Extension News: February 2012 Archives

Is New Hampshire going to have a good maple syrup season this spring?

Many are wondering, but Karen Bennett, Extension forestry specialist, believes it is still too early to despair. "We really won’t know what kind of maple syrup season we’re going to have until the maple syrup season actually starts and the traditional date, if there really is such a thing, is the traditional date for Washington's birthday." (Please see associated newspaper article.)

“The success of the season depends on the weather during the season,” Bennett said, rather than upon the weather leading up to the season. “Of course, it is weather-dependent, exactly when it starts. A few sugar makers have already tapped their trees, but not many.”

Maple Season: New Hampshire's First Rite of Spring

March is maple sugaring time in New Hampshire. This uniquely North American natural phenomenon is dictated solely by day-night weather changes. Cold nights in the 20's followed by warm days when the temperatures go up into the 40's, absent a chilling wind, are the requirements for the sap to run.

Our sugaring season can begin in late February and run into early April and even stop in between. Although sugaring season does coincide with mud season, no one knows how long the season is going to be until after it's over.

Tapping the trees

Although many maple producers still use the traditional bucket-with-spout-and-cover system for tapping their trees, others use high technology plastic tubing and pipeline systems, some of which include vacuum extraction to increase the amount of sap collected. This doesn't hurt trees and keeps the sap-lines empty which helps produce a higher quality sap for high quality maple syrup.

Learn all about New Hampshire's maple sugaring season, and where to go on Extension's dedicated web page.

Over 100 middle school students from three New Hampshire school districts begin participation this month in a unique experiment aimed at reducing bullying and meanness in New Hampshire schools.  

The Courage to Care Program was developed by a collaborative team from UNH, spearheaded by UNH Cooperative Extension specialist, Dr. Malcolm Smith, Youth Development Extension Educator, Dr. Rick Alleva, and Family and Consumer Resources Extension Educator Thom Linehan. In fact, Smith and Alleva were just called on to provide important information on the Walpole school shooting on WMUR.

With staff from Extension, UNH Browne Center, and the Department of Social Work, the team designed a curriculum to be taught to students over a nine-week period that emphasizes empathy, caring for others, understanding power, courage, and being respectful in cyberspace.  The team based the program on current research on how middle school students learn social skills.

“This is the most promising program I have been part of in my 30-year career of working with young people,” said Smith, “It gets at the heart and soul of teaching students how to get along.” 

Selected Schools

In December, teachers and counselors from Kingswood Middle School in Wolfeboro, Gorham Middle High School and all three middle schools in the Fall Mountain School Administrative Unit attended a comprehensive program on how to use the curriculum as part of their classes.  These educators will receive ongoing support from the University team as they teach the program to their students.

All students in the participating middle schools were asked to participate in a pre-test that indicates both their social and emotional skill levels while measuring their perceptions of bullying behavior in their school. 

While most students took the pre-test, only half of each district’s seventh graders will participate in the program at first, and the other half will serve as a control group to compare the effects of the curriculum on the students.  The tests are being conducted by Dr. Patrick Shannon, a professor of social work at UNH.

Lessons

Each lesson in this unique curriculum starts with a “Video Jolt” or a short video scenario that sets up a real-life dilemma faced by middle school students.  “The ‘jolts’ hook the kids into the lesson,” said Smith, “Then we have a short discussion.” 

That discussion is followed by a unique activity or game that serves as a metaphor for the lesson’s goals.  In the Cyber Space lesson, for example, the students experience an activity called “Faceback,” during which students attach pieces of paper to their backs and others write positive comments about them literally behind their back.

The final part of the lessons are the teaching of Courage Concepts or social and emotional goals to follow.  Students are each then given a “Courage Book” that provides the week’s homework lesson and gives the students a chance to practice the skills they are learning to be better citizens.

“We used to teach citizenship in our schools,” said Smith, “and we used to focus more on teaching kids how to get along.  As our pace of society has increased, our parental time decreased, and our school time has become more academic achievement oriented, we have forgotten the importance of teaching kids how to be nice to one another.  This program gets back to that type of social and emotional learning.”

Educators and youth leaders from across New Hampshire will have a chance to be trained in using the Courage to Care curriculum this summer, at a series of trainings at UNH’s Browne Center.  For more information contact Smith or call 603-862-7008.

It’s getting easier to sit at your own kitchen table and learn more about how to better manage your finances.

With the objective of expanding the use of technology-based learning tools as one of seven new goals for UNH Cooperative Extension, program delivery will become more efficient and provide greater access to Extension programs for more New Hampshire residents.

Using Technology

Starting in January, Extension’s Family and Consumer Resources educators began using computer and Internet technology to offer financial management education through a six-week webinar called Making Money Work for You.

Program participants not only are from New Hampshire, but from the greater New England area as part of the More Than Wheels partnership with Extension.  The webinar is also available to the public-at-large.

The Making Money program is frequently presented as an “in person” class around the state, and some people continue to prefer that opportunity.  Accessing the program through a webinar program, however, allows many learners to attend who might not otherwise be able to, due to distance, transportation issues, or family responsibilities.

Logistics

The logistics sound simple but can present difficulties. Educators learned new teaching techniques and mastered technical challenges. For participants there are some basic hardware requirements, and not everyone has a personal computer that meets those requirements.

Faye Cragin, Extension’s Web and Media specialist, is helping with those challenges. Ultimately, educators present the educational material while using PowerPoint slides on a computer over the Internet; learners are able to access the program at the same time through their computer, using a web conferencing tool called GoToMeeting.

Using a headset with microphone helps participants to talk and listen without the cost of a long distance call or cellphone minutes. Class participants can sit at their kitchen tables in Nashua or New London, while the educator is teaching in Goffstown.

Participants see the materials the educator presents. While educators teach, Cragin assists as “the producer” behind the scenes to help learners and educators with any technical issues.

Completing Your Homework

Completion of homework assignments is required by noon the day of the next class, emailed to the instructor. To “attend” these classes, some participants get creative. One attends the webinar by using a computer at the local library in her New Hampshire town.

Family and Consumer Resources Educator Sharon Cowen is teaching the first Making Money Work for You webinar. Cowen worked with Program Leader Charlene Baxter and Cragin to anticipate how the class will work in this new format. Extension also sought the advice from experienced webinar leaders at More Than Wheels.

Cowen is excited about the opportunities presented by webinar technology. She admits, however, it hasn’t been altogether easy to make the transition. “I enjoy teaching and interacting with program participants. Sitting in my office facing a computer instead of a class is very different. We’ve had to plan different teaching techniques."

"But, this is a great tool for UNH Cooperative Extension to expand what we are able to do and reach more people who can benefit from our programs," she added. Cowen is confident that both she and the webinar participants will adapt quickly.

Extension educators Gail Kennedy and Marilyn Sullivan are working on another webinar for More Than Wheels that will start within the next few months. For more information on this and other educational opportunities, contact your county Extension office.

More information on the benefits of webinar delivery can be found at the links below:

Benefits of a webinar

Benefits of a webinar for attendees

Benefits of the webinar format

For more information about managing your finances:

Managing Money in Tough Times

Maximizing Your Personal Financial Resources