LEADER TIPS

This is a list of tips from fellow leaders in Larimer County.

Tracy Sandmann suggests that with the economic crisis that is occurring, clubs should consider taking the Consumer Savvy or Financial Champions projects as a club. These projects are designed for older members, but the topic couldn’t be more timely.
Another idea is for clubs to use the time right before the start of a meeting to have fun with 4-H trivia. Do you know what the 4-H colors are and what they stand for?

Some clubs have their own web sites, which is great! Marilyn Lasich, organizational leader for the Buckeye Buck n’ Ears 4-H club invites you to check out theirs at www.buckeyebucknears.info Asking the 4-H members to be responsible for developing a web site is a great way to promote the newest 4-H initiative, Science, Engineering and Technology (SET). Be sure to provide adult supervision for the development of the site to assure the safety of members and the appropriateness of the content. Continual monitoring of the site is essential to make sure all the information is current and represents 4-H well.

As club members get older and age-out of 4-H, some clubs struggle with having very young club officers who lack experience. One way to help younger members gain some experience with officer leadership skills is to elect senior and junior officers every year. Senior officers are older members who conduct all of the meetings except one which is conducted by the junior officers. Senior officers can serve as mentors to junior officers so that your 4-H club doesn’t struggle with inexperienced young officers.

One ambitious organizational leader used to have a breakfast for project leaders at least quarterly. Besides being a great social networking opportunity, it helped everyone to share information, discuss any problems with the club and develop teamwork. It wouldn’t have to be breakfast, but could be a lunch, or just dessert. Good food is always an incentive to attend something and sets the stage for good conversations.

Are your 4-H club meetings welcoming to new members and visitors? So often, long-time members and families know each other very well and love being together. Does this set up an unwelcoming atmosphere for others?
Your club might want to have 2 youth serve as greeters at each meeting. This responsibility can be rotated among the members and might require some training for the youth. The end result will be that you have taught social skills and your club meetings will feel welcoming to all who attend.

Kara Rudnik, organizational leader of the Bug-A-Bug-A 4-H club shared an idea at a recent leader training to encourage members, parents and leaders to read the 4-H newsletter, the Clover Connection. At the beginning of every meeting there is a 3 question quiz taken from articles in the newsletter. Small tokens are given to each member who gets all three answers correct.

Sherri Jerrnigan, organizational leader for the Owl Canyon Critters provides this month’s tip for senior members graduating from 4-H. Every year the club hold a good –hearted roast of the senior members. Everyone enjoys the light-hearted kidding and the laughs are non-stop. If your club plans to have a roast, you might ask members to observe funny things the roasted members do, cute habits or quirky situations they encounter at the county fair.

Did someone from your club miss getting vital information about the fair? Janeth Hansen from the Livermore Wranglers 4-H club say that in their club, the “reporter” takes an article from the Clover Connection & reports it to the club. In Pat Alger’s club, the Timnath Goaldiggers, they read and discuss sections of the newsletter that are very important for new and returning 4-H members at the meeting so club members have yet another way to learn about the policies and procedures used in the Larimer County 4-H program.

Organizational leader Don Brehm of the Desperado’s 4-H Club shares a great idea for promoting 4-H. By the way, so many people want to be in the Desperado’s 4-H Club that they have a waiting list. Wow!
Every year two club ambassador’s are elected. Among the many duties they have are to welcome new members, put together a welcome packet, promote 4-H in schools and look for other ways to promote the club and 4-H. Obviously, they have been very successful and serve a very valuable function in the club. This also gives more youth the opportunity to develop leadership skills.