SPRING, 2010 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Robert (Skip) Richter County Extension Director Travis County
Letter from the Director:
It is no news that these are difficult economic times across Texas and here in Travis County. This economic downturn has a double edge. Not only are state and local resources strained, those who need help most are often among the hardest hit during times like these. AgriLife Extension is in a unique position to help meet the challenge. We leverage funds combining federal, state and local sources of funding to make the most of each dollar invested. In addition, we apply for and receive grants and bring other outside funding to the table to extend our capacity to conduct quality programs throughout the county. For example, in 2009 we brought in over $340,000 of grants and outside funding. To extend our outreach, we train and involve hundreds of volunteers through our agency, greatly expanding our ability to serve the public. We also network with local agencies, organizations and grassroots groups to provide a multiplier effect and to ensure our efforts are both locally targeted and holistic in their approach. And as part of the Texas A&M System, we have access to a statewide network of specialists and researchers to address local needs with timely, researchbased information and assistance. Last year, we utilized 1,538 volunteers who contributed 33,896 hours of service to the community, which translates to a value of $686,394 to Travis County based on national valuation of volunteer service hours. This newsletter highlights just a few of the many examples of our ongoing programs. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like to learn more about any of these or other programs that are improving the lives of Travis County residents through high-quality, relevant education. You can reach me at 512-854-9600 or RRichter@ag.tamu.edu. Thank you, Skip
More than 200 ‘Get Growing & Keep Going’ at Austin conference Teachers, administrators, counselors, social workers, dieticians, community gardeners and others were among the 211 individuals attending the “Get Growing & Keep Going” symposium which took place Feb. 6 at Gonzalo Garza Independence High School, 1600 Chicon St. in Austin. The symposium is organized by the Austin School Garden Network and partnering organizations include the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Sustainable Food Center, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Keep Austin Beautiful, National Wildlife Federation, Austin Discovery School, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Garza Independence High School and Girls Inc. of Austin. “At the symposium, we showed attendees how they can initiate and integrate programs on horticulture, environmental appreciation and natural resource conservation into their schools,” said Lisa Anhaiser, Horticulture Assistant with AgriLife Extension in Travis County. Teachers attending the symposium represented more than 20 area school districts and primarily teach science and math at the preschool, kindergarten and elementary school level, Anhaiser said. Members of AgriLife Extension’s Travis County Master Gardener volunteer program, AgriLife Extension personnel, and various community experts presented educational sessions on topics including rainwater harvesting, composting, plant propagation and entomology. They also introduced attendees to the Junior Master Gardener program, a youth horticulture program which can be presented in conjunction with state-mandated Texas Education Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) requirements for math and science. Eighty-three (83) of the attendees completed evaluation forms and each had positive comments about the symposium. Some comments included: -- “The Master Gardeners were well prepared.” -- “The handouts, books and information sheets were a big help.” -- “All of the sessions were relevant and exciting.” -- “The individual sessions were great, and the diversity of subject matter was interesting.” The “Get Growing & Keep Going” symposium has been held twice since 2008 and organizers say it will continue to be offered in the future.
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No kidding: Urban Animal Science Program Students Shine at Travis County Youth Show Students from Title 1 schools throughout Travis County participating in Extension’s 4-H CAPITAL Urban Animal Science Program fared well during the Travis County Youth Show at the Travis County Exposition Center in January.
Emily Hernandez, a student at Fulmore Middle School in Austin who has been in the program for five years, said CAPITAL 4-H and the animal science program have helped her become more independent and confident.
A total of 64 students, ages 8-14, from nine inner-city Title 1 schools each entered a goat in the show’s Market Goat Division. Of those 64 goats, 35 placed, with eight placing in the top six in their class and one being selected “class winner.” “Four of the students also qualified for the Showmanship class, which is quite an honor,” said Julie Zimmerman, 4-H CAPITAL Urban Animal Science Program Coordinator. “This allows the student to demonstrate their ability to exhibit the animal.”
“I learned many different things about goats and how to care for them; for example shearing them, clipping the hoves, handling them, walking them and lots more,” Hernandez said. “This program has also made me more responsible in my duties and activities ... I can be myself and the instructors are caring and are full of knowledge.”
Zimmerman said the program gives children, especially at-risk students, the opportunity to learn about agriculture and to learn responsibility by taking care of an animal in a long-term project. The 4-H CAPITAL Urban Animal Science Program began “In the program, students learn about animal science, veterinary science and animal care,” she said. “They also learn the importance of agriculture and where their food comes from, and develop life skills and character.”
in 1992 when Brad Pierce, Texas AgriLife Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent for Travis County initiated hog projects for at-risk youth. The program has grown to include goat projects in nine Title 1 schools in Austin. Currently, the program has seven teachers who not only provide after-school instruction, but also present special in-school programs, including "Egg to Chick,” which teaches students about embryology, and "Wild in the City,” which teaches students about wildlife.
CAPITAL AmeriCorps Programs Reach Under-Served Youth in Travis County 4-H curricula aligned with Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) requirements.” Bormann said the Travis County CAPITAL (Children and Parents Involved in Technology and Literacy) AmeriCorps Project mainly serves low-performing, low-income, limited- resource youth in the greater Austin community, particularly students in the East Austin area.
One of the most active aspects of your local Texas AgriLife Extension Service office is its youth education outreach programs. In Travis County, 32 AmeriCorps members in the AgriLife Extension office plan and conduct after-school science enrichment classes which meet a minimum of once a week for 1½ hours per session. “Each member teaches a class with a minimum of 15 students per class,” said Anne Bormann, AmeriCorps Project Coordinator, Travis County CAPITAL AmeriCorps Project. “AmeriCorps members deliver science-based
CAPITAL AmeriCorps after-school programs for this quarter and beyond include Sportfishing, Science Experiment Lab, the Junior Master Gardener Program, Brick Lab, Our Living World and Engineering and Architecture. Most of the programs are targeted toward kindergarten through 5th grade students, while more advanced programs, like Engineering and Architecture, are targeted at 3rd through 5th grade students. “We anticipate meeting or exceeding our projected target of 1,400 youth by the end of the 2009-2010 program year,” said Bormann. “Our 4-H CAPITAL AmeriCorps members have already contributed over 22,000 hours of service to the East Austin community from August 2009 through March 2010.”
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Travis County Residents Learn Ways to Be ‘Earth-Kind’ at East Austin Garden Fair
Meet the Staff: Tahira Malik
The fourth annual “A Passion for Plants: An East Austin Garden Fair” was held from 10 a.m.—4 p.m. on March 20, at Govalle Park, 5200 Bolm Road. The fair was presented by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Travis County Master Gardeners Association, Sustainable Food Center, Green Corn Project, and Holistic Education and Health Network. Despite the cold, rain and windy weather, about 200 people attended the event, which was free and open to the public. It featured more than 30 hands-on booths and displays for novice to experienced gardeners, and included a variety of youth activities. More than 75 Travis County Master Gardeners assisted in the planning, marketing and instruction/demonstration aspects of the event, and helped grow more than 800 plants (tomatoes, peppers, herbs. etc.) to give away to fair attendees. “Earth-Kind gardening was the theme of this year’s fair,” said Daphne Richards, AgriLife Extension Agent for Horticulture in Travis County. “Earth-Kind is a registered trademark of AgriLife Extension and Earth-Kind landscaping uses research-proven techniques from both traditional and organic gardening for environmentally friendly landscaping,” Richards said. “At the fair we demonstrated useful and practical gardening and landscaping methods through which people can both beautify and protect the environment.” Fair presentations emphasized landscaping for water and energy conservation, proper fertilizer and pesticide use, and reducing waste. Hands-on demonstrations included how to dig a garden bed, composting, rainwater harvesting, organic gardening, plant propagation and more. Attendees received free gardening advice and starter plants, and were introduced to volunteer opportunities in the community. Comments from the more than 120 fair attendees who completed a post-event survey included: -- “This was a really awesome learning experience.” -- “Really friendly and helpful (event volunteers).” -- “I will teach my students to be Earth-Kind. This was great. Thank you.”
Tahira Malik is a 4-H Agent with the Cooperative Extension Program of Prairie View A&M University. Working from the Texas AgriLife Extension Service office, she provides educational programming to Travis County youth on a variety of subjects related to health and life-skills development. Tahira Malik has two bachelors’ degrees – a B.S. in Home Economics from the University of Karachi and a B.S. in Health Science from California State University. Her previous work experience has included that of a nutrition consultant and dietetic technician in the U.S. and Malaysia, as well as food and beverage manager at U.S. embassies in Pakistan and Indonesia. She also has administered food service and safety training, nutrition assessment and instruction, and food and nutrition planning and care, including care for Alzheimer’s patients. Since 2008, in her role with Extension, Malik has provided information and instruction on the topics of life skills, diabetes management, improved diet and nutrition, childhood obesity and food safety to many young people throughout Travis County. Malik can be contacted by phone at 512-854-3183 or by e-mail at TMalik@ag.tamu.edu.
Diverse Groups Become ‘Organ Wise’ Thanks to Extension Outreach In January, two “Organ Wise Guys” classes were conducted at schools serving Travis County’s Muslim community. One was held at Austin Peace Academy and another at Renaissance Academy – both located in the North Austin metropolitan area. “The ‘Organ Wise Guys’ program is designed to help reduce obesity in children through educating kindergarten through 4th graders on how they can help protect their organs using four basic messages,” said Tahira Malik, Cooperative Extension Program 4-H Agent with Prairie View A&M University. “The messages are to eat high fiber foods, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water and avoid high-fat foods.” A total of about 240 students five to ten years of age, along with some 50 adults, including teachers and parents, received instruction from Malik. Students represented several African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia. “The presentation provided elementary grade students with health-related information in an age-appropriate manner,” said Mohammed Malley, principal of Renaissance Academy. “It was enjoyable and packaged in a manner that the students have remembered what they learned. We have seen a difference in the way students eat -- and think about their health.”
New “Healthy Food Healthy Families” Food and Nutrition Curriculum Goes Statewide
Watt added that small incentive items are distributed throughout the series, and there is a special prize for participants with perfect attendance during the seven-week series.
AgriLife Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) agents in Travis and Bexar counties, with input from other agents in Dallas, Tarrant and El Paso counties, have developed a new research-based curriculum for limited-resource families with children.
“Each participant who finishes at least six of the seven sessions is given a certificate of completion at the end of the program,” she said.
The new "Healthy Food, Healthy Families" curriculum is a seven-lesson series with each session being 90 minutes or longer. Collectively, the series addresses a variety of food, nutrition and wellness topics including healthy eating, family meal planning, food shopping basics, food safety, basic food preparation, and the importance of including physical activity in daily life.
A 24-hour food recall and food survey is administered at the second and last class in order to measure the effectiveness of the program. All participants in the Healthy Food, Healthy Families series are encouraged to participate in the Walk Across Texas Program, a free annual statewide 8-week physical fitness initiative developed to help Texans establish a habit of regular physical activity.
The curriculum was written and piloted in 2009 and is now being implemented statewide by all eleven EFNEP units throughout Texas. “We’re initially promoting the sessions though organizations we’ve already worked with and where we know it will be applicable and have an impact,” said Debbie Watt, AgriLife Extension Agent for EFNEP in Travis County. “The curriculum was developed using a ‘dialog approach’ to adult learning. Each session includes a short lecture, class discussion, group activities, a physical activity and a cooking demonstration.”
In Cooperation With… TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS’ COURT Samuel T. Biscoe County Judge Ron Davis Commissioner, Precinct 1
Sarah Eckhardt Commissioner, Precinct 2
Karen Huber Commissioner, Precinct 3
Margaret Gomez Commissioner, Precinct 4
CONTACT US
EDITORIAL TEAM
Texas AgriLife Extension Service Travis County 1600-B Smith Road Austin, Texas 78721
Paul Schattenberg, Editor Communications Specialist
TEL: 512-854-9600 FAX: 512-854-9610 E-mail: Travis-TX@tamu.edu Web: http://travis-tx.tamu.edu
Robert (Skip) Richter County Extension Director Elida Urtado Office Supervisor Angela M. Reyes Administrative Assistant
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.