Extension
It Starts With Us
Learning Lifeskills through Project Based Learning
Youth Development
Mary Beth Riley
Volunteer Development
Communications and Expressive Arts
Health
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 2022-2023 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 2022-2023 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 2022-2023 year
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Horse Club Activities
Content or Curriculum: Approved 4-H curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2022-2023
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Country Ham Project
Content or Curriculum: Approved 4-H Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2022-2023 throughout year
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Sewing Projects
Content or Curriculum: Approved FCS curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring 2023
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Cooking Club
Content or Curriculum: Approved FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Throughout 2022-2023
Audience: 7-8 year olds
Project or Activity: Cloverbud Club
Content or Curriculum: FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout 2022-2023
Audience: 8th Grade Students
Project or Activity: Reality Store
Content or Curriculum: FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring 2023
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Shooting Sports
Content or Curriculum: Natural Resources Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: Throughout 2022-2023
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Outdoors Club
Content or Curriculum: Approved Natural Resources Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout 2022-2023
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Trash Sculpture
Content or Curriculum: Recycling
Inputs: Agent, Teachers, Recycling Committee
Date: Fall 2022
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 2022
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Lego Club
Content or Curriculum: SET Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout school year 2022-2023
Author: Mary Beth Riley
Major Program: Family and Consumer Science
Kentucky 4-H Passport Kitchen Program. The Kentucky 4-H Passport Kitchen program provided 426 young people from Kentucky the opportunity to experience the food cultures of different countries in a self-paced experience. As part of the 4-H Passport Kitchen program, young people received six country kits and participated in an in-person program at the Lyon County Extension Office during a six-week window. These kits provided all the needed instructions to complete a recipe, a video expl
Author: Mary Beth Riley
Major Program: Family and Consumer Science
An article written publish on youth.gov stated that “a survey of 15-year-olds in the United States found that 18 percent of respondents did not learn fundamental financial skills that are often applied in everyday situations, such as building a simple budget, comparison shopping, and understanding an invoice.” As the Lyon County 4-H Youth Development Agent I believe that it is my job to make certain that the youth in Lyon County learn and practice fundamental skills such as fin
Author: Mary Beth Riley
Major Program: Natural Resources
According to the article “Why Is environmental Education Important for Kids” on the website Rubricon, Environmental education promotes critical and creative thinking skills and inspires kids to become more engaged with their communities. It helps kids understand why the environment is important and provides them with the building blocks they need to live eco-friendly and sustainable lives. (https://www.rubicon.com/blog/environmental-education-for-kids) Many times youth do not
