Author: Brittany Osborne
Major Program: Communications and Expressive Arts
In her early teen years, Mandy Moore started singing “The Star Spangled Banner” at various sports events in her Floridian hometown, earning her the nickname “The National Anthem Girl." According to her own personal testament, this is how Moore was discovered and signed a record deal at age 15. Gabrielle Copeland is a 4-H member at the McCracken County Cooperative Extension Service in Paducah, Kentucky. She began singing at the age of 2 and she has never lost her love
Author: Kelly Smith
To increase reading and critical thinking skills, the Jefferson County 4-H Program decided to develop virtual book clubs for the youth in the county. In partnership with the Jefferson County Public Library, the county is now offering 3 different interactive book clubs for Clover Bud, 4th & 5th Graders and Middle/High School Students. The public library recommends and allow the 4-H program to check out books as a classroom set. Students within the county sign up for ea
Bi-monthly educational programming with a focus in communication and workforce prep was taught in a county middle school this year. Classes were led in a collaboration with the Career Pathways Teacher at the school and the Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development in McCracken County. Topics were planned and implemented during class time in the Spring semester to merge together the importance of learning overarching communication skills, impromptu speaking, self-discovery and personality types.
Author: Rebecca Stahler
Being hired for a highly desired job is many young adults’ dream. The competition for professional positions is fierce and sometimes the tiniest detail will land the job. Yet, without good communication skills interviewees will not have a chance. Boyd County 4-H recognizes the importance of communications skills. Communication projects, leadership roles in clubs, membership of councils are some of the opportunities that are offered to 4-H members during his or her 4-
Author: Taylor Miles
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, 4-H programs across the state had to be held in a virtual format. We knew that with this, program participation may be down due to youth being tired of doing anything with a computer. The “Zoom Gloom” as the youth call it, was something we had to battle in order to reach and help youth be engaged in our programming. A fun alternative Estill County 4-H came up with was a 4-H Project Fair Series. In this series, youth would have the
Author: Laura Huffman
The Hart County 4-H Program and the Hart County Chamber of Commerce collaborated with the Hart County School System to offer a Work Readiness Day for all high school juniors to better prepare students for the workforce. This year due to COVID 19 restrictions, the Work Readiness Day was offered virtually with speakers videoing their presentations and mock interviews completed via zoom. For the industry tours we worked with a video company and the industry to also create digital media
Author: Paula Tarry
Encouragement and Inspiration When this 4-H Youth Development Agent transferred to Barren County, she inherited an energetic group of 4-H Teens, always willing to take on new challenges. They all worked very hard on their 4-H projects, especially one teen who loved to cook and serve at 4-H and community functions. She was shy and often afraid to step out of her comfort zone like at 4-H Communications Night. She was great at conversation but did not like public speaking. The Barre
Author: Jan Gibson
While the covid restrictions on in-person 4-H events continued, the county 4-H Communications opportunities did not. Utilizing the schools' Google Classroom tool, agent was able to work with youth interested in competing in both demonstrations and talk meet again this year. Some of the youth who participated in the last Fall-Spring event, served as leaders in getting youth new to the contests more comfortable. As a result, there were nine county champion videos sent to dist
Author: Ola Donahue
Young people want to be engaged in positive activity that helps them develop a sense of responsibility and build self-esteem. The Kenton County Fair is a successful learning opportunity that enhances youth development using a hands-on approach. Kenton County Extension is committed to continued 4-H member participation in our Fair because of the opportunities to: • Extend each 4-H member’s (and volunteer’s) learning opportunities related to the specific project and development/en
Author: David Gabbard
Being able to communicate face-to-face is starting to seem like a skill that is being lost by today’s youth since technology and social media are becoming second nature to most people. In February, the Owen County Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development contacted the Owen County School system to work in partnership with one 7th grade class on how to prepare, draft, and present a speech. The Owen County Agent for 4-H Youth Development shared information about the annual contest for
Author: Joyce Doyle
Carroll County 4-H started the "Snag A Bag" program on March 28. 2020.On January 6, our 45th "Snag A Bag" was picked up. Every Wednesday 100 bags were put on the front porch of our Extension Building for pick up. By 11:30 A.M., they were picked up. I am going to put the flyer on for one of the most popular ones with a picture of a finished product and then I will post the chart of the statistics for the entire year. These "Snag A Bags&
Author: James Cecil
This was a challenging year for Clinton County 4-H like all other counties with schools going and then not going, with some 4-H Youth not going to school but doing it virtually and the restrictions of being able to visit with our school district. We made several plans to be in the school and then school would be cancelled for short time frame and then we would have to start all over again. We had 340 Clinton County 4-Hers do speeches this year. We feel that this is a wonderful
Author: Julia Wilson
The pandemic of 2020 brought our entire nation to a screeching halt. Except for first responders, the United States and much of the world were on lock-down for much of the spring and summer. As summer turned into fall and the end of COVID-19 not in sight, a group of agents banded together to see how they could continue to meet the needs of their 4-H clientele. And thus, a new experiment of hosting district virtual 4-H clubs was born. This new concept extended the opportunity to learn high qualit
Author: Gary Druin
The best gift we can give our youth is to empower them with skills that will last for a lifetime, which is why parents have been sending their kids to 4-H summer camps for decades. 4-H is grounded in a deliberate, research-backed development and delivery model, which means at 4-H camp, kids learn critical life skills like resilience and independence. If we want our kids to be able to bounce back from adversity, stress, challenges, and failures, teaching them resilience
Author: Jennifer Tackett
Research shows that music education equips youth with foundational skills to learn, bolsters youth engagement and achievement, and develops abilities essential for lifelong success (Music Matters: How Music Education Helps Students Learn, Achieve and Succeed, Denver, CO, May, 2018).4-H youth development specialist in the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service facilitated a virtual ukulele club to provide music appreciation and education to young people who were isolated and n
Author: Samantha Saunders
During the COVID Pandemic, it was impossible for us to have any sort of in-person programming. This was a necessary action, but was detrimental to our program as a whole and the programs we offer throughout the summer. With the turn of a new year, there was hope for 2021 and the many 4-H programs we would be able to offer. Some of the programs that seem to have a great impact is the day camps we offer throughout the summer. These day camps have consisted of both 4-H and Cloverbud activities.&nbs
Author: Sherri Farley
Providing youth with the ability to enhance and develop communication skills is of great importance in Kentucky. The development of communication skills is one of the preeminent skills necessary to grow as an individual, a community member, and a leader. Using age appropriate activities selected from the approved Kentucky 4-H Communications & Expressive Arts curriculum, educators can maximize the ability of youth to develop their writing, reading, and personal communication capacities. This
Author: Ryan Farley
Providing positive youth development experiences in-spite of the restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those featuring more hands-on activities, provided a worthy challenge for the 2020-2021 4-H programming year. One response to this challenge was the 4-H Virtual Art Club Woodford County 4-H provided for any 4-H-aged youth from November to April. 6-13 participants met once a month and each meeting featured a different 4-H art project from the Kentucky 4-H State Fair project c
