2006 Plans of Work

4-H/YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Carolyn Belczyk and Jan Ellsworth

4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.  It is the goal of the program to reach a minimum of 5% of eligible youth from all segments of the county's youth population.  This will require recruiting, screening, orienting, and training additional adult and youth volunteers, expanding the number of traditional 4-H community clubs in the county, and initiating outreach to under-represented populations.

• Strengthening 4-H Club Leadership/Strengthening the Vitality of 4-H Clubs – Adult Leader Development:

• Visit a minimum of 12 clubs to observe and identify needs, provide educational programming, and answer questions.
• Plan, implement, and evaluate the annual Master 4-H Leader Development series, set to begin March 2; reaching a minimum of 20 adult leaders.
• Conduct New Volunteer Orientation and work with volunteers to complete the Youth Protection Process as needed.
• Meet quarterly with general leaders with an emphasis on risk management, member retention, and parliamentary procedure.

• Strengthening 4-H Club Leadership – Youth Leadership Development:

• Advise 4-H Junior Leaders' Association and assist in planning, implementing, and evaluation a wide variety of leadership and citizenship development activities, including annual Officers' Retreat, Ambassador Program, Club Officers' Training, community service activities, and countywide events such as bowling.  Members of the Junior Leaders' Association are already planning several community service projects for 2006 including a Bingo event at the nursing home, volunteering at a soup kitchen and participating in Relay for Life.

• Coordinate youth involvement in state leadership events and activities including State 4-H Youth Conference.

• Strengthening the 4-H Animal Science Program:

• Facilitate efforts of large and small animal committees to provide educational programming and coordinate county fair animal exhibits and shows.
• Work with volunteers to plan, implement, and evaluate MAQA trainings.
• Coordinate involvement of youth in judging experiences.

• Life Skills Development through Participation in 4-H Events and Activities:

• Plan, implement, and evaluate, in partnership with adult and youth leaders, a wide variety of positive youth development activities, including Kid's College, Drama and Music Fests, 4-H Camp, softball, etc.  Additional activities being planned for 2006 include:

• Spring Fling—An educational trip offered for active county-level Junior Leader members designed to help them learn about the history and culture of a new place, develop leadership and communications skills, and make new friends.

• Junior Leader Lockin—An overnight retreat for Junior Leaders, providing an opportunity to bond with members throughout the county and to have fun.

• Tri-County Event—A fun, interactive, leadership development overnight gathering for Junior Leaders from Kenosha, Racine and Walworth Counties.  Youth get to know members from other counties, exchange ideas, develop and practice life skills, and hear motivational speakers.

• Developing Multicultural Understanding—UW-Extension is challenged, both legally and morally, to provide programming to all segments of the population. In Walworth County, the rapidly growing Latino population has traditionally been under-served by the 4-H/Youth Development Program.

• Un Libro, Un Niño Youth Literacy/Teen Leadership Project
• Replicate in at least one other Walworth County community, reaching a minimum of 15 Latino youth and 15 teen mentors, at least 40% of whom are bilingual or bicultural.
• Repeat in Lake Geneva, Summer, 2006, reaching a minimum of 15 Latino youth and 15 teen mentors, at least 40% of who are bilingual or bicultural.

• Latino Outreach—After School 4-H Club
• Continue to meet regularly with after school 4-H club at the Latino/Hispanic Service Center in Lake Geneva.  Recruit teen leaders from Badger High School; recruit, orient, and train adult volunteers to provide project and activity leadership for the club; recruit at least 5 additional club members in fall, 2006.

AG/AGBUSINESS
Peg Reedy

Plan of Work 2006

• Integrated Pest Management—Rootworm monitoring, aphid trapping, soybean rust sentinel plots, and Pesticide Applicator Training will continue in 2006 (96 farmers completed training in January). In addition, an applied research project looking at soybean cyst nematode will begin in the county and pest problems specific to the 2006 cropping season will be addressed.
  
• Direct Marketing—FarmDirect was held in January. SWFFN will be piloted in Walworth County, the 2006 Farm Fresh Atlas will be published in May, and the 2006 Farmer’s Market will begin in June. New projects this year include use of hand-held credit card scanners with a group of direct marketers (grant supported) and Wisconsin Farm Fresh Meals, an initiative to put local food on the menu for conferences in Southeast Wisconsin, modeled after the FarmDirect luncheon.
  
• Management Intensive Rotational Grazing—Four pasture walks and a workshop are planned for the upcoming year. The grazing specialist and Peg Reedy will be teaching MIRG basics at various schools in 2006.

• Financial Management—A workshop on retirement planning and estate planning for farmers will be held this spring.

• Milk Money—There are currently four dairy farmers in the county working with a milk quality team which includes Peg Reedy. The goal of the team is to improve milk quality and increase profitability. They have had initial team meetings and have set goals for 2006.

• Youth Outreach—Ag in the Classroom is sponsoring an agriculture awareness contest with prizes awarded to the classroom. MAQA is scheduled for April to continue meat production quality training. Tractor safety training will be held in June at Burlington High School.

FAMILY LIVING
Jenny Wehmeier

Plan of Work 2006

• Better Kid Care—Child care provider trainings will continue in 2006 with an expansion of locations throughout Walworth County to include private child care centers and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. 
  
• Story Time with County Libraries—Planning has begun to continue the Story Time Fun with Food and Fitness and a pilot program that addresses values like courtesy, fairness, and caring for young children.  Genoa City Public Library will pilot the new program in the summer of 2006.

• Parks & Recreation Collaborations—The Strengthening Families seven-week parenting series will be offered through the Whitewater Parks and Recreation Department in the spring.  Several other programs will be offered in conjunction with East Troy and Badger Community Education.  Letters will be sent to all seven Parks and Recreation Departments again in 2006 offering a collaboration between UWEX and their programs.

• Independent Living Program—Sessions of Independent Living are scheduled to begin in July and September.  If participation continues to grow, a third session could be explored for the spring of 2007.
  
• Newsletters—With the departure of Parent Connections, we have inherited a number of families who were not already receiving these publications.  A new newsletter targeting expecting parents will be proposed in Walworth County in the summer of 2006 to partners in Kiwanis, Aurora-Lakeland Medical Center, and Public Health.
  
• Rent Smart— In 2006, the Rent Smart collaboration between Walworth County Housing Authority and UWEX will kick off with two, two hour sessions for participants in Walworth County Housing Authority programs.  Grant dollars are expected to sustain the program through 2006.

• Strong Women, Strong Bones—In 2006, Family Living Educator Jenny Wehmeier will attend the Strong Women, Strong Bones training and receive curriculum materials to possibly implement the program in Walworth County.  The evidence based program is targeted to older adults.

• Raising a Healthy Eater— Jenny Wehmeier has submitted Research Abstract Proposals to both organizations (National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Science & American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) for possible presentations at national conferences regarding the Raising a Healthy Eater program.  The program will be offered again in the summer of 2006 and possibly in the fall of 2006 as well.

HORTICULTURE
Christine Regester

Plan of Work 2006

• Develop a strong working relationship with the members of the Walworth County Master Gardeners Association.  Host the Master Gardeners advanced training in the fall of 2006.  Develop a committee with members of the Master Gardeners to develop community programs.

• In Spring 2006, Christine Regester will host a half-day pruning workshop and Robert Tomesh, the Horticulture Specialist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be here to present a plant propagation seminar that will be open to the public.  Also, there will be another Delavan Memorial Arboretum Walk in April and September 2006.

• Christine Regester will contact Wisconsin School for the Deaf and Lakeland School and speak to them about the impacts of horticulture therapy and the positive outcomes that a school garden can have.  Aid schools in the beginning and implementing a school garden plan for 2006.

• By May 2006, a plan of operation for a community garden project will be defined while working with Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program (WNEP), 4-H, Family Living, and Agriculture to implement community garden programs.

• Throughout the year the Christine Regester will be working with different 4-H groups to help them understand gardening techniques and supply information on how to grow cut flowers, potted plants, houseplants, and vegetables.

• The horticulture newsletter will continue to be sent out as a way to educate people about topics in which they have shared an interest.  The horticulture newsletter will be distributed during the growing season of 2006.

• In 2006, Christine Regester will attend the Wisconsin Wetland Association annual conference and the Invasive Plants of Wisconsin annual conference in Madison, Wisconsin to obtain curriculum ideas for possibly implementing an invasive plant program from Walworth County. 

• Working ideas will continue to develop with the Nature Conservancy and the Department of Natural Resources to develop a program for invasive species identification and awareness in public areas as well as to private landowners.

Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program (WNEP)
Gabriela Anaya

In fiscal year 2005, WNEP reached approximately 2,055 low-income families in Walworth County.  More than 63% of the clients were women and seventy percent were Hispanic.  1,355 individuals, including 778 children aged 5-11, learned about improving their dietary intake.  Other WNEP program topics included managing financial resources effectively, food safety, and utilizing community food resources.  WNEP collaborated closely with more than 15 community-based organizations—including school districts, the public health department, homeless shelters, food pantries—and initiated partnerships with two more agencies for the new program year.

The following list summarizes programming efforts that are currently underway.

• Early Bytes—This program emphasizes dietary quality and food safety amongst pregnant women and parents of school age children.  Parents play a critical role in their children’s nutrition habits through food selection and preparation, timing of snacks and meals, and making mealtimes pleasant. Educational efforts currently target Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), local food pantries, family resource centers, and Headstart.  Topics range from increasing fruit and vegetable intake to preparing quick and easy meals and have also customized to fit the unique needs of teenage parents.

• Money for Food—Educational materials are used with both families with or without children and focus on managing food dollars and utilizing food community resources.  Sessions are delivered monthly at local homeless shelters and the Food Stamp office.  Key topics include cost-effective grocery shopping and meal planning.

• Pyramid between the Pages—In Spring 2005, this nutrition literacy program was piloted in school districts of Lake Geneva/Genoa City, Walworth, and Whitewater.  Students in grades K-3 were introduced to nutrition through books and food-related activities and sampling. Because the majority of our audience is affiliated with the English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, teachers are offered the option of sessions in English or Spanish. Messages were also reinforced through weekly parent newsletters. Topics included safe hand washing techniques, exploring variety within the food guide pyramid, and “sometimes” versus “everyday” foods.

• Math, Science & Nutrition—Age appropriate variations of this program are used with both 4th/5th grade learners and teenage youth.  The math component is geared towards culinary measurements, reading food labels, and assessing personal nutrition habits.  Activities may include measuring sugar intake or comparing current dietary intake and recommended dietary intake through graphing. The science component of the program targets food safety topics.

• Power of Choice—Educational program promotes nutrition and healthy living amongst teenage youth through life skills topics such as personal assessment, decision making, and taking action.  It is effective in both traditional classroom programs and out-of-school projects (i.e. summer, after-school).

• Sisters in Health—In November 2005, this program was delivered for the first time targeting Spanish-speaking parents of school-age children in Lake Geneva.  Walworth County was one of three counties in Wisconsin who was chosen to pilot the program.  24 teaching contacts were made with participants—all focused on choosing, preparing and storing fruits and vegetables. 

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