Maryland 4-H State Council March 2017 Meeting

March 19th, 2017

Call to Order:

The March Meeting of the Maryland 4-H State Council was called to order at 2:05pm on Sunday, March 19, 2017, by President Becky Jones.

Roll Call:

Roll was then called by Maryland 4-H State Council Secretary Anna Schuster.

Introductions:

The 2017 Maryland 4-H State Council Officers provided brief introductions:

Becky Jones: Maryland 4-H State Council President;

Anna Schuster: Maryland 4-H State Council Secretary

Patrick O’Hanlon: Maryland 4-H State Council Treasurer

Lesley Porterfield: Maryland 4-H State Council Vice President of Public Relations

Skyla Heise: Maryland 4-H State Council Vice President of Service

Caitlyn Gardiner: Maryland 4-H State Council Vice President of Public Issues

Kaitlyn Davey: Maryland 4-H State Council Vice President of Planning and Outreach

Team-Building Activity:

Advisor Jamie and State Council Planning and Outreach Committee members Ethan and David led the Council in a team-building activity.

Council-wide Public Issue Introduction

TED-Talk by Dennis vanEngelsdorp: To prepare and become informed about our Public Issue, President Becky Jones shared a Ted Talk about the declining bee population.

After watching the TED Talk, Becky Jones led the Council in a discussion about bees.

Becky asked Council members to pair up and discuss something that they found interesting about the TED Talk, and also how they feel Marylanders are affected by bees.

Following partnered discussions, Becky encouraged Council members to share.

Research Activity: Prior to the meeting, Council members were each assigned a bee-related question to research and present their findings at the meeting. At the meeting, members of the Planning and Outreach Committee each facilitated small-group discussions focused on their assigned questions. Following these small-group meetings, the facilitators from each group highlighted key findings and point from their discussions.

Topics included:

Alternative Ways to Feed Bees

General Knowledge about Bees

What Plants Attract Bees?

What Bee-Species are in Endangered?

Familial Order of Bees

Why are Bees Important? (Bees’ roles as pollinators)

Knowing Your Impact (How you have affected bees)

How do Bees Impact the Environment?

What is harming/killing the bees?

What Repels Bees?

Committee Planning and Work Session: Following the Public Issue Research Discussion, Council member divided into their Committees.

Committee Reports: Following the Committee Work Session, each Committee provided an overview of their Committee’s projects.

Public Relations:

Vice President Lesley Porterfield encouraged Committee members to complete their personal biography sheets and return them to the PR Committee as soon as possible. Additionally, the PR Committee is working on producing graphics that can be used to promote Maryland 4-H State Council. Bee puns to promote the Council-wide Public Issue were also discussed. The PR Committee is hoping to produce a newsletter that highlights past and present Council programs and events. The newsletter may be sent out as early as April.

Public Issues:

The Public Issues Committee discussed their plans to try to form a partnership with organizations such as the Botanical Gardens that are related to the Council-wide Public Issue. Additionally, the Public Issue Committee presented their plan for a seed craft for Maryland Day on April 29th.

Service:

The Service Committee discussed potential service projects to be held during Maryland 4-H Congress. These projects includedmaking yellow and black bracelets, holding an environmental-themed book drive, and a potential hands-on environmental service project. The Service Committee also presented ideas for service projects during National 4-H Week such as encouraging counties to host their own book drives.

Planning and Outreach:

The Planning and Outreach Committee discussed their plans to coordinate the State Council Booth at Maryland Day. A Sign-Up Genius was created so that State Council Members could sign-up to work at the booth in two-hour shifts. Additionally, the Planning and Outreach Committee hopes to secure a guest speaker related to the Council-wide Public Issue for future State Council Meetings.

Meeting Adjournment:

The March meeting of the Maryland 4-H State Council was adjourned at 4:55pm.