Connect with us!Visit our website at web.extension.illinois.edu/lmw

Simply Nutritious, Quick and Delicious Blog-http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lmw/eb245/Jenna Smith, Nutrition and Wellness Educator

Flowers, Fruits, and Frass Blog-http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lmw/eb255/Kelly Allsup, Horticulture Educator

Plan Well, Retire Well Blog-http://web.extension.illinois.edu//cfiv/eb141/index.cfmPam Atkinson, Consumer Economics Educator

University of Illinois • U.S. Department of Agriculture • Local Extension Councils CooperatingUniversity of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.

Fall 2013

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISEXTENSION CONNECTION

Livingston-McLean-Woodford Unit

University of Illinois Extension Celebrates 100 Years

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

EXTENSION

In 2014, we celebrate the Smith-Lever Act, which established the Cooperative Extension Service, a unique educational partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the nation’s land-grant universities that extends research-based knowledge through a state-by-state network of extension educators. Many people are not aware of Extension’s history and federal, state and local connections so I want to share just a little of that history with you.

According to the USDA, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 codified into federal law, and provided funding for, outreach endeavors at the Land-Grant Universities founded by the Morrill Act of 1862. The act was introduced to expand the vocational, agricultural, and home demonstration programs in rural America.

Specifically, the Act stated as its purpose, “In order to aid in diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects relating to agriculture, uses of solar energy with respect to agriculture, home economics, and rural energy, and to encourage the application of the same, there may be continued or inaugurated in connection with the college of colleges in each State, Territory, or possession . . .”

The appropriation for Cooperative Extension as established by Smith-Lever was unique in that it set up a shared partnership among the Federal, State, and County levels of government. A formula funding mechanism was designed to insure that there was

support from each of the levels to help the fledgling system achieve stability and leverage resources.

The funding would flow from Congress to the United States Department of Agriculture and then out to the Land-Grant Universities to be matched with monies from the states and counties receiving programs.

The ideals exposed by these educators were trans- formative in the manner in which the Land-Grant Universities saw their role in their state. The move toward a model of cooperative extension education allowed for professional educators to be placed in local communities in order to improve lives.

As you can see Extension’s history runs deep not just on a federal level but on a local level as well. Part of how we would like to celebrate and document that local history is by collecting stories, photographs and more this fall and winter. We want to know your connection to Extension so that we can document those memories in all of our three counties from various decades. To share your story or photographs either bring them into your local office or email them to uie-lmw@illinois.edu.

Bobbie Lewis-Sibley, MBA County Director bjlewis@illinois.edu

Agriculture in the ClassroomWhat is Agriculture in the Classroom?

Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is implemented locally by state-operated programs. National Agriculture in the Classroom supports state programs by providing a network that seeks to improve agricultural literacy — awareness, knowledge, and appreciation — among PreK-12 teachers and their students.

The mission of Agriculture in the Classroom is to “increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education.” An agriculturally literate person is defined as “one who understands and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects quality of life.” Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) programs seek to improve student achievement by applying authentic,

agricultural-based content as the context to teach core curriculum concepts in science, social studies, language arts and nutrition. By encouraging teachers to embed agriculture into their classroom, AITC cultivates an under-standing and appreciation of the food and fiber system that we all rely on every day. AITC’s vision that “agriculture is valued by all” is unique within the agricultural education community and positions itself as the lead organization to serve the full spectrum of K-12 formal education.

In McLean County, our goal is to educate youth and adults about the importance of agriculture to our society and to show that agriculture is more than cows and plows.

Terra Bertolini, Ag in the Classroom community worker, has worked hard to expand the AITC program in McLean County over the past two years. She can travel to your classroom, your club meeting, your youth development program or any program where you would like hands-on agricultural learning for your youth and/or adults. All the programming provided to McLean County locations is free of charge; this includes having the community worker come out and help with programming and all the materials.

Agriculture in the Classroom is supported by the National Agriculture in the Classroom Program. Some of the popular kits and programs offered in McLean County are listed below:

Chick It Out – Last year more than 2,400 students participated in the Spring hatch program. Designed primarily for third grade classrooms, but adaptable for all grade levels, preschool through high school, participating students explore the science of embryology by caring for a dozen fertilized eggs during their 21-day incubation period.

Exploring Milk…An Explosion of Color – After completing this activity, students will understand how sensitive fats and proteins are to new substances and how this sensitivity helps control the molecules in milk so different products can be made from milk.

Getting to the Core: Apples and Orchards – How do apples grow? Where do all those varieties of apples come from? Learn the answers to these questions and so much more!

Pumpkin Patch: A Vine Through Time – Discover the wonders of pumpkins. Watch tiny seeds grow into several varieties of pumpkins in a time-lapse video and learn how to prepare the soil for next years’ crop.

Water Cycle Bracelets – This kit has 13 beads that represent the water (hydrologic) cycle. The beads are used to show the paths water takes through its various states as it moves through Earth’s systems: oceans, ground water, rain, streams, etc. Each student makes their water cycle and explains its cycle.

If you would like to have Ag in the Classroom programming in your classroom, at your next meeting or just for fun at your next staff meeting — please feel free to contact Terra Bertolini, AITC community worker to schedule a date.Call 309-663-8306 or email at tlberto@illinois.edu .

Pam Atkinson, Extension Educator Consumer Economics pratkins@illinois.edu

This late summer and early fall was a busy time with diabetes classes. “I on Diabetes” was held in both Pontiac and Eureka. A total of seventeen people attended the four-session program where they received vital information on managing or preventing diabetes, participated in fun learning activities, engaged in low- impact physical activity, and taste-tested delicious diabetic recipes. Numerous participants commented on the unique opportunity to see how easy recipes are to make, what a proper serving size looks like, and how good it can taste. Look for the next “I on Diabetes” to be held in Bloomington in the late spring.

The Nutrition and Wellness program area continues to partner with Evenglow Inn in Pontiac to offer Fresh Fare, a one hour nutrition class held every other month that includes a cooking demonstration and tasting. The next class topic will be “Cooking for 1 or 2” on Wednesday, January 8 at 6 p.m. The class is free and open to the public, but please register with Evenglow Inn at 815-842-9040 by January 7.

As we head into the winter season and move closer to the holidays, we are quickly reminded of how difficult it is to eat healthy. Sometimes we just need a little motiva- tion and know-how so that we can enjoy the holidays without the added guilt. Holiday travels are common, but eating out can be hard on the waistlines. You can learn some tips on how to make dining out an enjoyable and healthy experience by attending, “Dining Out with-out Filling Out” held at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington on December 10 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Cost is $10 per person. To register, call toll-free: 1-888-6-ASK-OSF (1-888-627-5673).

I wish you a safe and healthy holiday season!

Jenna Smith, Extension Educator Nutrition & Wellness jesmith6@illinois.edu

Nutrition & Wellness

Family & Consumer ScienceConsumer Economics

If you are shopping on the open market for health insur-ance, you need to know a few things before you try to compare plans and pricing. You need to know what is important and how you will use it to determine what is best for you and your family.

How much (or how often) do you and your family use the health care system?This includes vision and dental visits as well as doctor visits, urgent care and emergency room visits, special-ists, vaccinations and allergy shots, hospitalizations etc.

What are my total health care costs?This includes: premiums, employer contributions, co-pays, deductibles, everything you spend out of pocket to take care of the health of your family.

Are there any planned changes in health care for the coming year?Planning on having another child (prenatal visit costs as well as the birth and well-baby visits), any elective surgeries? Cosmetic, vision, dental? Orthodontics?

This is the true cost of your health care. Now you can compare policies that cover most of your needs. Remember, the more the insurance covers, the more expensive the premium. Frequently vision and dental coverage are separate policies or additional coverage.

Even if your employer provides coverage, chances are there are some choices to make. Basic coverage or do you want to include dental, vision, or prescription drugs (often separate policies)? Does a standard HMO plan or a high deductible plan work best for your situation?

If you feel like your head is about to explode thinking about all of this, you are not alone and you might want to seek out some help.

During the week of December 9 in Livingston, McLean and Woodford counties, University of Illinois Extension is offering two-hour workshops to help you gain the skills to figure this all out. Find a “Does your Health Insurance Need a Check-Up?” workshop in your area on our calendar of events.

This workshop will take you step by step through the process of figuring out your needs, costs and how it fits into your budget and provides you with the materials to take home and personalize your information.

4-H & Youth Development

Specially designed for youth ages five through seven, the 4-H Cloverbud program gets kids excited about 4-H and learning.

The 4-H Cloverbud program uses hands-on learning activities to help kids explore art, plants, animals, science, and the environment. Mem- bers also engage in group activities that promote per-sonal development, healthy lifestyles, and a sense of citizenship.

The 4-H Cloverbud program uses hands-on learning and group activities that are so familiar in traditional 4-H groups. But, there are some important differences in the 4-H Cloverbud program. An activity-based program, Cloverbud groups use short activities to create a cooper-ative and fun approach to learning. The goal is for mem-bers to have immediate success in their learning efforts.

The Cloverbud program is not a mini-4-H group. Rather, it is a unique educational program, with specific learning goals that are appropriate for children ages five through seven. The 4-H Cloverbud program is non-competitive; however, Cloverbud members may have a chance to display their accomplishments at the fair or a special recognition event.

The Cloverbud programs can be offered in after-school programs or as part of a local 4-H program. Cloverbud groups that are part of the local 4-H program have their own meetings with planned activities.

The meetings are usually an hour long and include a learning activity, recreation period, and snack time. These Cloverbud groups can function as an indepen-dent club or may be affiliated with a community 4-H club. In either case, a qualified Cloverbud volunteer leader oversees the Cloverbud meeting with assistance from parent helpers.

If you are interested in becoming a 4-H Cloverbud volunteer or enrolling your child in a 4-H Cloverbud group please contact your county Extension office.

Cathy Blunier, Extension Educator 4-H Youth Development Livingston and Woodford Counties cblunier@illinois.edu

In his 1990 book “Oh the Places You’ll Go!,” Dr. Seuss gave the world great advice on how on how to go out into the world and face life’s challenges. In McLean County, we have taken that title, slightly adapted it and refer to our record keeping workshops as “Oh the Places You CAN Go!” Why? Because 4-H can take our youth anywhere they choose to go. After all, 4-H is more than a club, it is actually a giant force in work-force preparation. Through our 150+ projects, those interested in Education can take all sorts of projects in child development; Engineers can get their start through Robotics and Electricity; Scientists can choose from all sorts of projects from Geology to the Environment. Youth involved in Business can take Entrepreneurship, Communications and Financial Champion. You get the picture—4-H projects can be the beginning of a career map.

If you look at where 4-H can take you outside of the county, statewide, you could go to Springfield for the Great Debate, Legislative Connection or the State Fair. Take a trip to Urbana to the Jr. Leadership Conference and Illini Summer Academies. Because all these programs are open to the public, your 4-H’er could also take a friend who is not a 4-H’er to con-vince them they need to join us! If your 4-H’er takes advantage of these fun opportunities, and completes the Standards of Excellence forms and the Illinois 4-H Award Applications, they might find they have a ticket to Atlanta for National Congress, or to Washington, D.C. for National 4-H Conference or Citizenship Washington Focus. Or, they might even go across the seas in an international program such as IFYE. To take advantage of these opportunities please contact your county 4-H Program Coordinator or Youth Educator to learn more about the award form that needs to be completed so your 4-H’er may be considered!

So where’s the first place a youth should go? How about to a local 4-H Club Meeting?! It might just be the first stop on a journey that lasts a lifetime and takes him or her to places far beyond our county borders.

Carolyn S. Hansen, Extension Educator 4-H Youth Development McLean County cshansen@illinois.edu

What is the 4-H Cloverbud Program? Dr. Seuss Had It Right!

Horticulture Community & Economic Development

LOOKING YOUR BEST AT WORK

The University of Illinois Extension is pleased to release Looking Your Best at Work. This website is available to assist with:Interview preparationSuggestions on ways to be successful in

a new jobListing of occupations with the fastest

growth rateThe website is available in English and Spanish.English: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/dress/index.cfm

Spanish: http://urbanext.illinoi.edu/dress_sp/index.cfm

Aimee Ingalls, Extension Educator Community & Economic Development aingalls@illinois.edu

Woodford County 4-H Butterfly program

This fall the Horticulture team collaborated with 4-H to teach the School Enrichment Butterfly program. Seven Woodford County Schools and 346 youth participated in a two-part program to learn about monarchs, the butterfly life cycle, insect characteristics and the 4-H program. Each participating class received a container of painted lady caterpillars to raise to adults and were asked to spread the word about planting milkweed for the Monarchs. In a follow up visit, the students released the butterflies, counted the legs on the Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers and touched the exoskeleton of a Madagascar hissing cockroach. The 4-H program awarded each student a fancy 4-H t-shirt and were dubbed 4-H Scientists by Educator, Kelly Allsup.

Kelly R. Allsup, Extension Educator Horticulture kallsup@Illinois.edu

Local Foods and Small Farms Educator Joins Extension Staff

Meet Bill Davison, the new Local Food Systems and Small Farms Extension Educator for Livingston, McLean and Woodford Counties.

Bill is responsible for delivering research-based information and edu-cational programs for farmers, com-

munity members, decision-makers, and others involved in local food systems. He will focus on the development of educational resources for small farm producers, outreach to communities on issues related to local food systems, and team based outreach efforts.

With his BS in Wildlife Biology (University of Montana) and MS in Zoology (Eastern Illinois University), Bill owned and operated Blue Schoolhouse Farm, a small-scale diversified fruit and vegetable farm in Congerville. He was a grower program manager for The Fair Share CSA Coalition in Madison, Wisconsin. Bill taught Illinois Farm Beginnings classes on economics of small farm production and worked at the ISU Horticulture Center.

Bill is looking forward to getting to know the people involved with small farms and the local food movement in our region.

Bill Davison, Extension Educator Local Foods and Small Farms wdavison@illinois.edu

Contact Information

McLean County Extension Service Foundation402 N. Hershey Rd.Bloomington, IL 61704

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit 400

Bloomington, IL

Main OfficeMcLean County402 N. Hershey RoadBloomington, IL 61704Phone: (309) 663-8306Fax (309) 663-8270

Branch OfficeLivingston County1412 S. LocustPontiac, IL 61764Phone: (815) 842-1776Fax (815) 842-6547

Branch OfficeWoodford County109 E. Eureka AvenueEureka, IL 61530Phone: (309) 467-3789Fax (309) 467-6034

Branch OfficeUNITY Center632 Orlando AvenueNormal, IL 61761Phone: (309) 862-4041

If you would like to receive this quarterly newsletter via email or report any mail and/or e-mail address changes please call the Livingston-McLean-Woodford Unit offices.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to attend any University of Illinois meetings or eventsplease contact your local County Extension Office.

Have you seen our Monthly Calendar of Events?If not, send us your email and we will add you to our list!

Email:uie-lmw@illinois.eduYou can also visit our website at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lmw/ and read about our

Livingston-McLean-Woodford Unit programming and information!

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