Thanks from Elbert and Beth
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! For those of you who could not participate in the reception for us last Friday, you missed a really great party. The weather was perfect, the lawn art was great, the food and music were just right, and people were very kind with their words. The planning committee – Kathleen Lodl, Rick Koelsch, Twig Marston, Tamra Jackson, Lisa Kaslon, Stu Shepherd, and Keith Niemann - did a great job. The video tributes were awesome. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of this part of our lives. In our comments we challenged everyone to move forward, creating a legacy for Nebraska Extension that focuses on the future and continues to address the big issues impacting our state.
We are very proud of all of you and the contributions you make to have Nebraska be a leader among extension land grant systems. We look forward to hearing of your next accomplishments. We are very lucky to have been able to serve as part of the Extension leadership team.
Best Wishes Always
Elbert and Beth
Nebraska 4-H Serves As Hosts for National and State Events
During the past month, Nebraska 4-H has been the host of a variety of different learning experiences bringing young people to campus and to the state. All of these events contribute to the positive development of young people and support the long-term goals of 4-H.
Nebraska once again hosted the National Shooting Sports Invitational in Grand Island. With the leadership of Steve Pritchard, 440 young people and 130 coaches from 29 different states had the opportunity to test their skills, their decision making, and their endurance while making memories that will last a lifetime. Throughout the various competitions, there was evidence of hard work, leadership, and integrity. The commitment of our staff, along with nearly 100 volunteers is to be commended. A special thanks to Steve and all of the team.
This week, PASE/Life Challenge brought over 350 young people to campus as they shared their expertise in animal and family and consumer sciences. In addition, these youth had the opportunity to take part in educational workshops, interact with faculty across campus, and experience the UNL residence halls.
Other learning experiences held this summer include Unicameral Youth Conference, Big Red Summer Camps, Fine and Performing Arts Camps, and Robotics Camps. The goal of each of these events is to provide a positive youth development experiences that model the essential elements of 4-H – independence, belonging, mastery, and generosity. Combined with the learning opportunities each of you provide in your counties, there are a variety of ways for young people to increase their subject matter competency while gaining skills that will help them become capable young adults.
Thanks to all of those involved for their efforts!
Elbert, Beth, Kathleen & Rick
Personal Note from Elbert
With this last Keeping Up from me, I wanted to let you all know how much I have enjoyed and appreciated being a part of University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension the past 34 years. I came to UNL in 1978 as a specialist in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering and really did not know anything about Nebraska or much about Extension. Fortunately good mentors helped transform me as I learned about different roles and responsibilities. In 1991, I moved into extension administration and became dean and director in 2001 after serving almost two years in an interim capacity. Many of you will remember the two years when I had a split personality, dividing my time between responsibilities here and in Washington D.C. where I served as extension and education advisor to USDA’s Cooperative States Research Education and Extension Service (our federal partner).
In looking back over the length of my service, oh how we have changed! UNL Extension in 2012 is a long way from the extension system I became a part of in 1978. We have evolved in so many ways. Teams co-led by educators and specialists became the norm in the mid-1990s and Nebraska extension moved forward to enhance its position as a national leader. And who would have thought even 5 years ago that extension administration would deploy over 200 iPads to educators across the state?
Throughout my service at Nebraska, I have had the good fortune to have really supportive colleagues from office/clerical staff to deans and the opportunity to have participated in the hiring of many of you.
I leave now with mixed feelings. For all that we accomplished together during this time, there are still goals and accomplishments yet to be achieved. For me, I’d like to see what’s over the next hill. Peggy and I are going to try to visit as many national parks as we can, mixing in trips to see our children and grandchildren as well as family members and friends scattered across the country. I’ll also be looking forward to watching extension’s continued success.
Thanks to all of you for contributing to Extension’s success! It has been an honor to work with you over these past 34 years.
Elbert
Note: At the reception and on behalf of my four children, my daughter Julie shared some of the life lessons I taught my kids. It was great and so represented my guiding thoughts for Extension that I am including her comments below.
From Julie Myskow, June 22, 2012
“Good afternoon. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Julie, Elbert's California kid. I teach middle school and I always feel like I've been successful if I manage to instill some "life lessons" in my students. Today, on the afternoon of my father's retirement, I thought that I would share some of the life lessons that dad taught his children.
Lesson 1- Dad has always valued education. I can still recall one afternoon, not too long after I began school, when dad sat me down and told me he expected me to go to college someday. I was only five... I didn't really know what dad meant, but I did know that I did not want to disappoint him.
From the moment each of us began school, we knew that education mattered. Dad pushed us to take the challenging classes. He scolded us when we got bad grades, telling us that "A 'C' is average, and you are not average." And because education mattered, each of us went to the University of Nebraska and got our degrees.
Dad taught us to think for ourselves, stand up for our beliefs, and do what we know is right. He once said, "That's dumb, and I will not support dumb." That line has stuck with all of us.
Lesson 2- One of dad's favorite sayings is... "If you're not going to do it right, it's not worth doing." He said it when I was messing up on a math assignment. He said it when I complained about having to stay up all night to write an essay. "If you're not going to do it right, you'll just have to do it again." I heard that line a lot as kid; it used to make me roll my eyes.
But those words have been ingrained into my mind. I've found them immensely helpful to hold on to as I've moved through different stages of life. Whenever I begin to work on something, those words spring to mind as a warning: "If it's worth doing, do it right..."
Dad meant that we should take our time and do it correctly. Those words meant: If I do it the way I'm considering, am I just going to have to do it again later? Do I have time to do it again, do it over, repeat the work I've already done, and then some?
Dad wasn't asking us to be perfect. He was teaching us to do things right-to take our time, to add to what we've done, refresh it, improve on it, and strengthen it. When something is worth doing, your actions should be purposeful, intentional, and mindful. It's the best possible way to approach any job that you do.
Lesson 3- The lesson we heard most often was when dad would ask us to help him in the garage. No matter what he was doing, he would eventually need one of us to get a tool for him. Now, dad has always kept each tool in the same place for as long as I have been his kid. But, you know how kids are... We would open each drawer looking for a screwdriver, a wrench, or a putty knife. And then dad would say those magical words, "Open your eyes!" I'm sure that it frustrated dad that we couldn't see something that was right in front of us. I suppose that's because dad always notices the little things.
Noticing the little things is the best lesson dad gave to us. It's a life lesson that extended far beyond the garage...
Each summer we would go on a family vacation to one of the state capitols where dad had a meeting to attend. On those trips, it wasn't uncommon for dad to take a detour because he had noticed a sign that might lead us to a new adventure. We've been to both oceans, seen each mountain range, and stopped every five minutes so that dad could take picture of the erosion in a field, or a historical point of interest, or a single flower blossom. We've stood in the ruts left behind by the wagon trains, been to an old family cemetery in Georgia, and visited the Acoma Pueblo on a Saint's Day. Dad taught each of us to open our eyes and we were able to see the beauty of nature, the importance of our history, and the impact of other cultures.
And those are just a few of the lessons that dad gave to us while growing up. If you've spent time with Elbert, you've probably learned a few of these lessons yourself. He has taught each of us that education matters because he has a heart for extension. He has shown us how to stand up for what we believe in no matter what others might say. He has taught us how to do our jobs to the best of our ability by giving his best to the University of Nebraska for over thirty years. And he has taught us to open our eyes to the world around us. So, as we celebrate Elbert, I'd like to remind each of you to take time to stop and look at the erosion.”
-- Elbert C. Dickey