Author: Elijah Wilson
Major Program: Leadership
For many of the young people who live in Cumberland County, 4-H mentors are much more than tutors or project leaders — they are hope, they are comfort, they are family. They are the pathway to a promising future. In the summer of 2021, the Cumberland County 4-H Program and the University of Kentucky were awarded funding to conduct research about the impact of mentorship on 4-H youth. The funding provided $10,000 to help develop a formalized mentorship program based on best practices and es
Major Program: Economic Development
Extension Agents are informed community leaders and can add value to planning efforts on a wide range of diverse topics. The active community involvement of Extension Agents, coupled with ongoing Extension volunteer development and leadership programs, help communities to increase capacity to address challenges and to develop community assets. Extension adds value and helps to maximize the positive impact of public and private available resources. In 2019, as part of an on-going comm
Cumberland County continues to reap the benefits of a project that first began 8 years ago as a youth service project focused on community beautification and revitalization. The Partners with Pride project convened a group of dedicated community leaders that resulted in a long-term partnership among local businesses, Cumberland County Extension, and the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. In 2018, Partners with Pride created and sponsored a new festival designed to grow the local economy
Major Program: Volunteer Development
The Cumberland County Extension Service dedicates a considerable amount of resources towards volunteer development and program administration. Volunteers play an integral role in many Extension programs, performing a variety of duties, functions, and tasks. The success of Extension programming is due, in part, to the dedication of a large cadre of volunteers (Smith, Dasher, & Klingborg, 2005). The Cumberland County 4-H Youth Development program provides extensive educational opportunit
Author: Sam McNeill
Major Program: Grains
New EMC calculator for KY grains_sm 2022.doc
Author: Brooke Hogancamp
Major Program: Family Development General
Data shows a significant child poverty level in Carlisle County. Compounded by a lack of quality educational engagement opportunities and little to no access to approved childcare facilities, there is an obvious need for assistance in the area of early childhood development for children ages 0-5. The Four River Communities Early Childhood Council is a collaborative of the four river counties of far Western Kentucky: Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, and Fulton. These counties share not only a geo
Author: Catherine Webster
The 98th Annual Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference was held at the University of Kentucky June 14-17, 2022. The objectives of Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference are: develop leadership and teamwork skills, improve communication skills, foster civic engagement, expand knowledge and skills related to 4-H core content areas, gain club, county and state 4-H program skills, have fun, create a sense of belonging, expand social skills through networking, develop youth-adult partnerships, and become acquainted with
Author: Gregory Comer
Major Program: Beef
Over the last 5 years, over $500,000 have been invested in agricultural improvement /diversification projects in Ohio Co., thru the County Agricultural Investment Program (CAIP). These funds are balanced by producer investments in these projects, in the amount of about $2.5 million. The top five areas of improvement by producers are: Cattle handling facilities, water distribution improvement, expansion/improvement of fences
Author: Cortney Moses
Major Program: Arts Engagement
The Fine Arts basket program at the Extension Community Arts Center has been providing high quality basketry education to the Whitley County community for 10 years. Thanks to the time and expertise of a local basket master, Fae. Because Fae volunteers all her time to the extension basket program the Fine Arts Extension has been able to offer classes discounted cost. This has allowed extension to reach lower income populations and to keep this dying art form alive and the interest growing. T
Major Program: Camping
Summer is not summer without 4-H Camp. However, for one 4-H member to attend 4-H Camp in the summer of 2022, the cost is $260 plus transportation. In spring of 2022, the Cumberland County Extension District Board made a commitment to make 4-H Camp affordable for all youth. The Cumberland County Extension District Board voted to provide the maximum allowed contribution towards each 4-H member’s camp fee ($195 per member). The funding decision was made in response to obstacles th
Major Program: Increasing Access to Quality Arts Experiences
The Whitley county pottery program has been offering educational programming for 10 years to the Whitley County community. Covid put a halt to the extremely popular Open Pottery program that exposed the community to 12 weeks of free play and experimentation with hand building and wheel throwing. Not only did this create a pottery void it also ended pottery group which met monthly and built strong leadership within the medium and for the program. During the pandemic we tried some potte
Author: Kristy Porter
Major Program: Artistic Skill Development
Pike County Extension Fine Arts teamed up with local artists to offer a popular warm weather series: Art on the Plaza. On Saturdays from late spring through early fall, participants can sign up to take part in an outdoor art activity in downtown Pikeville. Over the past two years, we’ve featured various artists, including Christopher Epling and Jessica Salyer, teaching basket weaving, cartoon drawing, acrylic and watercolor painting, and therapeutic art activities. Pike County Extension Fi
Author: Christopher Teutsch
Major Program: Forages
Responding to Escalating Fertilizer Prices Chris Teutsch, Jimmy Henning, Ray Smith, and John Grove, University of Kentucky In 2020, fertilizer prices more than doubled, negatively impacting the profitability of forage-livestock operations in the Commonwealth. We responded to escalating fertilizer prices be publishing a series of articles and designing and implementing extension programs at the county and state level on weathering high fertilizer prices. These educatio
Artists Collaborative Theatre (ACT) was extremely proud and excited to announce its return to the stage after sixteen months of being dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pike County Extension Fine Arts and ACT has long had a close partnership with productions and kids classes. During the summer, ACT staged Blood Song: The Story of the Hatfields and the McCoys at Jenny Wiley Amphitheatre for three weekends. 865 people attended the play. The play was also selected as a finalist at AACTFest 2021. Tw
Key to the success of any community is the active involvement and collaboration of government agencies, civic organizations, businesses, and residents. Networking and collaboration are essential for sustained community and economic development, especially in a community such as Cumberland County, which has limited resources due to a relatively small population (5,879 US Census, 2021) and tax base compared to other Kentucky counties. The perceived need for collaboration is evident by its in
Author: Jeanne Badgett
Major Program: Master Clothing Volunteer
According to recent data collected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the annual amount of clothing and footwear waste generated was 13 million tons (4.4 percent of total solid waste). Over 9 million tons of this waste ended up in landfills. Often, when a simple repair, such as replacing a button, is all that is needed to restore a garment’s serviceability, the garment is disposed of, instead of repaired. This may be because the skill of sewing on a button may be unknown
Author: Lisa Jones
Major Program: Agriculture
Whitley County 4-H Cloverbud's met in February and learned about the importance of vegetables and how to plant them. We gathered all program areas and offered our services and information to the county along with hands-on activities for Earth Day. This year it was held at the Green Space in downtown Williamsburg for the Earth Day Celebration 2022. The Cloverbud's successfully planted all the vegetables that we gave away during the Earth Day Celebration. The Cloverbud's planted all th
Author: Edwin Ritchey
Major Program: Water and Soil Quality and Conservation
We had planned to have a drone training session on December 20th with Mandy Briggs and a F4 tornado destroyed the UKREC where the training was scheduled to take place. Additionally, all the materials that were needed for the training were lost to the tornado. In less than 10 days, replacement training materials and an alternative location were arranged. We had 15 attendees from all across the state and a few from surrounding states. We not only were able to complete the training, but had a very
