Providing youth with the ability to enhance and develop communication skills is of great importance in Kentucky. The development of communications 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 in turn creates a solid foundation for positive youth development (Jones, K. R. 2006)

The Campbell County 4-H program provided monthly lessons on speech writing and delivery to 75 fifth graders at Cline Elementary. The lessons were a part of their school curriculum with the classroom teacher adding supplemental assistance so the students could complete a high-quality speech presentation. 4-H brought in judges to score the top speakers from the 3 classrooms. The age group champions were then invited to compete at the county 4-H speech final.  One of those students advanced to the area competition and will now compete at the State 4-H Communications event in July with her speech about the Nutcracker Ballet.

As part of the communication lessons, students improved their communication skills in listening, public speaking, identifying the parts of a speech, and how to use spoken, written, and visual language. 53 students agree and strongly agree that they gained knowledge in public speaking. 54 students gained knowledge in how to use spoken, written, and visual language. 57 students can now identify the parts of a speech.