| Handbook
of 4-H Information
4-H Office Policy!!!
New tax rules for 4-H Clubs
Checking The Web!
4-H Recruiters Wanted!!!
Five Reasons for Submitting 4-H Club News to Newspapers
Buy 4-H Products, Support NYS 4-H
4-H Shopping, Club Support Materials and Promotional Information
NYS 4-H Resource Directory
What Is A Project?
Projects are Sequenced
Projects Are Learning by Doing
Junior Leadership
4-H
Office Policy!!!
Any items, (Achievement Night items, Banquet items, Fair items, etc.),
left in the 4-H Office over 60 days from the date you are notified will
be disposed of as the 4-H Staff deems reasonable. You will receive one
phone call or email notification. It will be noted on each item the date
that you were notified. Please make sure items are picked up, for you
or your club, in a timely manner.
New
Tax Rules for 4-H Clubs
Recent changes to the tax code for non-profit entities
like 4-H Clubs, has made it necessary for us to collect EIN (Employee
Identification Numbers) for all clubs who have a bank account. Once the
Club has been chartered the process can be done online as follows: The
EIN may be obtained on-line from the IRS at http://www.irs.gov. Search
for and complete form SS-4, “Application for Employer Identification
Number" For assistance in completing this form, please consult our
Sample SS-4 Form. In the form, under Section 9a, applicants should note
their entity as “Other" under the parent organization of “4-H
Clubs & Affiliated 4-H Organizations." The IRS has assigned a
federal income tax group exemption number to 4-H that must be used by
all 4-H Clubs and affiliated 4-H organizations when filing or corresponding
with the IRS. The Group Exemption Number (GEN) is 2704, which should be
entered on the SS-4 under 9a. Alternatively, an EIN can be obtained by
downloading
the SS-4 and submitting it to: Internal Revenue Service, Ogden, UT
84201. Clubs that have not been chartered, are not eligible for tax exempt
status, or use of the 4-H Name or Clover. The names of all chartered clubs
will need to be updated on an annual basis in the state 4-H club chartering
database. Only clubs that choose to have bank accounts will need to have
an EIN number and that number should be added to the database. Please
let us know no later than November 26 the Club EIN numbers if they have
one. Please
go online and add any clubs that are not listed to date.
Checking
The Web!
It is very important that everyone is checking the web site, www.cce.putknowledgetowork.com
and then click on 4-H Youth Development on a weekly basis as new items
are appearing on the web site daily. We will keep you informed of upcoming
events and changes by posting them on the web site as soon as we get them.
4-H
Recruiters Wanted!!!
Wouldnt you, as an individual, or as a club, like to be a recruiter? No.
Not a Navy or Army Recruiter, but a 4-H RECRUITER!! The job is not difficult.
Youve been in 4-H and have learned new skills and techniques, made new
friends, and enjoyed activities. All you have to do is share these experiences
by telling classmates about them and letting them know that 4-H is for
All Youth regardless of where they live.
Tell them to contact Cornell Cooperative Extension of Steuben County at
607-664-2300.
Five Reasons
for Submitting 4-H Club News to Newspapers
To inform citizens of worthwhile 4-H activities, Making the Best Better.
To give a public pat on the back to hard working club members and volunteer
leaders.
To build pride in 4-H clubs and Cornell Cooperative Extension.
To build community support for our strong 4-H Program.
To attract new members and leaders to the 4-H family.
Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County, 4-H July/August
2000
Buy 4-H
Products, Support NYS 4-H
The National 4-H Supply Service contributes 10% of every order placed
through their website
to New York State 4-H Youth Development Program. The national 4-H Supply
Service has clothing, pins, pens, jewelry, curriculum and more. The above
is the website to order out of the catalog titles the 2007 Source Book.
4-H Shopping,
Club Support Materials and Promotional Information
Visit the new public 4-H site
for easy access to 4-H shopping, club support materials, and promotional
information.
NYS 4-H
Resource Directory
Looking for resources for 4-H
projects? This site is the place to go for staff, leaders, volunteers,
teachers and youth to find and order great 4-H resources.
What Is A
Project?
A 4-H project is a planned series of learning experiences through which
a youth develops knowledge, skills and/or attitudes. For instance, a member
enrolled in a woodworking project might learn the safe and most effective
way to use basic hand tools and gain experience in the selection of hardware
and finishing materials while making a bird house. The knowledge and skills
learned can be applied when making other wooden items in the future. It
is this transferable knowledge and skill that is the essence of the project
not the finished product.
4-H projects teach the "why's" as well as the "how".
Some 4-H projects such as first aid or citizenship do not result in the
production of a tangible item, but are just as important to the overall
growth and development of the youth.
A well-rounded 4-H club program will include both tangible and intangible
projects.
Projects
are Sequenced
Each area of 4-H project work (foods, woodworking, horticulture, technology,
science, etc.) includes many individual projects that are designed for
children of different ages and levels of experience. A Beginner project
introduces the most basic information and skills in a particular project
area. Each succeeding project should build on what was learned in the
previous one. Thus, an eight or nine year old member interested in woodworking
might make a simple wooden game that requires only the sanding and finishing
of a flat piece of wood. The next project would introduce the use of one
or two hand tools; the next, some construction techniques, and so on.
If that member continues to take woodworking projects he/she will probably
be able to design and build a piece of furniture by age 16. However, another
16 year-old who has never before used a tool could not begin by making
furniture. Successful completion of any project is dependent on that projects
appropriateness to both the age and experience of the particular member.
It is success that builds self-confidence, develops a positive self-concept
and creates the motivation to take on a more challenging project. Generally
speaking, experience is more important than age no matter how old you
are, you must start at the beginning. However, older children can progress
more quickly than younger ones older children can learn a large number
of new things in a shorter time without becoming frustrated. Also, older
children have a longer attention span.
Projects Are
Learning by Doing
Learning is at its best when a member is vitally interested and feels
his project is supplying what he needs and wants to know. Achievement
requirements for each project should be flexible and judgement may be
needed on the part of the leader to adapt learning experiences to meet
needs of members and the local club program.
When such flexibility is needed, it is best to have members discuss and
set their own goals at the beginning of the project so they may work toward
definite accomplishment. The parents should understand these goals.
The project also offers the leader one of the most effective tools for
helping young people reach for their highest personal development.
Projects, therefore, are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end.
Along with the project skills he/she is teaching, a leader is always alert
to opportunities for helping members acquire values for a lifetime of
changing circumstances.
Some of these values are:
· Desirable work habits
· Sense of responsibility
· Management of money
· Wise use of leisure time
· Learning to work cooperatively with others in the club situation
and in family living.
· Good sportsmanship through healthy competition.
· Making wise choices and decisions through exploring various alternative
actions and methods.
· Exploring projects of interest may be the beginning of lifetime
hobbies or careers.
Junior
Leadership
All 4-H members 13 years and over are eligible and encouraged to become
Junior Leaders. 4-H needs teens that are willing to assume leadership
roles in the 4-H program and the community.
Some indications of leadership include:
· ability to get along with people in a close age group and in
other age groups.
· making suggestion in meetings.
· developing skills that can be shared.
· enthusiasm.
· interest in others and organizational ability.
Opportunities for Junior Leaders in a club are numerous!!
1. Determine needs
2. Explore resources
3. Set goals short & long term
4. Choose a specific goal plan a timetable
5. Carry out the plan over a given time period
6. Share your learning with other groups, 4-H groups, 4-H news, community
newspapers.
7. Evaluate:
Was the goal achieved?
What did I learn?
What could I have done differently?
Was I successful?
Leadership is a continuous process in which we grow into. Leadership project
records are due to the CCE Office by Monday, September 10, 2008 to receive
project credit and to be eligible for leadership project champion. The
leadership record is three pages and is on the Steuben
County website.
Adapted from Teens Take the Lead project.
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