East Hills 4-H

A homeschool-friendly 4-H club in San Leandro, CA

kris

2019-2020 East Hills Projects

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Here are the descriptions for our upcoming projects; we've removed locations, names and details for public view, but many project meetings are at the San Leandro Main Library, while others are at the project leader's house (Oakland, San Leandro, Alameda, Fremont), or local area parks. A schedule will be posted soon, and coming to our Open House (see here: 2019 East Hills Open House Flyer) is the best place to talk to project leaders and members about their projects, as well as finding out all the details and the schedule of project meetings. Most meet once a month from October - May, but there is a lot of variation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019 East Hills Open House

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Come and see our 4-H kids in action and find out about being in 4-H, our upcoming projects and much more. If you are thinking about joining 4-H, this is a perfect opportunity to ask questions and get a taste of what it is like to be in a 4-H club.

When: Monday, August 26th, 1 - 3 pm
Where: Creekside Community Church, 951 MacArthur, San Leandro, CA, 94577
Contact Information: Kris at info@EastHills4H.org

Click here for our upcoming projects with descriptions.

Here's our official flyer:

Copy of below flyer for download

Ducks for Bucks 2019 Information

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A fundraiser for East Hills

Selling Ducks for the annual Ducks for Bucks Benefit Fundraiser held by the Fremont Kiwanis Club every year is our main club fundraiser, and how we have enough money to pay for room rentals at Creekside and the library, hold member events, and more. Almost all of our dues go to pay state and county 4-H fees, so to keep fees down for members and  adult volunteers, we really depend on our members to sell Ducks for us! We raised around 2000$ dollars last year which is roughly 450 Ducks sold; if we all work together, we can get close to that number again. And remember, you can earn 2$/every Duck sold to use for 4-H camp or other 4-H events.

The schedule has changed this year, and we will be selling from late August through September 25th, 2019 (the last day to get Ducks to me would absolutely be Sept. 25th, preferably a day or two before). See Meetup for selling dates at our Starbucks and other locations. And if you are new to selling Ducks, keep reading..

What is a Duck?

In short, one donates 5$ for 1 Duck to be entered into the Duck Race that happens in Fremont at Lake Elizabeth on September 28th, 2019 (open to the public with booths, games and fun for all ages). In addition to the Grand Prize, there are many smaller prizes which are listed on the customer part of the Ducks form.

Our club earns 3$ for the first 250 Ducks sold, then 4$ for any Ducks above that number. Because we team up with other 4-H clubs and projects, we get to 250 much faster, so this really is a terrific fundraiser for us.

The Process of Selling Ducks

What do you need? How do you get started?

  1. Get some blank Duck forms from your club leader or Duck coordinator.
  2.  Read up on the prizes, how to fill out the form (see below), and how the race works so you can answer questions.
  3. Sell Ducks to your friends, family members, neighbors, and participate in any selling opportunities your club might provide.
  4. Make sure the information is filled out and the envelope has the cash/check/credit card information and return to your club leader. The absolute deadline for handing them in is September 25th, 2019.

East Hills 4-H has been selling Ducks in San Leandro since 2003 (when we started the club), so many residents are very familiar with Ducks for Bucks and they will sell themselves. We will be setting up a table at the MacArthur Starbucks in San Leandro later in September (and hopefully a few other sites), so check out Meetup page for dates and times.

How the race works:

Every year for the last 23 years, thousands of rubber ducks have been released into Lake Elizabeth for the annual Ducks for Bucks Race benefit. A dump-truck releases the ducks (8000 last year) into the lake, and using their high-powered fire hoses, the Fremont Fire Department will slowly herd the ducks into the chute passage where the numbers are read electronically and in the order entered.

For the rest of the details as to how winners are selected found here: https://www.duckrace.com/Fremont/rules

The link is the Kiwanis website and will have any updates and other information.

Winners need not be present to win. Several years ago our first place winner lived in New Jersey and we simply mailed her the check. Each winner will be contacted by phone after the race. If unable to reach by phone, they will be contacted via email as well.

The part with the large Duck picture and the information about the race and prizes is given to the customer. It is a good idea for them to save it in case they win, but if they lose the form, they will still be able to pick up any prizes they might win.

How to sell Ducks with the forms

The part of the form with the envelope and the little flap is the part you keep and hand into your club. the information about the race is given to the customer.

Filling out the envelope with the correct information

6 Ducks for the price of 5 Ducks

Online Sales - new for 2019

1. Give a customer one of your Entry Forms for your organization OR give them the number from the front of one form if they live far away. Be sure to NOT use this form for anyone else, and in fact, you should write "Online Sale" with the number of Ducks sold to give to me so I can add it to my count. If you give the form away (perfectly okay!), just note the sale/#Ducks on a post-it note and place on top of the Ducks you give back to me.
2.  Point out the Ducks for Bucks Website -  https://www.ducks4bucks.org - on the entry form at the bottom of the front page
3.  Tell the customer to go to that website and click the BIG BLUE BUTTON "LETS RACE". They will be transferred to a secure website where they click another BIG BLUE BUTTON "SPONSOR A DUCK NOW"
4.  Customer enters the Entry Form Number you gave them.
5.  Customer enters how many Ducks they want to Sponsor.
6.  Then the Customer enters their information and Credit Card number - its a secure website sponsored by GAME the company we contract with for all the Duck Race related services and equipment including the rubber ducks.
Its easy and it works and best of all your selling organization will get credit for the entry.

East Hills Members can raise money for their own 4-H activities

The Ducks for Bucks fundraiser not only raises money for the club, it also raise money for 4-H activities for our members!

How it works:

The first ten ducks sold by a member will be credited towards the club.  Thereafter, the member will receive $2/duck as credit toward 4-H related activities. For members of a family selling ducks collectively, ten ducks for the family will be credited to the club.  The remaining ducks will be credited to the family for 4-H activity fees at $2/duck.   So, if you and a sibling sell 100 Ducks, your family will have 180 dollars to use for 4-H Summer Camp, conferences, or anything else you attend that is 4-H related. Remember, you can use funds raised in on year for activities in the next year, so you do not have to use all the funds in the same year

Our Fenton’s Booth for 2018

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4-H was the Community Partner for Fenton's Creamery in Oakland for the month of July, and East Hills 4-H represented 4-H by sharing some of our projects and stories with the public.

These first pictures show us arriving at the parking lot at Fenton's Creamery, where the staff has saved us the spot right next to the corner seating area. We can park and unload things, like the large sunshade and the grid from the county office to display posters and other large items. Fenton's Cramery is located at 4226 Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, and parking can be challenging on the weekends, so carpool and take advantage of the saved spot. We get there around 10:30 am (Fenton's opens at 11 am) to give us some time to set up and avoid some of the parking hassle.

The pictures below show our tables after other members have arrived and set up their posters and materials. We had a lizard for the younger kids, an  arts and craft activity, and posters about endangered species and other projects. You can see the grid behind the tables (it isn't too hard to set up, and Fenton's staff will store the grid for us in between weekends. There are some tables to the right of the sunshade which is where a few of our members were doing a hands-on activity, and we also have 4-H brochures and a tip jar on the main table.

I didn't get any pictures of the crowds, but we usually have a very steady stream of visitors and younger ones coming to see everything. We have a lot of fun talking with people about our 4-H experience and helping to raise money for 4-H.

And finally, here's the flyer showing the sundae they sell to raise money for us - delicious!

Being a Facilitator for NYSD 2018

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4-H National Youth Science Day 2018 is coming up fast, and we need facilitators to join our county committee and help run this event. Kris Konrad and Jack Boreczky from East Hills and Jeff Robbins from Palomares are the adult volunteers planning this event, but we need youth 4-H members to help us plan, organize and make this a successful NYSD 2018!

The theme is "Code Your  World" and will be Tuesday, October 2nd, from 6-9 pm at Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley. If you would like to be on the committee, please email Kris at inf@EastHlls4H.org or come to the committee meeting planned for later in September.

Coding experience is NOT needed for helping out, just some preparation and reading through the material.

See below for a walk-through of what we will be doing this year, and please consider joining the committee and helping to facilitate what will certainly be a fun and educational event!

What Are the Four Activities Happening at Code Your World NYSD?

1. Animate a Name (this is on a computer using Scratch)
2. Code Your Dance: using printed cards with commands, "program" a Chicken Dance
3. Artificial Intelligence: First, use dice to play Rock, Paper & Scissors, and then replace die with coins and evaluate a program.
4. Color Your World: an exploration of the map coloring puzzle where you first use a minimum of colors to color a world map, and then make your own map.

 

 

Animate a

Name in

more detail:

 

This is the one activity at NYSD 2018 that will require a computer, although it can be done off-line by downloading Scratch/CS First. If you've never used Scratch before, start at this link to work through a demo of the Animate a Name and review some of the material: https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/en/nysd?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=offline&utm_campaign=gconysdkit

Try a Demo: https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/c/cs-first/en/animate-a-name-demo/animate-a-name-demo/animate-a-name-demo.html
Review Material: https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/c/cs-first/en/animate-a-name/materials.html

Note: Because we will probably NOT have wi-fi access on October 2nd at Canyon Middle School, we are planning on loading the off-line version of Scratch and this activity on 4-5 laptops. Kids will be able to do the activity, and can continue their work at home if desired (we'll have a handout with all of the links).

 The best way to learn about the remaining activities is to download a copy of the facilitator's guide, available here: https://4-h.org/parents/national-youth-science-day/#!kit-materials

Kris and Jack will have the supplies for the 3 activities at the committee meeting on , and we will work through all of them so everyone is comfortable facilitating at the event.

The Remaining

3 activities 

East Hills Open House

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Come and see our 4-H kids in action and find out about being in 4-H, our upcoming projects and much more. If you are thinking about joining 4-H, this is a perfect opportunity to ask questions and see our club in action.

When: Monday, August 27th, 1 - 3 pm
Where: Creekside Community Church, 951 MacArthur, San Leandro, CA, 94577
Contact Information: Kris at info@EastHills4H.org or kkonrad@carondoletacademy.org

Click here for our upcoming projects with schedule and descriptions.

Here's our official flyer:

 

Introduction to Entering the County Fair

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Overview

If you are new to 4-H, you might not know about the Alameda County Fair, and the opportunities it affords for entering projects and winning prizes. There are categories for 4-H members, ages 5-18, along with contests that happen during the fair. It can be overwhelming to look on the County Fair page and try to figure out what it all means! So I thought I'd list some possibilities and share our experiences.

Important: the deadline for the online registration of your entries is April 25th for most categories! However, the actual projects are mostly not due at the fair until May or June, so there's still time to make an entry, you just need to register by next week.

What do I mean by entries?

If you've ever been to the fair, there is a Young Californian Building where you will see a wide variety of entries by 4-H members from all over Alameda County. Photos, original art, wood-working projects, models, fiber arts, written stories, educational posters, food items (jams and jellies are popular), and more than I can list. There is the Table Setting entry, where members come up with a table setting to fit a particular theme (like Harry Potter, or Dr. Seuss, etc.).

General categories:

  • Fiber Arts: includes Needlework, Quilting, Machine Sewing
  • Fine Arts - Creative Writing, Painting & Drawing, Printed Photography, Non Printed Photography, Photo Journalism
  • Baked Foods
  • Decorated Foods - cupcakes, cakes
  • Preserved Foods - jams, pickles, more
  • Table Settings
  • Arts & Crafts -Ceramics, Collage/Assemblage, Fair Themed Craft, Holiday Craft, Jewelry
  • Pinewood Derby Cars
  • Scrapbooking & Paper Crafts -
  • Woodworking
  • Computer Science -Video/Film, computer Based Animation, website, design, etc.
  • Miscellaneous Exhibits -exhibits emphasizing activity & learning, Entomology/Environmental Education/Science & Technology and others (these are usually educational posters).
  • Rockets & Aviation

Special Craft Competitions - there's a lot, and some of them sound so fun!

Bling Something!
Crafting Trends
Decorate a Tree
Duct Tape Art
Egg Carton Craft
Fair Theme Poster
Hand/Foot Print Art
Literature Based Art
Loom Art
Mystery Craft
Origami
Paper Plate Art
Perler Bead Art
Pinterest Patriotic Craft
Pipe Cleaner Craft
Recycle It!
Repurpose It!
Shoebox Float

Fair Time Baking Contests

Cheesecake Contest
Guittard Chocolate Contest
Cupcake Contest
Honey, It’s a Dessert Contest
Cupcake Decorating Contest
My Family’s Favorite Cookie Contest
Dad’s Favorite Dessert Contest
My Family’s Favorite Pie Contest

Special Baking Competitions

Classic Treats Made From Scratch
King Arthur Flour
Mix It Up! Tricks with a Mix
Mystery Cookie
S’mores No More

Special Contests (happen during Fair)

Cell Phone Photo Scavenger Hunt
Lego Building Contest

What to do next

So, if I piqued your interest, the next step is to look through the Fair Guide for more information about the different categories and contests. There is a LOT of information, but if you have any questions, just ask!
Download it here: 2018_Alameda_County_Fair__Youth_Stills_Complete_Guide

Or look on the website to read about the categories online: http://annual.alamedacountyfair.com/youth-competitions/

To share an example of what Luke will be entering:
1. A piece of digital art made on his iPad and printed out (this is under "Graphic art or Other" for the Drawing and Painting Category)
2. An educational poster about the activities we do for our community Makerspace (this would be the Miscellaneous Exhibits)
3. And possibly something for the Duct Tape Art category under Special Crafts Competitions. Fun!

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