Lapeer County 4-H Challenge Club

LAPEER COUNTY 4-H CHALLENGE CLUB

“4-H CHALLENGED ME”

Dear Parents,

Lapeer County 4-H is excited to offer a unique opportunity for special needs youthages5-26 (as of January 1 of the current year) to participate in a livestock show designed especially for them at the Eastern Michigan State Fair. Participants will learn about different farm animals including pigs, sheep and goats and will be assigned a 4-H or FFA mentor who will work hand in hand with each child and family. Each child will work with the animal they will be showing and the mentor will teach the child about basic care, handling and how to show the animal in the show ring. We understand that each child has different learning and physical abilities and we will work closely with each child to make this a great experience. This is a community event designed to expose your child to 4-H, livestock programs and clubs in Lapeer County and to allow them to say “4-H Challenged Me” at the Lapeer County 4-H Challenge Show. This program is open to youth, who are eligible for special education in a Lapeer County school, but participants must be pre-registered because of limited enrollment of 24-30 participants (8-10 children each for swine, goats and sheep). To register your child, complete the attached form and return it to the address on the form. If you have questions please contact:

Tiffany Howell

4-H Challenged Me Club Leader

Event Schedule:

●July 1: Applications due

●July 7: Challenge show participants and 4-H/FFA mentors orientation and introductions

●July 29: Challenge 4-H Show, noon, Walker Memorial Barn, Eastern Michigan State Fairgrounds, Imlay City

LAPEER COUNTY 4-H CHALLENGED ME CLUB

Description: To provide an opportunity for youth with disabilities (4-H Challenged Me Club Member), physical and mental, to safely participate in a livestock exhibition environment, while building a positive mentor/mentee relationship with 4-H or FFA youth.

Outline: 4-H Challenged Me club members will be matched with 4-H and FFA mentors. Program will conclude the last week of July at the Eastern Michigan State Fair. The Challenge Show will be held Friday at noon of the Eastern Michigan State Fair, in the Walker Barn.

Club Information

Challenge Youth:

●Must be eligible (enrollment not required) for special education services through a Michigan public school.

●Must be 5 years old by January 1st of current year

●Must enroll in the Lapeer County 4-H Youth Program through the Lapeer County MSU Extension Office and pay a $10 4-H participation fee at or before the orientation meeting.

●Are asked to share pertinent medical and behavioral information on the application. Providing this information is optional and will not exclude a child from participating in 4-H Challenged Me. This information will be shared with the 4-H/FFA Mentor that club members are matched with, to make all reasonable accommodations to meet the physical and social needs of each child to ensure the safety of participants and that each participant has the best experience possible.

●Strive to meet a minimum of 4 times to learn about, handle and practice with the animal

●Each club member and one parent/companion will receive free gate admission to the Eastern Michigan State Fair on the day of the show. Free admission does not include carnival rides.

Youth Coaches:

●Must be actively enrolled in Lapeer County 4-H or Lapeer County FFA and be interested in serving as a coach to youth, sharing their knowledge and skills with a 4-H Challenged Me club member.

●Must agree to allow club members to show their animal in the 4-H Challenge Showmanship Show.

●Must agree to meet with club member for project area education, as well as handle and practice with their animal.

●Help ensure a safe, non-threatening learning environment for Challenge youth to learn about and handle their project animals. Reasonable accommodations should be considered depending on Challenge youth’s physical limitations.

●Attend coach and members orientation.

Expectations:

●4-H Challenged Me Club Leaders will seek volunteer 4-H/FFA mentors to match with club members. They will help mentors identify and accommodate member’s needs. Club Leaders will discontinue the mentor/mentee relationship at either parties request and will make every attempt to match challenge youth with a new mentor and/or attempt to identify an appropriate alternative activity.

●There will be a limit of 8-10 club members per species.

●Since this is a short term club, our hope is that club members may enroll in the conventional 4-H program and participate in the many projects and programs 4-H and MSUE has to offer, however this is not required.

●It is required that parents or a responsible adult remain with participants during meetings with 4-H/FFA mentors and be available at the show.

LAPEER COUNTY “4-H CHALLENGED ME” CLUB APPLICATION

Please mail to Tiffany Howell: 5940 Clear Lake Rd. North Branch, MI 48461 or email .

Participant Name:
Address:
City, Sate, Zip:
Participant Age (as of January 1 of current year):
Parent/Guardian Name:
Home Phone: / Cell Phone:
Email: / T-Shirt Size: Youth: S M L Adult: S M L XL XXL Other

We will make all reasonable accommodation’s to meet the physical and social needs of each child to ensure the safety of participants and that each participant has the best experience possible. In order to do those things we are asking that the following information be provided, to be shared with the 4-H/FFA mentor your child will be matched with. Parents or a responsible adult must remain with participants during meetings with 4-H/FFA mentors and be available at the show.

This section is voluntary and declining to share this information will not exclude your child from the program.

Does your child have physical limitations? Examples include, but not limited to: balance, hearing impaired, speech impaired, sight impaired, non-ambulatory/wheel chair user, etc.

Does your child have a learning impairment and/or developmental delay? If yes, please give example of learning level.

Does your child have any sensory issues that may be affected by proximity to animals, farm equipment, loud noises, etc.?

Does your child have behavioral issues that may affect him while working with animals or 4-H/FFA mentors? If yes, please explain triggers, escalation behaviors, etc. that may help a 4-H/FFA mentor when dealing with your child.

Does your child have a seizure disorder? If so, please list seizure symptoms that 4-H/FFA mentors may witness and need to alert an adult.

I give permission for my child's strengths and challenges to be shared with their coach in order assist in their experience.

Parent or Guardian Signature:______

LAPEER COUNTY “4-H CHALLENGED ME” CLUB

COACH APPLICATION

Lapeer County 4-H is excited to offer a unique opportunity for special needs youthto participate in a livestock show designed especially for them at the Eastern Michigan State Fair. Challenge Members will learn about livestock including pigs, sheep and goats and will be assigned a 4-H or FFA member (coach) who will work hand in hand with each child and family. Challenge members will work with the animal they will be showing and the coach will teach the child about basic care, handling and how to show the animal in the show ring. We understand that each child has different learning and physical abilities and we will work closely with all participants to make this a great experience. Program will conclude with a 4-H Challenge Show will be held Friday at noon of the Eastern Michigan State Fair, in the Walker Barn.

Challenge Youth:

●Must be eligible (enrollment not required) for special education services through a Michigan public school.

●Are asked to share pertinent medical and behavioral information. Providing this information is optional and will not exclude a child from participating in 4-H Challenged Me. This information will be shared with the 4-H/FFA Coach that club members are matched with, to make all reasonable accommodations to meet the physical and social needs of each child to ensure the safety of participants and that each participant has the best experience possible.

Youth Coaches:

●Must be actively enrolled in Lapeer County 4-H or Lapeer County FFA and be interested in serving as a coach to youth, sharing their knowledge and skills with a 4-H Challenged Me club member.

●Must agree to allow club members to show their animal in the 4-H Challenge Showmanship Show and to meet with club member for project area education, as well as handle and practice with their animal.

●Should attend coach and member orientation on July 7th at 6pm (tentative).

Expectations:

●4-H Challenged Me Club Leaders will help coaches identify and accommodate member’s needs. Club Leaders will discontinue the member/coach relationship at either parties request and will make every attempt to match challenge youth with a new mentor and/or attempt to identify an appropriate alternative activity.

●Strive to meet a minimum of 4 times to learn about, handle and practice with the animal

●There will be a limit of 8-10 club members per species.

●It is required that parents or a responsible adult remain with participants during meetings with 4-H/FFA coaches and be available at the show.

If you are interested in being a “4-H CHALLENGED ME” Club Coach, please complete the form below and return it to: Tiffany Howell: 5940 Clear Lake Rd. North Branch, MI 48461 or email by July 1. Applying to be a coach does not guarantee you will be matched with a Challenge member.

LAPEER COUNTY “4-H CHALLENGED ME” CLUB COACH

Coach Name: / Age (as of January 1 of current year):
Address:
City, Sate, Zip:
4-H or FFA Club Name:
Parent/Guardian Name:
Home Phone: / Cell Phone:
Email: / T-Shirt Size: circle
Youth: S M L Adult: S M L XL XXL Other______
Coach Signature:
Parent/Guardian Signature:

Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status or family status.

4-H Coach’s Trainer

The Coach’s Trainer should be someone who is familiar with disabilities that may affect members. The Coach’s Trainer should be able to effectively educated coaches on health and physical challenges, behavioral challenges, communication needs and devices, and strategies to provide coach’s to assist the members in learning the tasks for showing. The Coach’s Trainer should understand the impact this program has on individuals, families and the community. The Coach’s Trainer should address the following:

Head:

●Share the idea of presuming competence

●Discuss how all members think and learn differently

●Everyone has different strengths

●Offer strategies to ensure success-visual supports, video modeling, etc.

●Discuss communication differences

oShare any communication tools the members may use

oShare how some members may not verbally respond, but they are always listening

oSome members may engage in frequent talking, give strategies to coach’s to assist in keeping their member engaged in the activity

Heart:

●Person first language-see the member, not the disability

●Discuss how same age peers are the best teachers

●Discuss how this is impacting the coach’s and members beyond the arena

Hands:

●Discuss physical challenges and tools to accommodate these challenges during training and the arena

●Discuss behavior-some members may engage in behavior that is different

oExplain the presented behaviors

oDiscuss crisis plan for unsafe behavior

▪If at any time anyone feels unsafe, stop the activity

▪Contact 4-H Leader and Coach Trainer

●Discuss possible sensory issues

oDiscuss tools that may be used to reduce sensory overload (headphones, quieter animal, etc.)

Health:

●Describe health concerns of member

●Discuss a crisis plan in case of medical event

oContact parent(s)/guardian(s) immediately-parents should remain on site

oIf medical event occurs, contact 4-H Leaders and Coach’s trainer to debrief coach and members

●Ensure that if at any time anyone does not feel safe, the event stops.

oContact 4-H leaders

Coaches Corner

Things to remember:

●HAVE FUN!

●Everybody is good at different things and likes different things, we will learn if our new members like the same animals you do.

●Your partner is there to learn from you. Kids are the best teacher for other kids!

●Some of your partners may not talk, but they are listening, so keep on talking and teaching.

●Some of your partners are not used to being around animals and may not wear appropriate shoes to work with livestock. Remind them that animals weigh a lot and it hurts A LOT when an animal steps in your toes. Also, model safe behavior by wearing safe shoes yourself.

●Some of your partners may talk a lot! That’s ok. As soon as you can, try to bring them back to the task. You could say, “That sounds really fun, do you want to see how we…..”

●Your partner may not walk, that’s ok, the arena allows wheelchairs or equipment to help your partner walk.

●Loud noises may be a problem for my partner, so they may cover their ears or use head phones. Animals can be REALLY loud!

●Some partners may have medical concerns. If you see that your partner is acting differently than you have seen, make sure to tell their parent immediately.

●Some of your partners may have hard time and show some behavior we aren’t used to seeing. Their parents will help. Just remember to keep their hard time private from others.

●If at any time, you feel unsafe, the activity stops.

You are doing something that hasn’t been done before in Michigan. We are all learning together. If you have any questions, call your 4-H Leader.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

Tiffany Howell

4-H Challenged Me Club

810-688-4185

4-H has Challenged Members to Coach Kids with Special Needs

Imlay City, MI (7/15/2016) –Lapeer County 4-H is excited to be the first in Michigan to offer a unique opportunity for youth with special needs to participate in a livestock show designed especially for them at the Eastern Michigan State Fair on July 29th at noon, in the Walker Memorial Barn. 4-H Challenged Me Club members are youth ages 5-26 years, who are eligible for special education services in Michigan. In its inaugural year, sixteen 4-H Challenged Me members have been paired with another Lapeer County 4-H member as their coach and 4-H Challenged Me members will work hand in hand with their coach to learn about livestock animals including pigs, sheep and goats. Each child will work with the animal they will be showing and their coach will teach about basic care, handling and how to exhibit the animal in the show ring and will use the coach’s animal during the 4-H Challenged Me Show, at noon, on Friday, July 29th during the Eastern Michigan State Fair.

The program’s goal is to provide an opportunity for youth with special needs, physical and mental, to safely participate in a livestock exhibition environment, while building a positive coaching relationship with 4-H youth. This is a community event designed to expose a special population to agriculture, 4-H, livestock programs and clubs in Lapeer County and to allow them to say “4-H Challenged Me” at the Lapeer County 4-H Challenge Show.

4-H Challenge Club Leader Tiffany Howell, of North Branch, said “We began seeing videos from southern states of similar shows and we wanted to offer something similar in Lapeer County. Animals of all kinds can be therapeutic and this is a great opportunity to expose the 4-H Challenged Me members to agriculture and livestock, helping them build confidence and maybe even job and life skills, while allowing their 4-H coaches to build communication skills, empathy and understanding of a special population. We are hoping that after the 4-H Challenged Me show, that both members and coaches will be able to say that 4-H challenged them and they met that challenge.”

- END -

4-H CHALLENGED ME MEMBER PARENT EVALUATION

We want to know how well 4-H Challenged Me works and to make it even better. We are asking you to tell us if your child liked or learned anything during 4-H Challenged Me. It should take about 10 minutes of your time to complete the survey. You do not have to fill out this survey. It is up to you if you want to answer the questions or not, you get to make the final choice. There is no right or wrong answer to any of our questions. You don’t have to answer any question you don’t want to answer. If you decide not to fill out the survey, your child can still be in 4-H Challenged Me or any other program 4-H offers. When we tell other people about what participants learned, we won’t tell them your name or the name of anyone else who answered the questions. You can ask us questions anytime.