Extension Update: February 2009 Archives

The topic for the April 1 UNH Manchester's Brown Bag Discussion Series is the Family Education Collaborative. The discussion, presented by Malcolm Smith, Extension specialist, family educator and policy, Monica Zulauf, Manchester YWCA's executive director, Patrice Mettauer, senior lecturer and Outreach Scholarship coordinator, and Kate Hanson, program coordinator and associate professor of Social Science, takes place at noon in the third floor auditorium at UNH Manchester.

UNH Cooperative Extension, UNH Manchester, Child and Family Services, and the YWCA of greater Manchester have joined together to establish a model family resource center and a teaching and learning environment where students learn about the educational, social and advocacy needs of Manchester families and engage in the services that support them.

Bring your lunch and learn more about this exciting collaborative. For more information, contact Malcolm Smith at malcolm.smith@unh.edu

I would like to welcome the new 4-H Youth Development Educator for Cheshire County, Holly Gowdy. Holly may be new to Extension but not to Cheshire County. She and her family own Brookfield Farm in Walpole, producing certified organic hay, forage and beef.

Holly has a Bachelor of Science degree from North Carolina State University in Animal Science and was most recently employed by the Holstein Association, USA, INC. as manager of Classification Services. She was a training coordinator and reproductive specialist for Hubbard Farms, LLC and a large animal technician at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Her experience in 4-H goes back to her college days where she worked with the Extension Equine specialist to organize the state 4-H horse judging, quiz bowl and hippology events. Holly is a 4-H volunteer for the Pinnacleview 4-H Dairy and Beef Club and serves as a mentor for the Frederick S. Hooper Institute High School Mentoring program.

She is excited about the possibilities of expanding the areas of science and technology into the Cheshire County 4-H Program. Holly will start Monday, March 2.

Tired of the snow? Start dreaming about the fun of summer camp for your children or grandchildren, nieces or nephews, as UNH 4-H Camp announces four individual weeks of environmental-related camps at Barry Conservation Camp, located in Berlin and offered in partnership with N.H. Fish and Game.

Barry Conservation Camp is located in the White Mountain National Forest at the Berlin Fish Hatchery. The camp provides a close-knit community for its 35 campers and eight staff. Nearby York Pond offers swimming and canoeing for the camp.

Questions about the program, or registration process? Contact the Camp office at 603-862-2184 or 4hcamps@unh.edu

If you're ready to sign up, registration is now open.

UNH Cooperative Extension recently received the following grants and awards:

Family and Consumer Resources Program Leader Charlene Baxter, received $30,000 to support teaching parenting education skills to incarcerated parents housed in state prisons in Berlin and Laconia. The award was made by the Linden Foundation. She also received $70,501 from HNHfoundation in support of a virtual library for HEAL NH's web site.

Charlotte Cross, 4-H Youth Development Extension specialist, received $100,000 for Operation Military Kids 2009 from Kansas State University.

Valerie Long, FSNEP Nutrition Coordinator, and Debbie Luppold, Food and Nutriton Extension specialist, received $774,083 from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service for the 2009 N.H. Food Stamp Nutrition Education Plan.

Ken LaValley, Commercial Fisheries Technology Transfer Extension specialist, received $2,500 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the "Conservation Engineering in the Shrimp Fishery" project to equip up to 12 shrimp fishing vessels in Port Clyde, Maine, with the dual-grate system and to quantify bycatch, shrimp size selectivity and vessel catch.

Suzann Knight, Family Resource Management Extension specialist, received $750 from Consumer Federation of America for "New Hampshire Saves - America Saves Social Marketing" campaign. She also received $25,000 from the Annie E. Casey Foundation for her project, "Linking Workers with the Earned Income Tax Credit," and another $56,000 from the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury for the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Alliance.

All children and youth are exposed to some degree of risk as they develop from infants to adults. With an unstable economy, more families face difficult decisions that impact their children’s nourishment, health care, living environment, social activities and ultimately educational achievement.

Since 1991, UNH Cooperative Extension has helped six New Hampshire high poverty communities create collaborative after-school programs where none existed before. Each community received help over a five-year period with technical assistance from county and state Cooperative Extension educators. They also received staff training, information and research, and some funding from the national Extension Children, Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) program.

Two after-school programs in Seabrook and Hillsboro are nearing completion of five years of support. Both programs targeted middle school youth for positive out-of-school time activities, and included efforts to engage families in monthly activities with other the program staff, other parents and their children.

Annual evaluation of these programs shows some surprising results. In the Hillsboro program, three-quarters of participating fourth and fifth grade youth believe the program helps them finish their homework, and half think they argue or fight less with their parents about this important concern. Almost two-thirds of these youth feel closer to people in their school, think they get along better with their teachers, and have learned how to make good decisions.

Over half of the parents of sixth, seventh and eighth grade youth believe their child is showing more self-confidence and is more motivated to learn and try new things since they started attending. School personnel believe parents of these youth are more engaged in their child’s learning and are seen more frequently at school events.

In Seabrook, a leadership and after-school program for fifth through ninth grade youth from the lower Seacoast region communities helps youth learn to set goals and make good decisions, practice leadership, and take part in significant community service activities.

These youth are stewards of a mile of Hampton Beach, helping to keep it litter-free through a routine clean-up activity. Many youth believe the program has changed them as a person because of the emphasis on media messages and ads, learning how to deal with bullying, and learning how to make and be a good friend. Over half the parents see changes in their child including liking one's self better, showing more self-control, ability to resolve conflicts, and getting along better with peers.