Extension
It Starts With Us
To foster the development of personal and interpersonal skills, stimulate volunteer leadership, and
Empowering Community Leaders- Igniting Success
Tiffany Bolinger, Matt Futrell, Kelly Jackson, Kaitlyne Metsker, Jeremiah Johnson, Mary Anne Garnett
4-H Family and Consumer Science Core Curriculum
Master Gardener
Facilitation Training
According to the United States Department of Labor- Bureau of Labor Statistics, the volunteer rated declined by 0.4 percentage point to 24.9 percent for the year ending in September 2015. Approximately 62.6 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2014 and September 2015 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Volunteering in the United States, 2015"). There is an increasing need for educated volunteers to assist agents to address local needs. Volunteers provide nonprofit institutions the opportunity to provide additional programs and services. Persons that volunteer need to be educated to be able to accept volunteer and leadership opportunities and understand the importance of volunteering as a contribution to the community. By providing education and resources to those volunteers, the foundation has been laid to empower them as community leaders and ignite success in the programs offered by extension.
* Youth will serve as teen and adult leaders in their communities, community organizations, and as mentors for younger youth.
* Youth will demonstrate the understanding of diversity, inclusivity and multiculturalism in their daily life.
* Youth will identify and address critical issues that impact the community
* Youth will be productive, contributing adults in the future.
* Youth will use leadership and communications skills needed to be successful in the workplace on a daily basis.
* Christian County citizens will be volunteering on a regular basis to the extent that volunteerism is recognized as a valuable resource in the community.
* Extending the outreach of the Cooperative Extension Service by improving knowledge and communication skills of Master Gardeners, Extension Volunteers, 4-H Leaders and Volunteers, Extension Homemakers thus creating a pool of volunteers with the abilities and willingness to apply their many skills in leading and educating the public through community education projects and activities.
* Youth will demonstrate leadership, teamwork and communication skills in their day to day lives.
* Youth will utilize leadership skills learned during their time in 4-H in clubs, activities and other venues with 4-H and other community organizations.
* Senior 4-H members will become leaders or co-leaders of a 4-H project club, day camp or other project based group of younger 4-H members.
* Youth will indicate increased awareness of diversity issues in their community and personal lives.
* Youth will engage in community based service projects selected to address identified needs.
* The Christian County population will volunteer more hours or will take on additional leadership roles.
* Number of hours reported by extension volunteers.
* Youth will learn the communication, leadership and procedural skills that will allow them to run a meeting.
* Youth will increase their knowledge about leadership and how to be an effective leader, team player and communicator.
* Youth will learn about leadership styles and will be able to identify positive and negative leadership characteristics.
* Youth will learn about diversity and will demonstrate inclusivity.
* Youth will acquire decision making skills and gain an appreciation for civic engagement.
* Youth will learn how to set appropriate, attainable goals.
* Youth will listen to people who have different ideas from them.
* Clientele will become more aware of the needs of their community.
* Clientele will become more educated in specific subject matter areas to teach, lead and train others.
* Number of volunteers participating in Master Gardener classes.
Initial Outcome: Stronger, more cohesive, productive 4-H Council
Indicator: Completed goals, committee work
Method: Workshops, education programs and incentives
Timeline: Program year 2019-2020
Initial Outcome: Extension Boards and Councils will have increased diversity and numbers of members attending.
Indicator: Increased participation and attendance in council and committee meetings, functioning committees, and regular rotation of leadership roles.
Method: post test evaluations of programs
Timeline: at the conclusion of program
Intermediate Outcome: Youth leaders exhibit improved leadership skills.
Indicator: Youth assume leadership roles in clubs, councils and committees, and develop community service projects.
Method: Observation through increases programs and teen involvement
Timeline: Program year 2019-2020
Intermediate Outcome: Increased number of Master Gardener volunteer hours reported by active members.
Indicator: A minimum of 25 Master Gardeners will repay volunteer hours, resulting in 375 volunteer total hours.
Method: Master Gardener volunteer hours recording form.
Timeline: Forms are to be completed quarterly, totals reported by December each year.
Audience: Youth and volunteers
Project or Activity: Empowering youth and adult volunteers to become community leaders
Content or Curriculum: Civic engagement, Citizenship, Service Learning, My Leadership Workbook, Character Counts, Extension council trainings
Inputs: Program administration, Staff & Support Staff Time, Volunteer Support and time, Volunteer & youth development research based information, funding, travel, printed and online resources, communications & networking, commitment to inclusivity, partnerships with community & state organizations, facilities, local, county, district, state, and national network.
Date: Program year 2019/2020
Audience: County & Military Youth
Project or Activity: Jr. Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (Jr. MANRRS)
Content or Curriculum: Civic engagement, Citizenship, Service Learning, My Leadership Workbook, Character Counts, Leaders in Me
Inputs: Extension Agents, community partners, University administration and departments, Colleigiate MANRRS, travel, local, state, and national conferences to include workshop presenters, career/opportunity fair exhibitors and agriculture industry sponsors and partners
Date: Program year 2019/2020
Audience: Hopkinsville Beautification Commission
Project or Activity: Litter Abatement; Ft. Campbell Boulevard improvements
Content or Curriculum: Keep America Beautiful programming materials, America in Bloom program; CEDIK First Impressions
Input: Agents; staff; city government; public works; community leaders; city council; home owners; media; grants; CEDIK professionals
Date: year round
Audience: Homemaker Members
Project or Activity: Officer Training; Leader Lessons
Content or Curriculum: Officer Training on Responsibilities/Roles; Monthly lessons, volunteer opportunities
Inputs: agent, facilities, curriculum, extension resources
Date: year round
Author: Mary Anne Garnett
Major Program: 4-H Science, Engineering, and Technology Core Curriculum
Tractor Driving 2019For the first time in many years Christian County hosted a tractor driving contest for 4-H members. On June 27, 2019 at the Western Kentucky State Fair Grounds in Hopkinsville the event was hosted as part of the Western Kentucky State Fair. This allows 4-H members to test their tractor safety and driving skills by pulling a two wheeled wagon through a set course. This was open to any 4-H member ranging from ages 12-18 using the state petroleum power tractor driving contest ru
Author: Mary Anne Garnett
Major Program: 4-H Science, Engineering, and Technology Core Curriculum
Agriculture continues to thrive as more science, engineering, and technology advancements allow the industry to use new research and develop techniques to feed our country. It is important to teach students how science and agriculture go hand in hand to put food on their tables every day. This year 391 seventh grade students at Christian County Middle School participated in the 4-H Egg Incubation program in their science classrooms. This program began in 2019 using one of the 7th grade science c
Author: Kaitlyne Metsker
Major Program: 4-H Family and Consumer Science Core Curriculum
In July 2019, Mrs. Glass, a Special Education teacher at Christian County Middle School reached out to me for assistance in developing lesson plans and curriculum enrichment for her new Life and Social Skills class. She identified several topics that she wanted to cover throughout the school year but indicated that she was willing to add or change the topics depending on what the students needed. A topic that has been added since the beginning of the year was Empathy. Through observation of her
Author: Kaitlyne Metsker
Major Program: 4-H Volunteer Programming
A considerable amount of time and resources, on the part of both volunteer and paid staff in, are dedicated annually to the planning, coordination, and execution of educational volunteer events. These may include workshops, in-services, conferences, or forums that may range in duration from a few hours to several days. 4-H Volunteer Forums are held during the even-numbered years in Kentucky (Culp, 2000). The purpose of Kentucky Volunteer Forum is to increase the capacity of volunteer and sa
Author: Kaitlyne Metsker
Major Program: 4-H Leadership Core Curriculum
In Spring of 2019 we determined there was a need for a volunteer training to better organize and support our clubs in our county. In Fall of 2019 we hosted a Volunteer training with 12 volunteers in attendance. Volunteers were present from multiple counties in District 4. Volunteers received an appreciation gift for attending and dinner. Evaluations of the program stated:-They plan to take the following programs/ideas back to their club and Implement (73%)-In the Future Volunt
Author: Kelly Jackson
Major Program: Master Gardener
Master Gardeners is a program run by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service to train citizens in many areas of horticulture. Upon completion of the Master Gardener education program, participants are expected to return 30 hours of community volunteer service through organized projects within one year to earn the title Master Gardener and 15 hours annually to maintain their volunteer status. During the 2019 program year Master Gardeners volunteered:466 hours of service in planti
