It's time to start planning for the 2009 WHEP
season. Below is a preliminary schedule.
The WHEP
(Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program) is a 4-H youth natural resource program
dedicated to teaching wildlife and fisheries habitat management to junior and
senior level (ages 8-19) youth in the United States.
Training and
Workshops:
We will begin Trainings and Workshops in Jan. 2009. Please
in the mean time, think about your schedules and give me dates that will work
for your families or that definitely won't work. We'll try to plan so everyone
can participate. bi - weekly?
State Training coming to
you!:
We have been working with Larry Hysmith from TAMU on
coming up here for extra training, details to be announced soon.
** Urgent decision needed - Houston Livestock
Show and Rodeo **:
The WHEP contest will be Saturday, March
14th. We will want to drive down Friday the 13th and return either Saturday
night or Sunday. The Awards presentation will be onsite so that will assist with
returning on Saturday. This is $15 to participate. I need that commitment and $
now in order to submit our entries on time. Please have this to me by Nov. 7th.
We can take as many teams or individuals as we want.
State WHEP Contest:
TBD, probably mid May.
National WHEP Contest:
2009 Contest will be held at Wildwood Resort, near Zwolle, LA, July
19 - 23, 2009.
You can find out more about WHEP from:
Beyond the
wildlife management skills learned, the WHEP provides a great many other
educational benefits, including:
Teamwork - participants must learn to work cooperatively and
efficiently and support each other in order to perform well during the team
portion of the contest.
Communication skills - participants are required to develop
both written and oral communication skills in order to communicate their ideas
effectively and with supporting evidence.
Critical
thinking - participants apply the knowledge base they have developed from
studying the WHEP manual to a real-world scenario, requiring analytical thinking
in order to make accurate and appropriate management
recommendations.
Confidence building - participants gain confidence as they
increase their knowledge base and demonstrate that they can accomplish goals
they have set for themselves.
Career
guidance - participants are exposed to natural resource management as a
possible career choice and learn what it takes to become a wildlife biologist,
forester, etc.
Outdoor
activity - participants get outside and away from the TV, computer, cell
phone, etc. They also get exercise and lead an active lifestyle as they learn
about wildlife and wildlife management
Look forward to hearing from you,
Susan Kilpatrick
Denton County 4-H Volunteer
(940) 241-3097
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