College Scholarships

Weld County Bright Futures Scholarship

The Bright Futures program was designed with one objective in mind–strengthening the vitality of the Weld County community through its workforce. The program is funded by taxpayers for qualifying Weld County residents who have graduated from high school, GED recipients and honorably discharged U.S. Veterans, after 2016. Qualified and accepted recipients receive financial assistance for pursuing post-secondary education or training from a Title IV accredited higher education institution or certified training program. There are no restrictions concerning program selection. Whether a student wants to train to be a chef, a mechanic, an electrician or wants to pursue an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree, they can utilize the Bright Futures grant program to pursue their dream. Please visit Bright Futures for more information. Application is due June 30, 2020.

Interview Judging

Hello All,

I wanted to share some information for how 4-H Interview Judging (NON-LIVESTOCK) will take place this year during Fair. The normal process is for members in General/Natural, Family Consumer Science, and County Projects to schedule an interview on Monday, July 27th and then bring their projects, record books, and any other required supplements to be judged at that time. Due to concerns surrounding CoVID, we have revised this process for THIS YEAR ONLY. Below is the general process of what will happen, I will send out logistical details as it gets closer.

• Project Drop-Off: Sunday, July 26th from 8 am to 5 pm; includes record book, manual if required, and actual projects
• Interview Judging Form: Each member is to complete the Interview Judging Form and place it in their record book. This will serve as the “Interview” for this year so be sure you use complete sentences and really share your process of your project.
  
• Judging: Projects will be judged in a closed fashion on Monday; no members just judges and superintendents
• Display: Projects will be displayed from Wednesday till noon Saturday
• Pick-up: Pick-up of projects will begin Saturday afternoon; further details will be released on this as logistics are worked through
• Cloverbuds: Please drop off projects on Sunday and they will be displayed with the rest of the projects throughout the week
• Project Requirements: For guidelines on project requirements.
  
• Record Books: These can be found on the Colorado 4-H website.
  
• Fair Entries: You will still need to complete Fair Entries as you have in the past through ShoWorks on the Weld County Fair website. Those will open on June 15th and close July 10th.

The health and safety of our members, volunteers, and judges is our top priority and by switching to this format we are keeping our focus on that. I feel the interview process is one of the best life skills that we teach the youth but it is my hope that the questionnaire will help build other life skills for the members this year. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Market Animal ID Lists

Attention Sheep, Goat and Swine Exhibitors,

From May 4th – 22nd, as you know, was our animal ID for the 2020 Weld County Fair, all the information from animal ID has been entered and posted below. Please review your information and make sure all the information is correct! If you see something incorrect, email your corrections to Michaela (Livestock Intern), mspecht@weldgov.com, by Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. After that deadline, no changes can be made, no exceptions! We will not accept voicemails, it has to be in email form. Please take this serious, it is the one chance you have to make changes on your animal ID information.

Market Beef ID List
Market Goat ID List
Market Sheep ID List
Market Swine ID List
Market Chicken, Market Turkey and Market Rabbit ID List - Coming in July

Meat Quality Assurance

Meat Quality Assurance for 4-H and FFA members enrolled in market and breeding animal projects must completed the MQA training by June 1, 2020.  Below is a list of the training and your expiration date.

Meat Quality Assurance - Updated June 2, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.

Colorado State Fair Market DNA Sample and Update

Colorado State Fair Livestock DNA Envelopes:

Colorado State Fair Update:

Horse Advancement Levels Testing

• All horse project members must have passed Advancement Level 1–Western, to be eligible to compete in the Western Division or the Timed Events Division;
• Advancement Level 1 –English, to be eligible to compete in the English Division; and
• Advancement Level 1 –Ranch Horse, to be eligible to compete in the Ranch Horse Division.
• (Exception: First year project members can choose to compete in the Novice Division whether or not they pass Level 1. They are encouraged, however, to attempt Level 1. For 2ndyear and over project members, if you have not passed Level 1, you must have attempted it this year (2018) to be eligible for the Novice Division.) Also, to compete at the Colorado State Fair, you must be Level 2 (or higher for some classes) certified.

All certifications, for Weld County Fair and Colorado State Fair, must be completed by July 1, 2020.

For each level, there is a written and riding test. Written tests are to be taken, and passed, before you take the riding test. Written tests for this year only are available to be taken online. To take the test, you will need to contact Kim at ksterkel@co.weld.co.us and a link with password will be sent. You will have 24 hours once the test is sent to you for it to be completed. No tests will be sent over the weekend or holidays. Riding tests must be administered by a certified levels rater. You can arrange to be level certified on your own. A list of qualified raters can be found on the Colorado 4-H website. Riding tests can also be completed virtually; contact Kim for more information on how to complete this.

Members must have a Jump Certification on file to be eligible for English Equitation Over Jumps and Hunter Hack classes. Members must have a Roping Certification to be eligible to rope cattle in the Ranch Horse Cattle Sorting and Individual Cattle Work classes.

Project Packets

There are three projects that have packets with lots of information, important dates and project workshops and practices.  You can download the packet you are interested in.

Dog Packet
Horse Packet
Shooting Sports Packet

Outstanding Member and Volunteer Award

Do you know a member or volunteer who has exemplified what it means to be a true leader? If so, make sure to nominate these individuals by August 23, 2020. Recipients will be announced at the 4-H Awards Banquet on October 6th.

Outstanding Member Application

Outstanding Volunteer Application

Shooting Sports County Shoot

Hello All,

Some reminders as we enter this week. Also, Kim will be out of the office June 24th thru July 5th, she will not have access to phone or e-mail during this time.

IF YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED UP FOR YOUR REQUIRED PRACTICE(S) AND PLAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COUNTY SHOOT PLEASE DO SO ASAP!

• Informed Consent

  • To participate in ANY face to face activity, members and enrolled leaders will need to complete the informed consent. Members and leaders can upload the signed document into their account at www.4honline.com, continue to family, select member, select “Additional Information” at the top, then half-way down the page there is a place to upload the document; I have attached instructions on how to upload to this e-mail.  Member Informed Consent Form, Leader Informed Consent Form and How to Upload Instructions.
    

• Fair Project

  • The Educational Display Boards or Stand-Alone projects are to be dropped off on Sunday, July 26th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to be judged on Monday.  Judging will take place without an interview so all members are asked to fill out the Interview Judging Form to go along with your project and record book.

• County Shoot – July 18th and 19th

  • County Shoot Registration. Deadline without a late fee is Wednesday, July 8th; with late fee is Monday, July 13th. All registrations must include: entry form, orange practice card, Hunter’s Safety Information, and payment of cash or check, no credit cards.
  • Schedule: Below is what we are doing on each day. As we get closer to the shoot we will be updating the schedule of how the day will run based on our current guidelines.
    • July 18th: .22 Rifle, .22 Pistol, Muzzleloading, and Archery – Galeton Range
    • July 19th: Air Rifle, Air Pistol – Island Grove Park; Shotgun – Great Guns
  • Class Changes: We have changed two classes to align with how the State Contest will operate
    • Archery: There will be no 3D course. Seniors will do two rounds of FITA and Juniors will do one round. Reason for eliminating is that every county does not have access to 3D targets so it would be unfair to include them in the shoot.
    • Shotgun: There will be no Sporting Clays. Anyone entered in Trap and/or Skeet will shoot three rounds of each. Again Sporting Clays is not easily accessible to all counties and each range is different so it has been removed; adding in another round of Trap and Skeet makes up for that difference.

• State Shoot – TBD

  • We are working to determine what this will look like at the County Level. As we know more details I will be sharing that with everyone.

• Practices – There has been some confusion on this, there are multiple practices offered EVERY week so please scroll all the way through the Sign-up Genius to find the date you would like to sign up.

  • To sign-up for practice, go to Sign-Up Genius. You can view the map for the Fort Lupton Range.
    

Final, but most important, information for you. If you in any way do not feel comfortable coming to practices/County Shoot that in no way impacts your completion of 4-H. Completing the educational project is what meets that criteria, shooting DOES NOT. There is no requirement to compete to complete. With that in mind, if you DO NOT attend at least one practice or the Mega-Practice Match, you will not be eligible to participate in County Shoot due to Safety Concerns.

Please be advised that this is all a working plan, we will update this as guidelines evolve and change. We ask that everyone follow all of our guidelines as it is for the health and safety of all in attendance.

Are you ready for Fair?

There is always the common question of: Did you complete all the steps to be eligible to exhibit at fair? Please see the below check-lists to see if you have completed all the steps for your projects!

• Family Consumer/General Natural/County Projects
  • Dog ID’s were due in 4-H Online by May 1st.
  • Interview Judging sign-up by July 10th. 4-H Scheduler opens June 1st to sign up for interviews. Interview judging day is Monday, July 27th.
    • Dog and Crops/Vegetable members must sign up for an interview for the corresponding project record book. Failure to sign-up for a record book interview will result in participation only in those two divisions.
  • Fair Entries: Online at: Weld County Fair or download and print an entry form from the website under “Entries” tab. Entries open mid-June and close July 10th!!
  • Do you have the proper Record Book? Visit Colorado 4-H Record Books to find the appropriate e-record. For Crops, Pocket Pets and Restoration projects, please use the Self Determined e-record.
  • Shooting Sports: You will need to download your record book from the link above. The manual you received from your leader is not your record book, just a manual for information.
  • Do you know your project requirements? Refer to the State 4-H Exhibit Requirements! Some projects require only exhibit item and record book, some also require a completed manual.
  • Do you know how your project will be evaluated? Visit: Colorado 4-H Score Sheets. If you are unsure if you’ve completed all of the steps please call and verify prior to July 8th!!
    
• Livestock Projects
  • Market Animal ID Days
    • Cattle: February
    • Sheep and Goats: Paperwork and pictures were due May 22nd.
    • Pigs: Paperwork and pictures were due May 22nd.
    • Rabbits: Doe ID’s were due May 1st
  • Horse Project
    • Horse ID’s were due in 4-H Online by May 1st
    • Level testing completed by July 1st
  • Animal Care and Housing Forms for 4-H and FFA members – were due May 1st
  • Breeding Animal Ownership Deadline – May 1st
  • Are you up-to-date on your Meat Quality Assurance (MQA)? To check, visit: Meat Quality Assurance List in the Tab Section.  This list is updated every Tuesday.
    
  • Mandatory Interview and Record Book Review. Sign-up information will be available June 1st. Dates subject to change.
    • No location in Fort Lupton this year
    • Ault, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (noon) and 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. on July 1st
      
    • Keenesburg, 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on July 2nd
      
    • Greeley, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (noon) and 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on July 6th
      
    • Greeley, 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on July 7th
      
    • Briggsdale, 4:00-6:00 p.m. on July 8th
  • FFA Members: SAE Form due to Extension Office by July 7th at 5:00 p.m.
  • Fair Entries: Online at: Weld County Fair or download and print an entry form from the website under “Entries” tab. Entries open mid-June and close July 10th!!
  • Signed W-9 form to the Extension Office by July 10th. Must be filled out for the exhibitor, not parents/guardians.
  • Signed IAFE forms to the Extension Office by July 10th.
  • If you are unsure if you’ve completed all of the steps please call and verify prior to July 8th!!