Page 1 - June 2017 Quarterly Newsletter

Midway District
K-State Research and Extension News
www.midway.ksu.edu
4-H and the Fair
The county fairs will be here soon which
always makes this a good time to review the
purpose of the fair and the objective of 4-H.
One of the primary objectives of 4-H is
experience-based learning and the fair is one
of the opportunities for 4-H youth to share
what they have learned in a project area. It is
an opportunity for judging consultation to
fairly evaluate new skills and improvements
on existing skills. One of the most important
skills involves communication with the judge
to explain their project. Another important
skill is to develop and reinforce integrity.
Each of us must decide on a standard of
excellence and work toward that every day.
Activities of 4-H provide a framework and
feedback for our standard.
Excerpts from the book Attitude – Your
Internal Compass (Waitley/Matheson):
The dictionary defines integrity as the
June 2017 soundness of moral character, adherence to
Newsletter ethical principles and being unimpaired. Its
Middle English root is to “integrate” (to bring
Michelle Beran together as a whole) and “integral” (complete,
4-H Youth Development whole). These references to wholeness
suggests that integrity affects all aspects of our This man made violins. He labored over each
mberan@ksu.edu lives. It’s like having a healthy investment
portfolio filled with the high return blue chip
Michelle Buchanan stocks of honesty, fairness, and loyalty.
Agronomy & Horticulture
Integrity that strengthens an inner value
mbuchanan@ksu.edu system is the real human bottom line. It means
that you don’t base your decisions simply on
Jamie Rathbun being politically correct. You do what’s right,
Family & Consumer Sciences not what’s fashionable. We expect integrity
from others. We must demand it from
jrathbun@ksu.edu ourselves.
Sheila Thacker It’s easy to do world-class work when the boss
Office Professional is looking or the supervisor is around. But the
sheilat@ksu.edu test is in what you do when no one is looking.
www.midway.k-state.edu
Ellsworth 785-472-4442
Russell 785-483-3157
K-State Research and Extension
is an equal opportunity provider
and employer.
www.ksre.ksu.edu
Excellence is
not something
that you can
just turn on
and off
whenever you
need it. It is a
habit that is
rooted in
attitude and
affects every
part of your
life and career.
A seventeenth-century craftsman worked
alone with primitive tools but his focus every
day was to put the best he had into his work.
and every process to ensure that he had
“autographed” each violin with excellence
and had given the best that was within him.
He created his own personal standard of
excellence and signed his name on each
instrument that passed the test.
Today, some three hundred years later, the
creations of the craftsman Antonio Stradivari
are still the benchmark for the best there is in
musical instruments. His Stradivarius violins
sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stradivari labored, he wasn’t aware of
the legacy he was creating. In doing his best,
day in and day out, he defined his standard of
excellence. He did it because excellence was
part of his focus and mission.
During the fair, it is easy to get caught up in
disagreeing with a judge’s opinion or the
schedule not running quite right. Keep the
goal of learning, practicing skills and working
toward excellence as the focus. Autograph
your experience and project work with
excellence!