Educational Workshops

 

BARF WARS - FOOD SAFETY IN THE 21st CENTURY
Instructor: Dr. Ben Chapman, 4-H Youth Development & Family & Consumer Sciences Assistant Professor, North Carolina State Univesity
With over an estimated 48 million food borne illnesses in the US each year, food safety is a hot topic in homes, grocery stores, restaurants and other settings. Peanut butter, cookie dough, sprouts, spinach and peppers contaminated with microorganisms have all caused illnesses and generated media coverage in recent years. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified five main factors leading to food borne illness: Improper cooking procedures; improper storage temperatures; poor personal hygiene; cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods; and, foods from unsafe sources.
Through examples drawn from recent outbreaks, this workshop will help you identify strategies and tips to reduce your risk of foodborne illness and will be split into three 25 minute parts:

  • Barf wars - Topics will include recent food borne illness outbreaks, the burden of foodborne illness, what do restaurant inspection scores really mean. We will answer the question "Was it really the last thing that you ate that led to food poisoning"?
  • The Salmonella strikes back - Topics will include farmers' market food safety and things to think about when it comes to local foods. We will answer the question: "Is food less safe than it was 20 years ago?"

The Return of the E. coli - Topics will in-home food safety practices, storage and handling. We will answer the question "What is the best way to thaw a turkey?"

Become a Global Citizen through 4-H
Instructor - Mary Crave, Ph.D, Project Director, Africa 4-H, National 4-H Council
Want to make a difference in the world? You can – by engaging with 4-H programs throughout the world, especially in Africa. Farmers will need to double food production by 2050 to feed the world’s growing population. 4-H has taken on this challenge by creating a Global 4-H Partnership to help youth in less developed countries become the farmers and agribusiness persons of tomorrow. This session will provide an overview of this partnership, you’ll hear from 4-H members and leaders in Africa, and discover ways you can help expand 4-H programs and provide opportunities for 4-H members in Africa. Come prepared to roll up your sleeves, have fun, challenge your assumptions, contribute to solutions to global problems, and become a citizen of the world.

Dancing with the Stars
Instructor – Wayne Zwick, Dance for Two
Hines Ward, Kirstie Alley, Donnie and Marie, Shawn Johnson, and Julianne Hough all showed their talent on Dancing with the Stars. Here’s your chance. The class will teach you basic steps in all the current dances. Healthy lifestyles involve movement – what better way to move than with dance steps.

Diversity – Southerners, Lawyers and Blonds
Instructor - Dr. Mitzi Downing, 4-H Youth Development & Family & Consumer Sciences Extension Assistant Professor and Specialist
Are you Pigeonholed in a land of Penguins? Have you ever felt judged based on your appearance or on how you talk or where you are from? Have you ever misjudged someone? Stereotypes are stubbornly persistent! Like icebergs, stereotypes are largely hidden deep in our subconscious minds yet they influence our actions everyday. Come and have fun while exploring diversity and see what’s up with those Southerners, Lawyers, Blondes & Jocks. Understanding “Diversity” means more today than ever before . . . Come explore with us!

GTL – Give, Talk, Learn: the Power of Service Learning
Instructor - Justin Crowe, Extension Specialist 4-H Youth Development, University of Tennessee Extension
Many of us need some GTL in our lives. Service learning gives us the opportunity to give, talk and learn through helping others and reflecting on those experiences. Join this workshop for a hands-on look at innovative service learning projects, the essential steps to service learning and tips on making service meaningful for both the participants and the beneficiaries. This workshop is full of hands-on, fun activities and even a few door prizes!

Healthy Gourmet
Instructor - Martin Pfefferkorn, Hyatt Regency Chef
Let the Hyatt Chef surprise you with new and exciting foods. Not only will you get to taste each and every recipe you will go home prepared to whip it up for your friends. You will become the master chef.

Hip or Hype?  Making Your Message Matter to Media
Instructor – Faith Peppers, Director of Public Affairs, University of Georgia, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
Anybody can be a publisher these days. You can print your own news blog, post your own video news, or make your own radio-style podcast. But, how do you get traditional media to hear your message? How can you help your cause by getting media attention? This session will show who does it well and how you can, too.

How Things Work
Instructor - Scott E. Taylor, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, University of Florida
This workshop will have the participants doing experiments to create new chemical compounds from basic household materials.  Participants will be making slime, creating their own polymer balls, and finally building their own gumdrop skyscrapers.  We will also answer the question of whether something can be a solid and a liquid at the same time, by conducting an experiment with an isotropic mixture.
All experiments will be hands-on and done by the participants, and discussion will center around the concepts of physical and chemical changes.  Participants should be prepared to "get their hands dirty", as they will be doing all the mixing, kneading, and anything else required for the success of the experiment.

“Imagine, Invent and Create” – Junk Drawer Robotics
Instructor - Denise Frebertshauser Amy Rhodes, Ann Sherrard, Dwayne Murphy, University of Maryland Extension
When you hear 4-H Robotics - do you think about purchasing expensive kits with millions of pieces that get lost?  No kits needed for this program!  Come learn and experience the new National 4-H Junk Drawer Robotics Curriculum.  This is a program that anyone can do!  In this workshop we will turn random items you find around your house into fully-functioning robots and machines. We’ll also discuss how you can implement this fun “Hands-on/Heads-on” program back in your community.  Bring your creativity and teamwork skills to complete the engineering challenge!

Irish Dancing
Instructor - Amanda Carpenter
Irish dance is a traditional style of dancing that is most notable for its quick and precise footwork along with a stationary upper body. With the help of the show “Riverdance,” it catapulted into the public eye and has spread throughout the world. Most recently the documentary "Jig" has offered audiences a glimpse in to the competitive side of Irish dancing. This workshop will touch on the traditional and competitive aspects of Irish dance seen in "Jig". It will have you up on your feet learning a beginner jig and a group ceili dance. You will also watch a performance of champion level steps.

Living Upstream - Use 4-H Water Science to be a Good Citizen and Teach Others
Instructor – Jennifer Fetter, Pennsylvania State University
Make a splash in your community by involving your 4-H club in water science projects. Our everyday actions affect the water that flows through our neighborhoods. Understanding the science behind water quality and watersheds is important because we all live upstream to someone else’s community. Can we change our attitudes and behaviors so that water passing through our lives is in good shape when it reaches the next person? Through hands-on activities you will learn about water science, service learning projects for protecting water in your community, and activities that you can teach to your 4-H club and other younger youth when you get home. Water is the perfect medium to mix together 4-H Science, Citizenship, and Healthy Living.

Operation Military Kids: Mock Deployment
Instructor - Marcus Eason, Operation Military Kids Program Coordinator, University of Georgia
What is a deployment? How does it affect the families of military families? Youth will participate in an activity that portrays a military family before, during, and after deployment.  Deployments mean that the entire community helps raise the children of deployed military personnel. The group will learn how to make it happen. This highly interactive class will allow youth to explore different stages of deployment and how each affects military youth and families through role playing. Groups and develop a detailed Action Plan for each group member to take back home with the intentions of supporting military youth and families in their own backyards.

Photography in 4-H /Community Service
Instructor - KS Photo Action Team
Images everywhere!  Cell phones, video cameras and more are available in pockets and hands almost everywhere.  Have you discovered all the capabilities of the imaging devices at YOUR fingertips?  Come explore the possibilities and learn how to create better quality images, understand the capabilities of cameras and explore the myriad ways of performing service projects using your newly enhanced photo skills.  This HANDS ON session requires participants to come with fully charged batteries (both YOURS and the CAMERA’S).  In this session you will participate in decision making activities, explore the possibilities of photography with cell phone and other types of cameras, role play photographic possibilities and their ethics when using SOCIAL MEDIA   and develop outlines for SERVICE PROJECTS that require the use of photography.

Share the Wealth Baking Workshop
Instructor—Home Baking Association, Sharon Davis, FCS Education, www.homebaking.org
Food skills promote a wealth of benefits, starting with breakfast! Build your culinary portfolios as you prepare Quick Raisin Granola Breakfast Rolls, the 2011 National Festival of Breads winning recipe.  Everyone will mix, knead and shape. While the bread rises and bakes enjoy quick baking features, including California Raisin Board’s Chef Della, and the National Festival of Breads Director, Cindy Falk. All participants will enjoy the results--fresh glazed granola cinnamon raisin buns--and receive a take-home tool kit of resources to share the wealth locally with others. The fresh “extras” will be sold to Congress attendees with donations to benefit Share Our Strength as a 4-H Congress Great American Bake Sale to help end childhood hunger. Come ready to bake!

Pilates
Instructor - Renee French Pauley, Certified Pilates & GYROTONIC® Instructor
Pilates works from the inside out by strengthening the core muscles that support the spine. Pilates is a series of rhythmic exercises that strengthen and balance the body, while lengthening the muscles and increasing flexibility. By focusing on quality of movement rather than quantity, Pilates can retrain your body to move more efficiently – a great benefit to anyone looking to improve their performance or overall health. While other exercise fads have come and gone, Pilates has survived for over ninety years because it gives you the body you want. Traditional methods of exercise focus on isolating one muscle group causing weak muscles to get weaker and strong muscles to get stronger, which results in muscular imbalances that can lead to injury. In contrast, Pilates is a total body workout utilizing multiple muscle groups simultaneously, creating a symmetrical workout that integrates the upper and lower body with the core. The result is a balanced, strong, lean, and flexible body that is less prone to injury.

Speed Meeting
Instructor – Amy Williams, Extension Specialist 4-H Youth Development, University of Tennessee
One thousand plus people will attend National 4-H Congress. How will you ever meet them all? Speed Meeting is the answer or at least part of it.  You will have the opportunity to make new friends from all over the country in a totally fun way.

Team Building
Instructor - Georgia College and State University Environment Education Team
Join Georgia College faculty and students for an adventure in group development.  Traditional and novel group activities will be used to explore elements of group leadership.  Expect to have fun, learn something about yourself and other congress attendees, and leave with some ideas and activities to take home!

Think Globally . . . Think Agri-Science
Instructor - Bob Horton, Professor of Science Education at the Ohio State University Center for 4-H Youth Development.  
Agri-scientists from our state land-grant universities have come up with some amazing solutions to meet the demands of global markets. They have engineered a lot of innovations that lessen environmental impact, reduce costs, and create healthier living conditions for global populations. Improving the performance of crops in drought conditions using soy lecithin, combining soy ingredients to make VOC-free compounds, converting sugar energy into light energy, and transforming bio-mass into energy and useable by-products are just some of the technologies to be explored. Join Dr. Bob Horton for a session of fun and engaging hands-on agri-science activities.

Zumba
Exercise doesn’t have to be a drudgery when there are things like Zumba. Created by Alberto “Beto” Perez, zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba involves following the music with repetitive movement. Zumba’s choreography incorporates hi-hop, samba, salsa, meringue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. It is addictive – you will love it.