2013 – 2014 East Hills Projects and Descriptions

Archery
This project will explore the lore of the bow and arrow, including nomenclature, equipment and accessories, mechanics, archery skill development, and special projects.
Around Europe in 80 Plates
Even though it’s the 2nd smallest continent, Europe has a vast array of countries and cultures – each with their own unique foods. In this project, we’ll explore the flavors of Europe as we prepare some of its special dishes. Every month members will spend an hour and a half cooking a meal from the chosen country. Parents are encouraged to join us for the last half hour as we get the chance to taste what we’ve prepared.
Arts & Crafts, Junior
We will make a different project every month using a variety of materials and techniques. Projects may include paper crafting, fiber art, painting, jewelry making, and more. Primary members should have an adult to help.
Arts & Crafts for Teens
In this project, we’ll explore a variety of crafts geared more toward older members. From decoupage to beading to painting and beyond, each month we’ll find new ways to express our artistic talents.

Arts & Crafts – Walk in the Woods
Walk in the Woods is an arts and crafts project based on making things you might find on a walk in the woods. You may not be able to locate these woods on a map, though you might have seen them before in your mind’s eye. Join us and make — among other things — an autumn leaves hairband, a paper bird garland, and a felt raccoon or fox. While there is no age limit, some projects will involve sewing by hand. Primary members, please bring an adult to help you.

Emergency Preparedness SLP – In Case of Emergency…
Do you know what to do in an emergency? In this service learning project, we will learn what to do to prevent and prepare for emergencies, like earthquakes, fire, first aid, and more. Then we will share what we learn in the community and teach others to be prepared as well.

Environmental Stewardship – Sausal Creek Community Service
The Sausal Creek Community Service project is an environmental restoration project that we are doing in partnership with the Friends of Sausal Creek. We’re starting our second year, and we would be happy to welcome new members. Last year, East Hills members adopted a spot along the trail at Dimond Park and started clearing invasive plants and replanting with natives. This year we will continue our restoration work, which will occupy half of the project meeting time. The other half of the meeting time will be focused on environmental education. This year we’re going to focus on native plants and their practical uses. Exactly what projects we choose to do will be determined by project members and our youth leaders, but examples may be making soap (and poison oak remedies) from soaproot or weaving baskets from rushes.

Gifts of Gold (All About Corn)
Gifts of Gold is a national 4-H curriculum project designed for youth ages five through eight. Corn is the gift of gold. Through learning about one common, international food, youth will explore agriculture, literacy, nutrition, diversity, science, art, communications and horticulture. Through hands-on exploration that includes songs, stories and optional family involvement, youth will expand their knowledge of an important food commodity.

Impromptu Speaking
The goal of this project is to learn how to give a one-to-three minute speech on any topic without preparing in advance. It may sound impossible, but with a little practice, you’ll be speaking like a seasoned politician. Each meeting will have a light-hearted or humorous theme, and everyone will get a chance to speak each time. We’ll try impromptu versions of the major speech types: informative, demonstrative and persuasive, and we’ll even make up impromptu stories. Finally, we will learn how to give each other constructive feedback.

Lego Robotics
Lego Robotics is a fun way to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts. As kids work with Lego RCXs, they learn how math and science are applied to control robots at the same time as they learn to build, program, and troubleshoot their mobile robots. I will be using the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy curriculum as inspiration, but of course there will be room for project members to go their own way with their projects!
Life 101
In Life 101, we’ll be learning some of the skills you’ll need as you go out into the world. We’ll start off by doing some career planning and researching colleges. From there, you will choose a career and work your way through life – buying a house, getting a car, planning a budget, paying taxes, etc.
NaNoWriMo
November is National Novel Writing Month. Come join us as we write a novel! We will help you plan your novel, work on your characters, and chart your course on this exciting adventure. And we will write, write, write!
Outdoor Adventures for Teens
In Outdoor Adventures for Teens we will hike on moderately challenging trails in nearby local and regional parks including the Oakland Hills, Hayward and Castro Valley. Get some exercise and enjoy the great outdoors with your 4-H friends! The hikes usually last about 2 hours, and parents are always welcome to join.

Ping Pong
We are going to play ping pong. It’s a lot like tennis but there are a lot of different rules. You can go to Round Robin or training if you like it a lot. I’m going to teach you different spins and smashes.

Poultry
Learn about chickens from the egg to the table, including embryology, growing and managing a small flock of chickens, the latest research in feed and coop practices, and especially urban poultry issues. We will specifically work on making our own chicken feed and scratch this year, along with researching plants and herbs to supplement our chickens’ diets. We will also practice showmanship and judging for the Alameda County fair in June and perform community service by educating the public about having “Backyard Chickens” in an urban environment by participating in information nights in the community, which involves making informational posters and brochures.

Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose
The Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose project will focus on the issues of pollution and overflowing landfills. We will have 6 project meetings. At each meeting we will focus on a particular pollution issue such as household waste, automotive waste and electronic waste. We will also repurpose an item from that meetings theme.

Square Dancing
4-H members come join the fun! This is a county-wide project so you can meet members from other clubs. Boys and girls learn to square dance from basic beginner to Mainstream and Plus as well as some line dancing. There are also community service and project exhibit opportunities with this project. Square dancing outfits are not required, but be sure you wear tennis shoes, not slip-ons or sandals, and clothing you can move around in. In this project, you can have a lot of fun, meet new friends and get great exercise! Bring your friends (they don’t have to be 4-H members) and parents too!

State Exchange
The State Exchange Program is a countywide project where members interact with 4-Hers from other states. The project entails fund raisin g for hosting and for traveling. All members that sign up must be able to host a 4-Her from another state, and in exchange they travel to the state we hosted. It is usually two and a half weeks long for hosting and for traveling.

Tech Challenge
Group will study wind power. Students will design and build a device that will power another object by wind power. Participants will present final project as a team in April at the San Jose Tech Challenge competition. More details to follow when San Jose Tech Challenge posts the final challenge.