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Missouri 4-H Update
COLUMBIA, MO.
With the recent restrictions on gatherings due to COVID-19 affecting Missouri 4-H members, volunteers, and faculty and staff, we have received many questions about how to handle eligibility for participation at county fairs.
As a reminder, Missouri 4-H does not have a statewide requirement for “member in good standing.” However, we are well aware that many counties may have requirements established by county 4-H or fair boards. The Missouri 4-H Center for Youth Development has created some recommendations for counties to use to guide their 4-H programs as we work to provide a high-quality experience for our members during these stressful times. We cannot stress enough that communication with your club leaders, project leaders, 4-H members and parents is critical.
It is important to emphasize to project leaders the need to be accommodating with their 4-H members and families in meeting any project requirements.
Communicate to project leaders that they do not have to be physically present for completion of a project meeting requirement; they can assign activities that members can do at home or remotely. Please work with your project leaders to find creative ways to provide members with a quality project experience. Many of you are already implementing alternative activities and can serve as resources to other employees who may have questions regarding flexible programming. When dealing with alternative project programs, it is important that project leaders and members have clear communication. This will make it easier for all parties to know that they are on track with their projects.
Special note: The recommendations outlined above pertain to non-shooting-sports projects. Jim Sappington will be providing separate guidelines for shooting sports requirements.
Ideas for alternative project meeting activities:
• Encourage livestock project members to participant in online SMQA training. Horse project members can take part in riding safety videos.
• Monthly virtual meetings using Zoom, available free at Zoom.us (opens in new window).
• Project-content-related YouTube videos with some form of reflection.
• Encourage members to take time to update their project records.
• Soon there will be activities available on the Missouri 4-H Facebook page for project-related challenges and activities. More info to come on this.
Again, we want to reiterate that you should be having open dialogue with your county 4-H councils, extension councils and fair boards about continuing to provide quality programming within the guidelines established by the CDC and University of Missouri Extension. Thank you all for your hard work and patience as we work through this once-in-a-lifetime situation. We will get through all of this together! ∆
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