record books

[Jace]

We are required to turn in our record books before we get our sale check also, so I always have mine ready early, so I can get the money  ;D

 

[oakbar]

Our 4-H kids all do record books.  Most of the kids hate doing them(as do most of the parents)but when they get to their senior year most of them are really pretty glad they invested the time.      Our local county(my wife's now the 4-H coordinator) has workshops to teach the kids how to do their record books and we have a whole panel of judges(my wife and I have both been judges) who come in for 2-3 nights each year and judge the record books.  We have the reputation of being tougher on the kids than the State 4-H is for area and state awards.  3-4 years ago my daughter won the state award for her horse project.  When she submitted her record book to the local judges they were critical of a couple things she did and were going to lower her overall score---this happened after she'd already won the state award!!  The record books serve as one of the key ways that our kids can win area and state awards and the opportunities(trips, recognition, scholarships, etc.z) that go with them.  We have numerous kids each year that get college scholarships because of their involvment in 4-H and the accomplishments they have completed--including record books.

One thing we do to help offset the pain of doing record books is to award a "Chicago Trip" to each 4-Hr who has completed a record book each year until they are juniors in high school.  The local Farm Bureau is the primary sponsor of this trip(transportation & rooms) and we take a busload of kids and chaperones to Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend each year.  We leave Friday morning and stay in Chicago for two nights.  While we're there we take part in educational events, tours of the city(Sears Tower, Zoo, Dailey Plaza with the Xmas decorations, etc.), a little shopping time, and usually a "Blue Man Group" performance.  We get this done at no cost to the participants because we have worked very hard over the years to get good sponsors for these types of events.  We find that a lot of the complaining goes away because we offer this incentive to the kids and parents.  It might be a possibility for others to try somethin like this.  JMHO