April 2013  

Other News & Articles

New Strategic Plan 2013-2016

Kathleen Olson, President-Elect

Your NEAFCS Board is operating under a new strategic plan.  If you weren’t aware of this, it is time to check it out on the website and review the mission and goals of our association.  Read more ...

Highlights from the Southern Region

Marian Ross(TX), Southern Region Director

Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Food Volunteer program
These folks love food, and they love telling others about food even more, they are the Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Master Food volunteers. Whether helping to teach a workshop on food preparation, educating children about making healthy food choices or answering food safety question questions at a farmers market, these volunteers are passionate about food.  Read more ...

News from the Galaxy Silent Auction Committee….

Carol S. Miller (OH)

It’s not too early to begin thinking about the silent auction at Galaxy this Fall. When you donate the items, you will declare which association the proceeds will go to. We expect that our revenues to the Awards fund will be as high as ever. And to do that, we will still need lots of terrific items donated from our Association.  Read more ....

Living Well Grants-More Than A Cookbook

Gail Brand (NE), Central Region Director

The Living Well More Than A Cookbook books are ALL GONE. All the cookbooks have been given out through the grant. Thanks everyone for all your applications.  We still need a short summary of how you are using the cookbook from many of you.  All we need is a short paragraph explaining how your event went. Please send to [email protected]. We have great Stories how members have used the Cookbooks.  Here are two of them! We are planning on sharing other stories in the newsletter in the next couple months.  Read more ...

Baking Substitution Science Webinar
New Date Added

The Home Baking Association has opened a second date for the Baking Substitution Science webinar - April 24 at 3:30 CST.  The April 24 date is full.  To register for the webinar, go to Homebaking.org. Read more...

Meet Your Board Member….Carol Schlitt, Historian

I’m excited to serve as your NEAFCS historian for the next 4 years, as NEAFCS is very near and dear to my heart. 

I started my career with University of Illinois Extension in 1976 and believe it or not, I selected the county where I was going to interview by the flip of a coin.  See I wanted to serve in an urban county and at the time I applied, 2 urban counties – one in the north of Illinois, the other in the south –had openings for assistant home economics advisors. Heads one and I decided to apply for the job in the south and low and behold, I’m still here 37 years later.  I met my husband when he served as a 4-H public speaking judge soon after I started work and we celebrated our 35^th wedding anniversary last October.  Read more ....

President's Message

Spring Greetings!

I’ve recently returned from the 2014 Annual Session planning meeting with our hosts and colleagues from Kentucky. It was a great meeting and as I reflected on the things that we considered as we worked to conceptualize a conference that is still over a year away, I was reminded that much of the focus of what we do as an association is designed to provide opportunities for our members to become the best that they can be…to reach their full potential as both an individual and a professional.

The speaker at this year’s JCEP Leadership Conference in February was Jay Rifenbary. I’d like to share some excerpts from Jay’s presentation at the conference in Memphis and from a recent blog article that he authored that addresses living up to our potential.

Do you desire to be more successful in life than you are? To believe you have the potential to improve your life is imperative for being motivated to excel, and optimistic about your future. If you do not believe in your potential to be a better you, why get out of bed? Potential is defined as, “latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness”, “having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.” A strong belief in your potential first stems from having a foundation of personal core values that you strive to implement daily. Without the existence of core values there is no path to guide how you will ethically live up to that potential.

Core values provide the framework to align what you strive for with who you are, and what you believe in. Living your core values is the cornerstone for building a positive attitude, and attitude is a reflection of your self-respect. Therefore, a positive attitude plus self-respect is a formula for a better you.

What areas of your life would you like to improve upon? When was the last time you asked yourself such a question? I believe we all have the potential to become better individuals. Although there may be some physical and psychological restraints to the extent of that improvement, making the choice to delve into your untapped skills and talents is a positive adventure in itself. There is always the potential for failure, but more importantly there is the potential for success.

Expecting something in your life to change and improve by always doing the same thing is a definition for insanity. Life has a way of offering to all of us the opportunity to discover a new experience and gain a new perspective. Are you one to recognize and grab on to those opportunities, or are you one to expect someone else to do it for you? Without effort there is no potential for personal or professional growth. As Winston Churchill said, “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”

Living up to your potential, as with self-esteem, is earned not given. An “everybody gets a trophy” type of mentorship does little to encourage a high degree of effort by those being mentored. It stifles what it means to live up to one’s potential. As with any fulfilling endeavor, the effort you put in directly correlates with the level of reward that is returned.

Seven steps to unlocking your potential include:

1. recognize what you would like to improve upon, or research something new you would like to do
2. understand your limitations and levels of expectation
3. take everything in moderation, do not bite off more than you can chew
4. prepare properly to prevent poor performance
5. pace yourself, yet proceed with enthusiasm
6. be resolute in your commitment to the new endeavor, quitting is not an option
7. celebrate the accomplishment and how it has contributed to your zest to live life to the fullest

Strive to reach your potential. It’s never too late!

Until next time,

Carol