One of our best 4-H members got involved with drugs in college and became quite ill before he decided he needed help.  He researched drug rehabilitation programs and found one here in NH that had a religious program with a farming component for boys.  After successfully completing the one year program, he enrolled in an out-of state Bible college where he also worked in the summers as a camp counselor.  His mother told me in January 2008 that he had just been offered a job as an Evangelization Trainer.  He will be training adults in 40 countries to evangelize.  He told his mother that he learned in 4-H not to be afraid of anyone.  He learned to do public speaking in 4-H and it gave him confidence to speak in front of groups!

One of our 4-H alums is now a student at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City.  When I asked him if 4-H had anything to do with his decision, he replied, “No, but I did always enjoy the cuisine at International Foods Days.”  So maybe 4-H did spark his interest in cooking when he was young.

"Emily and I thought you would be pleased to know we are using our Health Rocks skills in advanced English.  We are broken up into groups, and our assignment is to teach the class about certain kinds of poetry.  We have to ensure class involvement; we brainstormed fun activities, and we both agreed we got our imagination from our practice with Health Rocks!"  These two high school students were trained in January 2008 to teach Health Rocks. They taught 2 classrooms of 4th graders (41 students) six lessons each.

As part of the JCPenney grant for $9000, the Newport Teen Center was able to serve 90 new teens during the 2007-2008 school year.  Each teen's family received a $50 gift card to buy school clothes and supplies at JCPenney.  This support made a big difference in many low income familes in Newport.  The Teen Center runs in a very democratic way with teens directing and determining programs and activities.  Four teens and one adult were  trained to teach the 4-H Health Rocks program to 4th-6th graders. They developed skills in communication, responsibility, and decision making as they taught younger children how to make good decisions about tobacco and other drugs. They reached 23 children with 6 hours of prevention activities.

• JC Penny Grants

Twelve 4-H members participated in the Fashion Selections program in April 2008 while 56 members participated in the Fashion Revue program by sewing. Of the 67 garment description forms submitted, over 60% of the members reported that they had increased their life skills in the following areas: getting along with others, setting and achieving goals, making decisions, managing resources, understanding and liking themselves better, learning to ask questions, and becoming more confident in their sewing skills and the use of tools and technology for sewing.

A testament to the value of the sewing project is that one of our former 4-H teens is now sewing costumes for theatrical productions at Cornell where she is a student.

As a result of being more visible in area newspapers, we have seen a huge increase in September 2008 of people wanting to start 4-H clubs.  It is as if all the "seeds" we have planted in people's minds over the years are finally "germinating" and people are seeing the value of 4-H.  Five new clubs began in September 2008 with at least 4 more in the formation stages in Grantham, Sunapee, Claremont and Springfield. The 4 new clubs in Claremont are being run by a 21C person who is now a 4-H volunteer.  She has a club in each of the elementary schools and in the middle school. Another new club started in Newport.  Both leaders came to "New Leader Orientation" in September.

"This is for 2008 reporting year."

• Miscellaneous grants