Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Patrick Allen
Planning Unit: 4-H Central Operations
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
Plan of Work: Basic Life Skills for Youth and Adults in Scott County
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Success Story By: Rachel E. Noble, Ed.D., Extension Specialist for 4-H Youth Development
Scott County inofrmation added
Research suggests distinctive characteristics of young adolescents (middle school aged youth)regarding their physical, cognitive, moral, psychological, and social-emotional development, aswell as spiritual development (Scales, 2010). Young adolescents (middle school aged youth) warrant educational experiences and schools that are organized to address their physical,intellectual, emotional/psychological, moral/ethical, spiritual, and social developmental characteristics (Caskey & Anfara, 2014). Kentucky 4-H Summit seeks to engage middle schoolaged youth and retain their involvement in 4-H activities through the middle school years, along
with empowering youth to become active 4-H leaders on the local and state levels. Objectivesof Kentucky 4-H Summit are centered on the developmental needs of middle school agedyouth: 4-H Summit aims to provide youth from across the Commonwealth with the opportunityto develop leadership skills through acquiring new knowledge to take back and implementwithin their local communities, youth have the opportunity to belong to a group of peers andexpand teamwork skills, exercise communication skills through networking with other 4-H’ers,experience generosity by giving back through a community service project, and developrelationships with role models through the Kentucky 4-H State Teen Council.
In 2018, 89 counties from across Kentucky participated in Kentucky 4-H Summit. The state-wideevent attracted 481 middle school 4-H’ers, 84 teen volunteers, and 27 adult volunteers.Through the community service project, the participants created and donated over 75 fleeceblankets to a homeless shelter in Somerset, Kentucky. 128 individuals who attended 4-HSummit participated in the 4-H 4K, for 64 individuals this was the first time they hadparticipated in a run/walk event. Various other activities were implemented to meet the needsof this age group such as workshops, funshops, and planned time to explore 4-H core contentareas.
As a direct result of 4-H Summit participation middle school aged youth improved through theobjectives of the event. The middle school aged youth evaluated their experience. 98.33% feltaccepted by their team, 83.51% made a connection with their State Teen Council Member,92.49% felt they had the opportunity to give back through the community service event. Youthimproved their communication skills (88.93%) and reported they could lead a communicationactivity once they returned home (87.24%). Expanded their leadership skills (90.82%) andreported they could conduct a leadership activity once they returned home (88.73%).Enhanced their team building skills (92.49%) and reported they could lead a group discussiononce they returned home (87.4%).
A key component to 4-H Summit is continued involvement in the 4-H program through middleschool into high school. 73.01% reported they would like to apply to serve on the Kentucky 4-HState Teen Council, 70.59% reported they would like to apply to serve on one of the corecurriculum leadership boards, and 87.73% reported that as a result of 4-H Summit they aremore likely to attend 4-H Teen Conference.
For 61.17% of the participants this was their first time attending 4-H Summit, 27.97% attendedthe previous year, and 10.86% attended for three years. Ages of participants: 13 years old(39.63%), 12 years old (29.72%), 11 years old (15.44%), and 14 years old (15.21%). 68.70% ofthe middle school aged youth had previously attended 4-H Summer Camp. Kentucky 4-H Summit provides a valuable experience in a safe environment for middle school aged youth, adevelopmental time where youth are experiencing rapid physical, cognitive, moral, psychological, and social-emoational development, as well as spiritual development.
This year Scott County had the pleasure of sending two youth to the 2018 4-H Teen summit. We hope to continue to grow our numbers in the future years, as we continue to expand our programing efforts to the middle school age audience in Scott County Middle Schools. We will start a Middle School Leadership Academy program in two of the three middle schools in the Fall of 2018. We hope this will spark interest within the young leaders of Scott County and push them to be more involved in 4-H and their community. We see a need to expand our efforts to the middle school aged audience because of the lack of programing for this group. One program a year is not enough to retain their interest. We are surpassed every day by sports, band, and many other extra curricular activities. We are excited to work with the Family Resource programs at the middle schools to roll out this Leadership Academy. We hope to incorporate lessons that will help with job preparation, school applications, adding to their list of volunteer/ leadership experiences, and help them be active/ positive contributors to their communities.
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