D-11 County Coordinators:
This year we will follow the process that you have used in the past. I do request that you give me a call or e-mail and let me know of your needs / requests prior to presenting them to the court. I want to be informed of each county request and the process for submitting the request to the Judge / Court. The better informed I am, the more supportive I can be when speaking to courts regarding county budgets.
For those of you who are new to the role of county coordinator, please give me a call and I'll be happy to walk you through the budget development process.
I look forward to working with you through the budget development process.
As counties look at their expenditures and future budgets there can be some challenges to over come; as you are well award we are having in the same challenges in state funding.
Please be frugal in your requests and make sure that if you are going to ask for more funds that they are warranted. Proper documentation of items such as travel in extremely important if asking for an increase in travel. County travel does not have to be equal to be equitable for each agent.
Professional Association Annual Meetings
I would like to encourage you to register for your professional association meetings this summer. Being part of your annual meeting can provide you with many benefits as you visit with agents from around the state. Being a member of your association and attending your meeting as means of professional development can help an agent tremendously.
As an agent you can participate in many activities such as recognition of accomplishments, gain inspiration from speakers, recognition of external partnerships, and volunteers of our program. Visit visit with trade show participants, and probably the most important is the interaction among your peers. Your association provides you an opportunity to interact with other members and gain others prospective on your chosen profession.
The opportunity to get to know agents from all over the state is a great asset in building your network of resource persons that can assist you in preforming you duties as an Extension educator. An agent can learn much from a evening social among peers in a relaxed atmosphere.
In most cases you may have an opportunity to take family with you and this will provide them an opportunity to learn from other agents families about Extension life. The spouse and youth programs have been developed to provide your families and children with some fun and relaxation.
Most of you have indicated in your professional development plan that you would participate in your annual meeting. Again, give consideration to registering for your professional association meeting, it will be well worth your investment in professional development time and travel.
2010 4-H Round Up Agent Assignments
I know that you are looking forward to state round up next month. Each year we are asked from our state office to provide judges, contests tabulators, room monitors etc.. to help the big event run smoothly. I know that it is time consuming to be asked to go to College Station for just one event, however we all have to work together to help out. I do appreciate those agents that have volunteered to help out with more than one job assignment especially those closest to College Station. If you are going to be at round up and are free at some time during the day when your members are in contests please let Jodi or I know. We still need help from agents and volunteers to satisfy our requirements.
District Horse Show
We had a very productive meeting last week in Edna. The new Breckenridge Recreation Complex facilities in Edna are excellent and we are looking forward to having the Horse Show in Edna .
I appreciate the leadership of Shannon Deforest, J.D. Folbre and Jodi McManus in coordinating the meeting and involving the great set of volunteers that attended the meeting. The agents that attended are to be commended for their input and for encouraging their horse project adult leaders in participating. We have already have had some sponsorship pledges that have come from our recent planning meeting. We are on our way in providing our District 11 4-H Horse project members the best possible District Horse Show experience. The horse show letter is on its way out of the District office and you will have it soon. Please give us a call if you need clarification. Registration on 4-H Connect is just around the corner. DM
