2020 Hometown Heroes

2020 Hometown HEROES Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS May 14, 2020 Page 191 projects and display their learning and growth,” Miller said. “If circumstances interrupt the 4-H shows, Illinois 4-H and Extension staff will work to develop other alternatives consistent with social distancing guidelines.” For now, the Logan County Extension is promoting the use of virtual meetings to keep clubs rolling along, and is also increasing the its social media presences for 4-H to help keep the community and the club members informed and feeling good about their recent accomplishments. On the LMS 4-H Facebook page, there are tons of posts about participating in projects via online resources. For example there are the 4-H Project Learn & Share opportunities. On these posts, 4-H members are encouraged to share pictures and comments about a particular experience that ties to one of their 4-H projects. Students who are working on Child Development projects, for example, are given a list of virtual resources to learn more, then they can share comments about what they have learned and also pictures of activities they did in relation to the project. There are also other interaction opportunities such as the recent College Q & A event. Members who are preparing for college had the opportunity to participate in a question and answer session via Zoom. The page also posts reminders about other things, such as the 4-H Records Tip of the Month that reminds kids about what they can and should include in their record books as they prepare to enter their records for judging. An example - the tip of the month for April reminded members to put if they are participating in “online learning related to 4-H projects.” Also posted on the FB page is this fun slideshow of personal messages from 4-H leaders in the Tri-county District. https://www.facebook.com/ LMS.4H / videos/582756029260523/ While everyone wants to see a fair this year, Miller noted it is wait and see and hope for the best. “As far as the 4-H shows, it is wait and see. If in-person fairs end up not being possible and we will have to use alternatives.” In the meantime, here are ways Logan County 4-H has adapted programming during this current situation: Holding virtual 4-H Leader Meetings. Virtual Trivia for 4-H families to participate in and have fun. Providing education materials to continue 4-H project work three times a week on Facebook called 4-H Project Learn & Shares. CONTINUED u