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, Kendriana Price, Jay Stone
Leadership 4-H 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 2017-2018
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 2017-2018
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 2017/2018
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 2017/2018
Audience: Master Gardener Volunteers
Project or Activity: Training of Master Gardeners (usually 12-15 weekly 2 to 3 hour sessions) taught by specialists, agents, and local experts.
Content or Curriculum: The Master Gardener Curriculum, including core classes in volunteerism, botany, soils and fertility, plant pathology, entomology, pesticides, and IPM.
Inputs: Agents; staff; State Extension Staff; Program Fees; County Funding; Master Gardener materials
Date: Fall 2017
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: 2017/18
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: Kendriana Price
Major Program: Natural Resources 4-H Core Curriculum
Volunteers serve as the basis to carryout programs in every county to extend the reach of the 4-H professional, and are especially instrumental in providing local youth with a premier 4-H Summer Camp experience. In the 2015 summer camp season, the Christian County 4-H Program secured five volunteers to accompany the county extension agents and intern to West Kentucky 4-H Camp. Of these volunteers, three were teen volunteers and two were adult. The following year, Christian County experience
Author: Matthew Futrell
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
Research suggests distinctive characteristics of young adolescents (middle school aged youth) regarding their physical, cognitive, moral, psychological, and social-emotional development, as well as spiritual development (Scales, 2010). Young adolescents (middle school aged youth) warrant educational experiences and schools that are organized to address their physical, intellectual, emotional/psychological, moral/ethical, spiritual, and social developmental characteristics (Caskey & Anf
Author: Matthew Futrell
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
Kentucky 4-H Issues conference was started in 1989 and has been going strong for 29 years. The goal of the Issues Conference is to select delegates from the county level and educate them on the Fiscal Court process at the county level. It is the hopes of the Issues committee members that each participant goes away enriching their citizenship roles, enhancing their leadership skills, developing their public presentation skills, gain an understanding of local issues, and learning the p
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 2017 program year Master Gardeners volunteered:•292 hours of service in
Author: Kelly Jackson
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Christian County Master Gardener Program is an outstanding opportunity to develop community horticulture volunteers. In order to become a certified Master Gardener volunteer, participants must complete a minimum 12-week training, which consists of 24 hours of core subject courses including: Cooperative Extension/Volunteerism, Botany, Soils, Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Pesticides/Pesticides Safety/Environmental Issues. They must also pass a final exam with a seventy-five percent score an
Author: Kaitlyne Metsker
Major Program: Communications and Expressive Arts 4-H Core Curriculum
In Christian County, the 4-H program is fortunate to have great relationships with many organizations throughout the county. These organizations will partner with the 4-H program to host a variety of events, including the 4-H Communications Contest. In years’ past the 4-H team has worked with one of the local schools to host the Christian County 4-H Communications Contest. While this has been a great partnership, another facility was needed to meet the needs of a growing program. Chr
Author: Kaitlyne Metsker
Major Program: 4-H Youth Development Programming
The Kentucky 4-H Program holds the mission of improving people through intentional life skill development. Annually, camping programs across the state serves 25,000 guests at the four camp camps located across the state. West Kentucky 4-H Camp, located in Dawson Springs, KY, is the home to the Christian County 4-H Summer Residential Camping Program. Last year, West Kentucky 4-H Camp served 2,131 campers, volunteers, and staff. A goal for Christian County is to continue to rebuild the local progr
Author: Kendriana Price
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
The Jr. MANRRS Leadership Institute allows students to explore opportunities that the University of Kentucky, specifically the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has to offer. This two-day experience is open to students of all ethnic and racial backgrounds from across the state in grades 7-12. Staying true to the mission of MANRRS, promoting academic and professional advancement by empowering minorities in agriculture, natural resources, and related sciences, students are engaged
