Extension
It Starts With Us
Learning Lifeskills through Project Based Learning
Youth Development
Wanda Paris
Agriculture 4-H Core Curriculum
Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Core Curriculum
Natural Resources 4-H Core Curriculum
Science, Engineering and Technology 4-H Core Curriculum
Parents increasingly rely on schools to teach concepts and skills once taught within the family. Teachers report concern over youth who lack organizational skills needed to be successful in school. They report that youth are not independent enough to complete tasks without individual attention. They suggest that essential life skills such as working with others, problem solving, decision making, and resource management are missing in a great number of students.
Life choices are often based more on personal desires rather than factual information. Those who seek information often turn to sources which may not be research based. Decision-making may be based on product marketing claims, family tradition, myths, faulty information, and lack of knowledge.
4-H offers projects which assist youth toward becoming responsible and contributing members of the family and of Kentucky communities.
Positive youth development, according to Dr. Kenneth Jones in Youth Development: A Priority within 4-H, aims to help youth reach full potential in order to become productive adults. Educational efforts by the 4-H program in these areas will help youth prepare to become productive, contributing citizens of Lyon County.
Youth will use valuable life-skills, including communications, record-keeping, leadership, and service to make effective decisions. Youth will utilize life skills (self-efficacy) learned in 4-H projects to affect their community through creative problem solving, critical and logical thinking learned in Agriculture, FCS, Natural Resources, and SET projects.
Youth will expand skills through participation in judging and skill-a-thons. They will gain confidence through increased development of decision making, organizational and communication skills. They will have an increased awareness of social problems that could be addressed through good stewardship and be able to identify problems using SET related skills.
An increased number of youth will enroll and participate in projects, programs and activities in the Agriculture, FCS, Natural Resources, and SET Core Content Areas where they will be engaged in learning opportunities to help develop independence and learn consequences for their actions.
Initial Outcome: Youth will be actively engaged in opportunities to enhance knowledge.
Indicator: Increase in number of participants
Method: Formal and informal evaluation
Timeline: Throughout 2017-18 year
Intermediate Outcome: Youth will gain confidence through increased skills
Indicator: Number of youth willing to learn new things and participate in competitions
Method: Formal and informal evaluation
Timeline: Throughout 2017-18 year
Long-term Outcome: Youth will exhibit life-skills including communications, record-keeping, and leadership to make effective decisions
Indicator: Number of youth who show an increase in problem solving ability
Method: Formal and informal evaluation
Timeline: Throughout 2018
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Horse Club Activities
Content or Curriculum: Approved 4-H curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2017-18
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Country Ham Project
Content or Curriculum: Approved 4-H Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2017-18 throughout year
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Livestock Club
Content or Curriculum: Approved Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2017-18 throughout year
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Sewing Projects
Content or Curriculum: Approved FCS curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring 2018
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Cooking Club
Content or Curriculum: Approved FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Throughout 2017-18
Audience: 7-8 year olds
Project or Activity: Cloverbud Club
Content or Curriculum: FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout 2017-18
Audience: 8th Grade Students
Project or Activity: Reality Store
Content or Curriculum: FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring 2018
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Shooting Sports
Content or Curriculum: Natural Resources Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: Throughout 2017-18
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Outdoors Club
Content or Curriculum: Approved Natural Resources Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout 2017-18
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Trash Sculpture
Content or Curriculum: Recycling
Inputs: Agent, Teachers, Recycling Committee
Date: Fall 2017
Audience: 5th Grade
Project or Activity: Environmental Day Camp
Content or Curriculum: Natural Resources
Inputs: Agent, Teachers, Conservation District, Fish & Wildlife, Forestry, School Administration
Date: Fall 2017
Audience: 4th and 5th Grade
Project or Activity: National Youth Science Day
Content or Curriculum: Approved SET Project
Inputs: Agent, Teachers, Teen Leaders, Specialist
Date: Fall 2017
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Lego Club
Content or Curriculum: SET Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout school year 2017-18
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Robotics Team
Content or Curriculum: SET Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer, Specialist
Date: As competitions are available
Audience: 4th Grade
Project or Activity: Energy Day Camp
Content or Curriculum: Energy - Electricity & Hydro
Inputs: Agent, teachers, KU/LGE, Corps of Engineers, School Administrators
Date: Spring 2018
Author: Wanda Paris
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
Lyon County 4-H hosted the Pennyrile Area Communications Contest where over 50 4-H members from eight counties competed for the opportunity to participate in the state contest. The area contest, hosted every nine years by Lyon County 4-H, requires many volunteers working together. Twenty volunteers served as judges, eight teen 4-H members served as room hosts and a large number of Lyon County adults and teens set up rooms, served as greeters, runners and clean-up crew. In addition, t
