Extension Update: December 2004 Archives

As we head into a New Year, I want to thank you all for your dedication, commitment and caring behavior during a somewhat difficult and stressful past year. We not only implemented cost-reduction strategies, we saw many of our colleagues leave as they accepted early retirement offers. We also made the difficult decision of waiving merit increases. Through it all, you continued your excellent work throughout the state, and I want to commend you on your positive attitudes over the past few months. As I extend my very best wishes to you all for a wonderful holiday season, I hope you take full advantage of the holidays to take a well-deserved break and enjoy your friends and family.

I continue to be proud to lead an organization that brings meaningful impact to the lives of so many New Hampshire citizens. Despite the budgetary struggles we faced, we achieved a wide variety of successful program accomplishments and gained recognition and praise for our role as a primary outreach unit of the University of New Hampshire. I look forward to working with you as we strive to become an even more effective and efficient educational outreach organization in 2005. Happy Holidays!

Teams of high school students from across northern New England gather at the University of New Hampshire Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005, to compete in the annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB). The team that wins the event, also known as the Nor’easter Bowl, goes on to compete in the nationals, held in Mississippi in April, with all expenses paid.

The event is open to high school teams from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Each team consists of four members plus an alternate and coach. There is no cost to schools and breakfast and lunch are provided, as is lodging for teams traveling a long distance.

One of 24 regional competitions, the UNH NOSB is an exciting opportunity for both students and teachers to broaden their knowledge and interact with other schools in a timed, round-robin competition. Teams face off against one another to answer multiple-choice, short-answer and team challenge questions. Categories include physics, chemistry, biology, geology and geography of the oceans, the social sciences, ocean-related technology and current events.

The Nor’easter Bowl is a collaboration of the UNH Marine Program, UNH Cooperative Extension, NH Sea Grant, the University of Maine, the University of New England, Bigelow Laboratory and the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE).

For the 16th consecutive year, Gov. Craig Benson and the Executive Council and the USDA Food and Nutrition Service approved the 2005 Food Stamp Nutrition Education grant. Implemented by UNH Cooperative Extension's Nutrition Connections Program, this $1,488,511 grant is a combination of federal and state matching funds: $744,255 in federal funds and $744,255 in state matching funds.

The major activities of this grant include a statewide social marketing campaign that reaches all food stamp households with three nutrition newsletters and television commercials, one-to-one and small group nutrition interventions, home study courses for senior citizens and youth, and youth nutrition education in schools, after-school programs, and gardens.

Many of you have asked for a compiled list of due dates for planning and reporting, performance management and educator promotion. Thanks to Deb Russell, this list is now available for your use on our Intranet. Thanks to all of you who helped developed these timelines and processes.

Heather Kimball is the new Plustime NH, Americorps Vista volunteer, working with Charlotte Cross in the 4-H Youth Development program. Heather, who began working with Charlotte on a volunteer basis in June, will work in this new position for the coming year.

Heather isn't a stranger to the 4-H program. She worked at 4-H Camp at Bear Brook in 1998 as a camp counselor for the Junior and Day Camps. She also has two years of study at Keene State College. She plans to finish her degree in Family Studies at UNH following her VISTA experience.

Dr. Vanessa Druskat, Associate Professor with the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, will share her research on effective teamwork at an inservice January 13 from 1-3 pm.

Topics staff asked Dr. Druskat to cover include successful cross functional (interdisciplinary) teams, energizing established teams and engaging all team members. The workshop will use all of the Cooperative Extension PicTel sites, already reserved for this session.

Sign up using the form on our Intranet, or for more information, contact Associate Director Nancy Franz at nancy.franz@unh.edu

The NH Citizen's Voice Project this week released a report entitled "Fund the Gap." UNH Cooperative Extension has participated in NHCVP since 2002, providing technical assistance and expertise in the methods of developing community forums. NHCVP strives to engage New Hampshire citizens in discussions about basic state educational needs and to increase their role in shaping educational policy.

In 2003/2004, NHCVP conducted a number of forums in New Hampshire communities to learn what citizens felt were requirements for successful schools. Several UNHCE staff assisted in facilitating these forums. John Romps, an economics professor at St. Anselm College, worked on the analysis of actual costs for a representative group of New Hampshire schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels. "The Gap" is the difference between the cost to implement some basic educational requirements and the state education funding provided to local communities.

Since the report's release, questions have come up about UNH Cooperative Extension's involvement. Our role has been to provide assistance to the project in community-based engagement work and the deliberative dialogue process. UNH Cooperative Extension does not engage in advocacy work and has not advocated for specific outcomes as a result of the association with NHCVP.

UNHCE does assist communities in developing opportunities for dialogue, including difficult public policy questions. If questions come up about NHCVP and Extension's relationship to the project, contact Charlene Baxter at 862-2485.

Bullying prevention is one focus of UNH Cooperative Extension's Family and Youth Development current programming efforts.

In the past year, UNH Cooperative Extension partnered with the UNH Resource Center on Adolescence, the UNH Family Research Laboratory/Crimes Against Children Research Center, the NH Department of Education and the NH Bureau of Maternal and Child Health to conduct educational sessions on bullying and discuss collaboration.

In addition, the New Hampshire legislature demonstrated its concern by enacting New Hampshire's Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention law, requiring each school board adopt a pupil safety and violence prevention policy that addresses pupil harassment. House Bill 1162, passed in the 2004 session, "requires school districts to notify the parents or legal guardians of the district’s policies on bullying and requires that a report of any bullying incidents be made by telephone and by a written report sent by mail to the parent or legal guardian of the pupils involved."

This past April, UNH Cooperative Extension conducted the National Bullying Prevention Campaign satellite conference, Take A Stand, Lend a Hand, Stop Bullying Now! Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau provided support for this conference nationally and in several parts of the state.

A new two-part Bullies & Victims: What’s A Parent to Do? series takes place in eleven locations around the state. The first one took place November 30 and the second is set for December 7, 6:30–9:30 pm. This national satellite series is sponsored by several Cooperative Extensions, with the broadcast originating from Iowa.

The program focus is to help families deal with bullying and kids who are out of control. It helps participants understand the fundamental strengths children acquire to manage fear and resist predatory peer behavior such as bullying and other forms of intimidation. Participants also will examine how parents, teachers and community members can help support healthy social and emotional development in children and youth.

These educational programs lay the groundwork for collaborations with local and statewide partners to address this very important issue in a comprehensive manner. Our hope is to stimulate attention to these issues at the youth, family, school and community level.