The February/March 2013 issue of the Illinois Leader is now available for download from the portal under Volunteer Support: Illinois Leader. It will also be posted shortly to the Illinois 4-H web site under Volunteers: Volunteer Support: Leader Resources: Illinois Leader. Please share this newsletter with your 4-H leaders via email, by linking it on your county/Unit web site, by including it in your county/Unit newsletter, or by providing paper copies at leader meetings.

Get your members in high gear at the start of 2013 by promoting the Speaking for Illinois 4-H program. We're heading to southern Illinois for a Saturday, January 12th training at the Jefferson County Extension Office in Mt. Vernon.

Speaking for Illinois 4-H trains older 4-H members in advanced public presentation - how to solicit donations, provide reports to county boards, speak to state legislators, presentations for civic groups, etc. We train these youth to help YOU in the local Unit to spread the 4-H story and get the word out! Members receive a brief training in BIGM and the importance in including that type of data/information in talking about 4-H to stakeholders. Pam Weber, the legislative lobbyist for Extension Partners, provides informaton on putting together the member's 4-H story to share with legislators and county board members. As an extra bonus, SFI4-H youth are invited to help at the spring Legislative Connection event(s).

SFI4-H trainees must be at least 14 years old to participate. Get them excited about sharing not only their own accomplishments, but those of the entire Extension program within your county and/or Extension unit.

Registration items are already posted to the 4-H Contacts Portal, including the link to the registration site. The Illinois 4-H website page (http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm) is also updated EXCEPT for the Registration link! That change has been requested and should be done in the next couple of days!

Speaking for Illinois 4-H is designed, sponsored, and taught by members of the Illinois State 4-H Youth Leadership Team -- Teens teaching teens! Members who are trained in January will be invited to assist with Legislative Connection this spring. Get your teens involved now and you'll have help throughout the rest of the program year!

NOTE: A SECOND SFI4-H Training has been scheduled for March 2, 2013 in Pontiac (Livingston County). To avoid confusion, that registration will not open until after registration for the January 12 training has been closed, but you can start advertising the date now with your members! Thank you.

We have rescheduled the cancelled September Speaking for Illinois 4-H Training and reopened registration for more participants! The new session is set for Saturday, November 17 at the Scott County Extension Office in Winchester.

Speaking for Illinois 4-H trains older 4-H members in advanced public presentation - how to solicit donations, provide reports to county boards, speak to state legislators, presentations for civic groups, etc. We train these youth to help YOU in the local Unit to spread the 4-H story and get the word out! Members receive a brief training in BIGM and the importance in including that type of data/information in talking about 4-H to stakeholders. Pam Weber, the legislative lobbyist for Extension Partners, provides informaton on putting together the member's 4-H story to share with legislators and county board members. As an extra bonus, SFI4-H youth are invited to help at the spring Legislative Connection event(s).

SFI4-H trainees must be at least 14 years old to participate. Get them excited about sharing not only their own accomplishments, but those of the entire Extension program within your county and/or Extension unit.

Registration items are already posted to the 4-H Contacts Portal, including the link to the registration site. The Illinois 4-H website page (http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm) is also updated, including the link to a new registration site.

Youth who were registered for the September 29th session do not need to re-register. However, they MUST complete a NEW Agreement to Assume Risk Form and send that in for the November session. If they were already registered, but cannot attend, have them notify Deb Stocker and we will refund their registration fee from the first session.

Speaking for Illinois 4-H is designed, sponsored, and taught by members of the Illinois State 4-H Youth Leadership Team -- Teens teaching teens! Get your teens involved now and you'll have help throughout the rest of the program year!

Just a quick reminder that the Illinois State 4-H Youth Leadership Team is hosting a Speaking for Illinois 4-H Training in Winchester (Scott County) on Saturday, September 29. Major details were posted in a July 3 article in The Leaflet. The registration deadline is Wednesday, September 19. Due to the amount of final details that need to be completed after the deadline, late registrations ARE NOT ACCEPTED.

Information on Speaking for Illinois 4-H is available on the Illinois 4-H website: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm. Registration is open at: https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/default.cfm?RegistrationID=6939. PLEASE make sure that members you recruit are at least 14 years old and know that additional paperwork needs to be submitted (all noted on the website and the registration site).

Speaking for Illinois 4-H is YOUR opportunity to expand your Extension Unit's reach within your area. Trained members not only assist with Legislative Connection, but can help locally with County Board reports, donor and volunteer recruitment, and 4-H promotion to civic groups. These are members who want to give back to the 4-H program - let them help you!

August/September 2012 issue of Illinois Leader posted

Yes, you can start planning for the new 4-H year already by promoting the next Speaking for Illinios 4-H Training!! It's been set for Saturday, September 29th in Winchester at the Scott County Extension Office.

As a reminder, Speaking for Illinois 4-H trains older 4-H members in advanced public presentation - how to solicit donations, provide reports to county boards, speak to state legislators, presentations for civic groups, etc. We train these youth to help YOU in the local Unit to spread the 4-H story and get the word out! Members receive a brief training in BIGM and the importance in including that type of data/information in talking about 4-H to stakeholders. Pam Weber, the legislative lobbyist for Extension Partners, provides informaton on putting together the member's 4-H story to share with legislators and county board members. As an extra bonus, SFI4-H youth are invited to help at the spring Legislative Connection event(s).

Start recruiting your older 4-H members this summer at your fairs and 4-H shows. SFI4-H trainees must be at least 14 years old to participate. Get them excited about sharing not only their own accomplishments, but those of the entire Extension program within your county and/or Extension unit.

Registration items are already posted to the 4-H Contacts Portal, including the link to the registration site. The Illinois 4-H website page (http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm) is almost ready - the download materials are ready, but the link to the registration site is not updated yet. (Had a glitch this morning; hopefully it will be ready to go by Thursday!)

Speaking for Illinois 4-H is designed, sponsored, and taught by members of the Illinois State 4-H Youth Leadership Team -- Teens teaching teens! Get your teens involved now and you'll have help throughout the rest of the program year!

The Illinois 4-H Youth Leadership Team would like to encourage the counties in northern Illinois to strongly consider recruiting 4-H members to register and attend the May 19th Speaking for Illinois 4-H (SFI4-H) Training. The all-day training will be held in Woodstock (McHenry County) at the McHenry County Farm Bureau Auditorium.

SFI4-H is open to 4-H members age 14 and above and provides these members with skills to assist YOU in promoting the 4-H program in your area. Youth who attend learn about PYD and BIGM, enhance their public presentations skills, and learn to put their 4-H story to best use in recruiting volunteers, soliciting donors for local programs, and most importantly, speaking to local fundors and local and state elected officials about the benefits of University of Illinois Extension and the 4-H program. While the major intent of this program is for youth to assist on the local level, SFI4-H members are also recruited to assist with state legislative contacts and are invited to attend Legislative Connection events at the State Capitol.

Youth must register on-line at: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm. Registration closes for the May 19th session on May 9th. LATE registrations are NOT accepted; if we do not have enough youth to hold the program after registration closes, the training will be cancelled. Youth who register are sent email instructions regarding the training following the May 9th deadline. The registration fee is $10 and includes lunch. The program runs from 9:30 Registration Check-in to 3:00 p.m. Youth must attend the entire day to become a member of the SFI4-H statewide team.

Think of the benefits to having youth from your Unit help you with speaking to civic groups or talking to potential donors for your special program needs. The impact that the SFI4-H youth have made at the State Capitol is immeasurable - think about what they could do at your local County Board meetings when they speak about the impact 4-H has made on them, their families and their communities! We encourage you to strongly consider getting your older members involved in giving back to the 4-H program in this manner.

We are excited to announce a spring Speaking for Illinois 4-H (SFI4-H) Training has been scheduled for Saturday, May 10 in Woodstock at the McHenry County Farm Bureau.

All promotional materials are available on the 4-H contacts portal under Youth & Adult Volunteer Opportunities = Speaking for Illinois 4-H. An updated promotional brochure, fact sheet, and registration link will be posted to the Illinois 4-H webpage shortly: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm.

With the uncertainty of the state budget, now is the time to recruit our older 4-H members to help us tell the 4-H story - to county board members, to state legislators, to potential donors. SFI4-H provides training to members in the basics of Postive Youth Development, BIGM, 4-H statistics, telling your 4-H story, and more to help Extension staff in getting the word out about their outstanding programs.

Check out the materials on the portal and then starting recruiting members age 14 and above for this leadership opportunity. SFI4-H members join Illinois State 4-H Youth Leadership Team members in helping at the State Capitol for our 4-H Legislative Connection events.

The Illinois 4-H Youth Leadership Team has scheduled the next Speaking for Illinois 4-H (SFI4-H) Training for Saturday, March 3 in Breese at the Clinton County Extension Office (Unit #23). Registration is already open for this training.

SFI4-H Training is open to Illinois 4-H members ages 14-18 with the approval of their local Extension office. Extension staff are expected to work with and use the skills learned by these members to recruit new volunteers, present to civic groups, seek donors for programs, and/or provide information to local and state elected officials. Youth receive advance training in public presentations, Positive Youth Development, BIGM, using state and county statistics, how to tell their 4-H story, and speak with donors and elected officials.

The following items and links have been posted on the 4-H Contacts Portal (Youth & Adult Volunteer Leadership Opportunities = Speaking for Illinois 4-H) to help you promote this program. This includes all the paperwork that is also needed to register for this event.

SFI4-H Fact Sheet - Winter 2012

SFI4-H Promotional Brochure

SFI4-H Promotional Flyer (Updated for March Training)

SFI4-H Fact Sheet (updated for Winter 2012)

SFI4-H Application

Agreement to Assume Risk Form

FI4-H Media Release

Link to 3/3 Training Registration Site

Information has been forwarded to the webmaster and items should be updated on the SFI4-H page on the 4-H website shortly: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/members/leadership_sfi4h.cfm.

Youth who have completed the SFI4-H Training will be invited to participate in the Legislative Connection dates at the State Capitol this spring. SFI4-H and Illinois 4-H Youth Leadership Team members who can attend any of the Legislative Connection dates will be assigned to visit specific state legislators to discuss University of Illinois Extension and 4-H programming accomplishments. Those dates have just been finalized and are scheduled for April 18-19 and May 15-16. More details will be sent to SFI4-H youth later in the spring about registration and responsibilities.