Author: Calyn Colston
Planning Unit: Calloway County CES
Major Program: Economic Development and Workforce Preparation – 4-H Youth Development
Plan of Work: 2023 4-H Developing Community Leaders
Outcome: Initial Outcome
In late 2022, Calloway County was identified as having a growing population of Hispanic and Latino youth in comparison to many other counties in the state. So, for that reason, In January of 2023 Calloway County 4-H Youth Development Agent, Calyn Colston, partnered with Murray Independent EL Coordinator, Lourdes Oster, to start the 4-H Juntos Program for Latino youth attending Murray High School. Shortly after, the Director of Instructional Technology, Mechelle Morgan, and Spanish Teacher, Sarah Silvestre, were brought in to assist with implementing the Juntos Program. We began with one family night in May to introduce families to the program as well as give them assistance with Infinite Campus and other community resources. Then in August, we started 5 weeks of workshops on Monday nights for these Latino youth and their families. Workshop topics included making education a family goal, family and school communication, graduation requirements, post-secondary options and funding, and on the final night we visited the Area Technology Center and made individualized plans for each youth and what they aspire to accomplish after high school graduation. During the 5 workshops, topic experts were brought in to help facilitate post-secondary interest and included representation from West Kentucky Community & Technical College, Murray State University, the Murray-Calloway Area Technology Center, and Murray Electronics. Whitney York, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction & Human Resources also attended to help students and parents understand graduation requirements. Overall, we had 8 youth from 7 different families graduate from the 4-H Juntos program. Moving forward, these 8 youth will meet once a month during 7th period to hold a 4-H Club meeting to continue focusing on leadership, communication, and work-force preparation. We will also hold another family night in early Spring to check back in with the whole family and how they are making education a family goal.
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