Kids are the future of the Garden Club of North Carolina!  Any senior garden club affiliated with GCNC can sponsor one or more youth clubs.  Do you enjoy working with kids?  Do you have a green thumb?

Why not become a youth garden club leader and be an active participant in the future?  You will need a minimum of four members and hold at least five meetings each year.  There are 48 Youth Garden Clubs with 1,158 members in North Carolina.  For complete information on the youth program, contact the GCNC Youth Chairman, Judy Bond at jmbond1@suddenlink.net, 310 Village Green Drive, New Bern NC 28562, 252-637-4827

Organizing a Youth Club

 Youth groups are organized by grade levels as shown below:

Ecotots                        Preschool through Kindergarten  

Juniors                        Grades 1 through 6                                          

                        Intermediate               Grades 7 through 12    

            Special Needs           All Ages

Members can be recruited from a school, church, club, neighborhood, etc.  Organizing requires completing the Application for Youth Garden Club membership and sending it to the GCNC Youth Chairman with the initiation fee of $1.00 per club.  To maintain active status, send the Youth Garden Dues and Rating Form along with annual dues of $10.00 to the GCNC Youth Chairman.

Annual Deadlines

ALL ITEMS MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE GCNC YOUTH CHAIRMAN

ON OR BEFORE THE DEADLINE DATE INDICATED

                        December 1                Entries for all SAR and National awards

                        March 1                        Dues (check payable to GCNC) and Rating Form (including descriptions

                                                              of projects and activities)

                        April 1                           Favors for the Youth Banquet at the GCNC Annual Meeting

Youth Awards

 Awards are given at the state, regional and national levels.  Regional award winners are selected from the entries submitted by the state chairman; national winners come from the regional winners.  This is the reason for the earlier date to have your SAR and National award entries in your state chairman’s hands by December 1.  Following is a listing of these awards:

 STATE (g.c.n.c.) awards  -  each award winner receives $10.00

#1  Best All Around Club – Given to the club participating in all facets of Youth Gardening and achieving outstanding results.  This award is based on the Youth Garden Dues and Rating Form.

Three awarded:  1-A – K through 3^rd; 1-B – 4^ththrough 6^th; 1-C – 7 through 9^th.

 #2  Horticulture – Given to the club doing the most outstanding work in horticulture. 

Two awarded:  2-A – K through 3^rd, 2-B – 4^th through 6^th.

 #3  Civic Development/Beautification – Given to the club executing the most outstanding projects in the areas of Beautification, Conservation, Ecology, Litter Control and Restoration.

Two awarded:  3-A – K through 3rd; 3-B – 4^th through 6^th.

 #4  Wildflowers – Given to the club having the most outstanding wildflower project.

Two awarded:  4-A – K through 3rd; 4-B – 4^th through 6^th.

  #5  Bird Project – Given to the club having the most outstanding bird project.

Three awarded:  5-A – K through 3^rd; 5-B – 4^ththrough 6^th; 5-C – 7 through 9^th.

 #6  Bluebird Drawing – Given to an individual member for the best freehand drawing of a bluebird.

Three awarded:  6-A – K through 3^rd; 6-B – 4^ththrough 6^th; 6-C – 7 through 9^th.

 #7  Cardinal Drawing:  Given to an individual member for the best freehand drawing of a cardinal.

Three awarded:  7-A – K through 3^rd; 7-B – 4^ththrough 6^th; 7-C – 7 through 9^th.                                   

 #8  Bird Essay:  Given to an individual member writing the best essay about a bird found in N.C.

Two awarded:  8-A – K through 3rd; 8-B – 4^th through 6^th.

 #9  Flower Show:  Given to clubs entering the competitive classes of a Youth Section in an Adult Standard Flower Show, or staging their own Flower Show.

Two awarded:  9-A – K through 6^th; 9-B – 7^th through 12^th.

 #10  Scrapbooks:  Given to clubs submitting the best and most complete scrapbooks.

Four awarded:  10-A – K through 3^rd; 10-B – 4^th through 6^th; 10-C – 7^th through 9^th; 10-D – 10^th through 12^th.

 #11  Arbor Day:  Given to the club executing the most outstanding tree project.

Two awarded:  11-A – K through 3^rd; 11-B – 4^th through 6^th.

 #12  Butterfly:  Given to the club executing the most outstanding butterfly project.

One awarded:  All grade levels.

 #13  Special Education Clubs:

A.     “Our Feathered Friends” Poster  (One awarded:  all grade levels)

B.      “Why I Enjoy Garden Club” Essay  (One awarded:  all grade levels)

 Regional (s.a.r.) awards 

 SAR Youth Poster Contest – 2010 Title:  “Good Soil Is Priceless”

Eligibility: Preschool and K -6th grade and Special Education Preschool andK-6th grade

Rules:  Entries must be student drawn and clearly titled on 11x17 posters.  Apply entry ID to back of poster.  Use crayons, markers, paints, etc. (NO 3-D).  List names of plants/animals in artwork and why chosen on back of poster

Scale of Points:  Title – 25; List of plants/animals included and why – 20; Design – 25; Originality/artwork - 30.

Tip:  Artwork should emphasize the beauty of color, and explanations should include how one can create and assist in beautifying their community.

 National (n.g.c.) awards

 High School Essay Contest – 2010 Title:  “Respect the World Around Us”

A $1000 National Garden Club Scholarship will be awarded to the National Winner. If the Winner is an underclassman, the $1000 Scholarship will be held by NGC, Inc. without accrued interest, until such time as the student enters college. At that time, the money will be forwarded to the Financial Aid Officer of the college that the student will enter. The second place winner will receive $100.00.

Length: Between 500-600 words. Entries will be penalized if the essay does not conform to the required length. All words are to be counted. Essay should be suitable for publications in “The National Gardener”.

Eligibility: Contest is open to High School students, 9th through 12th grades. Must be sponsored by: single garden club, group of member clubs, councils or districts; or a State Garden Club. All entries become the property of National Garden Clubs, Inc.

 Poetry Contest – 2010 Theme:  “Our Beautiful World”

All of the winning entries will be compiled into a booklet, which will be made available to the winners.

Eligibility: Kindergarten through 9th Grade: Special Education: Kindergarten through 9th Grade

Rules:  All entries must be typed and titled.  Include name, address, age and school grade of participant on the back of the entry.  Sponsoring garden club must also be identified.  All entries become property of NGC.  Poems do not have to rhyme.  Poems may be traditional verse, acrostics, bland verse, cinquains, diamond poems or Haiku.

Scale of Points:  Title – 10; Content – 40; Creativity – 30; Style – 20.

 2010 Smoky Bear/Woodsy Owl Poster Contest

The Grand Prize National Poster Contest Winner will win a free round trip airfare and accommodations for four to Washington, DC. A $100 U.S. Savings Bond will also be awarded to the First Place National Winners from each grade level sponsored by the National Garden Clubs, Inc.

Poster Rules

All poster entries must be sponsored by a local Garden Club.

Posters must feature Smokey Bear or Woodsy Owl and must not feature both together. Smokey Bear posters must be based upon and include, Smokey’s fire prevention message (Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires!). Woodsy Owl posters must be based upon and include Woodsy’s conservation message: Lend a Hand – Care for the Land!

Posters should encourage children to take a personal role in preventing wildfires or conserving natural resources.

Each entry should be 11 x 17 inches in size. Materials that can be used include: crayons, markers, poster paints, water colors, etc. No three-dimensional posters, computer scanned, or electronically generated images will be accepted!

The artist’s name, address, home phone number, grade level, school, teacher’s name, city, and State must be printed on the back of the poster in the lower right corner. Each poster must also show the name of the sponsoring local Garden Club. Use the entry form that can viewed by CLICKING HERE.  (Do not use a dark marker for this information as it may show through.)

Posters are to be completed by individual student artists. Competition may include students from 1st to 5th grade.

Poster Tips  A good poster has a bold and simple design. Its message is delivered both in the picture and in the slogan. Its message is easily understood. Posters will be judged 20 percent each for originality, design, slogan, artwork, and overall effectiveness of the message.

More Tips for a Successful Poster Contest Participation  Children will select either one of the icons to enter.  Since Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl are official icons, protected by Congressional law, the colors of their clothing need to be accurate.  Please check the spelling. Posters with misspelling errors will be disqualified.  Copy your winning posters as they are not returned.

Special awards

Native Plants Patch for Girl Scouts

Nurture the Earth - Plant Natives

This program encourages partnerships between Girl Scouts and local National Garden Clubs to teach Girl Scouts about native plants in their area. Girl Scouts of all age levels are eligible to earn this patch.

Purpose  Encourage Girl Scouts and the National Garden Clubs to work collaboratively by promoting girl-to-girl, adult-to-adult, and girl-to-adult discussion about the National Garden Club initiative and partnership,  encouraging Girl Scouts to go to experts when they have questions while earning related badges, Try-Its, Interest Projects, or STUDIO 2B® charms, showing girls a way to focus their earned awards when working toward the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.

How to Earn

Discover native plants. Girls will learn what plants are native to their area and how to preserve and protect those native plants as well as what invasive species are in their area. Girls will learn about resources and partnerships offered by their local National Garden Clubs.

Connect by working with their local National Garden Club members who will serve as project sponsor. In addition, girls are encouraged to make contact with native plant societies, horticultural professionals, and county extension services to help in completing project requirements.

Take action.  Interview someone about native plants in their area.  Establish a native beauty spot in a public garden, school, church, park, town or community.  Spread the word about native plants by sharing information learned with other troops and community groups, newspaper articles, radio and TV spots, or posters, fliers, and booklets.

To order patches, call the NGC headquarters at 1-800-550-6007 (orders only, please).
Patches are $1.75 each, including shipping and handling.