Extension
It Starts With Us
Learning Lifeskills through Project Based Learning
Youth Development
Mary Beth Riley
Civic Engagement
Communications & Expressive Arts
Health & Wellbeing
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 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 year
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Horse Club Activities
Content or Curriculum: Approved 4-H curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2024-2025
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Country Ham Project
Content or Curriculum: Approved 4-H Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers, Specialists
Date: 2024-2025 throughout year
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Sewing Projects
Content or Curriculum: Approved FCS curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring 2025
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Cooking Club
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Cooking 101,201 and 301
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Throughout 2024-2025
Audience: 5-8 year olds
Project or Activity: Cloverbud Club
Content or Curriculum: Cloverbud Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout 2024-2025
Audience: 8th Grade Students
Project or Activity: Reality Store
Content or Curriculum: 4-H It's Your Reality and Dollar and Sense Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring 2025
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Shooting Sports
Content or Curriculum: Natural Resources Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Certified Volunteers, Specialists
Date: Throughout 2024-2025
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Trash Sculpture
Content or Curriculum: Recycling
Inputs: Agent, Teachers, Recycling Committee
Date: Fall 2024
Audience: 4-H Aged Youth
Project or Activity: Lego Club
Content or Curriculum: SET Curriculum
Inputs: Agent, Volunteer
Date: Throughout school year 2024-2025
Author: Mary Beth Riley
Major Program: Family and Consumer Science
This summer, Kentucky 4-H Poultry Program partnered with 4-H programs from Livingston, Lyon, Crittenden, and Caldwell counties to host a highly successful BBQ Chicken Camp. Aimed at empowering youth with essential cooking skills, the camp attracted 16 young participants who gained hands-on experience in grilling and food safety.According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, developing cooking skills early in life is a strong predictor of better nutrition-relat
