email 4hmarketing@fourhcouncil.edu with any questions you have and our Marketing & Communications team will help you! — Donald T. Floyd
Youth Adult Partnerships
Counties will be receiving a copy of the Youth Adult Partnership (YAP) curriculum developed by the Innovation Center and National 4-H Council on behalf of the Volunteer Development Work Team. This curriculum can help adults understand more about our philosophy of effectively working with youth. Youth participants in YAP training often feel like it's the first time that anyone has asked them about how they feel about working with adults. It develops insights, offers strategies, and points out the advantages of partnerships with youth. — Dale Leidheiser
Treasurer Training PowerPoint
There is a new PowerPoint (PPT) posted under Agent Resources on our Web site to help train new 4-H club treasurers. Please edit and localize for your own use. It will work best in conjunction with information from the new Treasurers Book that youth can practice filling out. The PPT content is aligned with principles outlined in the 4-H Club Financial Report also located on that page. — Dale Leidheiser
December Leader Line
The newest edition of Leader Line is posted on the 4-H Web site at: www.colorado4h.org/communications/leaderline. The theme is financial accountability. It is a life skill that young people learn in 4-H through project recordkeeping, holding office as a club treasurer, and fund raising functions. Financial accountability in 4-H is also a legal requirement because of the tax exempt status of 4-H, federal protection of the 4-H name and emblem and the sources of public funding received by 4-H. You can learn more about financial accountability by reviewing the document on 4-H Club Financial Reports also on our Web site and posted under the links for Agent Resources or Volunteer Resources. — Dale Leidheiser
International Update
IFYE Reporting
Lindsey Drennen (Botswana) and Jamylyn Traub-Klingel (Germany) will return to Colorado on Nov. 30. They will be available to report in your county regarding their IFYE experiences from Jan. 15 through April 30. Many organizations are interested in these educational presentations: school classes – third through 12thgrade, 4-H clubs, service organizations, church groups, etc. Please contact me to schedule Lindsey or Jamy. — Courtney Loflin
Alternative to Microsoft Office Arriving at a Mailbox near You!
Expect to see a CD delivered to you through this week’s Friday mail. It has been brought to our attention that not all people own Microsoft Office, which means that when they need to utilize any of the locked Word .doc files on the Colorado 4-H Web site (such as E-Records), they will not be able to so; Works and WordPerfect will not work with the locked document format. As you are aware, we took great care in creating these locked document files so that the formatting will be correct during times of judging. It is important that all individuals are able to utilize these documents, so rather than require that everyone who is involved with 4-H run out and purchase Microsoft Office, there is a wonderful and free alternative called OpenOffice.org.
Each county office will receive a CD that contains OpenOffice.org (OOo) installation files for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. When you encounter 4-H’ers who do not own Microsoft Office, please burn a copy of the CD for them to take home and install on their computer. Most any Microsoft file type (such as .doc, .xls, .ppt, .mdb, etc….) will work with the appropriate OpenOffice.org software, assuming that the user installs the entire office suite. In case the user does not wish to install the entire office suite, the CD also contains documentation that illustrates how to install just the Writer software, which is the word processing tool (similar to Microsoft Word). The entire office suite contains the following tools:
- Writer (word processor – similar to Microsoft Word)
- Calc (spreadsheet tool – similar to Microsoft Excel)
- Impress (presentation creator – similar to Microsoft PowerPoint)
- Base (database management – similar to Microsoft Access)
- Draw (vector drawing program – nothing similar included in Microsoft Office Suite)
- Math (mathematical function creator – nothing similar included in Microsoft Office Suite)
Please keep a running tally on how many people you distribute this software to even though distribution is free and does not require any special licensing. We would like to know each year just how much demand there is for this software so that we know if it is worth spending time and money on updating the CD in future years. We have chosen to distribute the software to you on CD as opposed to directing 4-H members to an Internet download due to bandwidth considerations. However, if for some reason you are unable to burn a CD for an individual who is in need, please feel free to point them to our online documentation (www.colorado4h.org/OOo/README.html) where they may download the appropriate installation file. Also, for any individual who wishes to obtain the very latest installation file (updates are made every so often to the office suite), they may do so directly from www.openoffice.org.
Documentation on how to use the entire OpenOffice.org office suite is linked from the CD, but may also be found here: http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/index.html. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at darrin.goodman@colostate.edu.
— Darrin Goodman
