The problem- According to Kentucky: By the Numbers, Breathitt County in 2017 had 2,114 youth between the ages of 5-19. Of those youth, 284 had a disability, making the percent of youth with a disability over 13% for the county.

The educational program response- Breathitt County’s Agent for 4-H Youth Development believes that the best way to reach this population is to teach them different concepts and skills that they will need to succeed with their disability. 

The participants/target audience- He partnered with the Breathitt High School life skills classes, youth 7th grade - 12th grade, to schedule in school classroom visits. Classes are designed to focused on the 7 core areas of the 4-H Curriculum. Over the course of the past few months he completed 6 hours of instruction with these 17 students in the 4-H core area of Science, Engineering, and Technology. He concentrated on atoms, electricity, and circuits. He implemented group activities, hands on learning, and one on one instruction.

Other partners (if applicable)

Program impact or participant response- 100% of students who participated showed an interest in this 4-H core area of Science, Engineering, and Technology, and identified that they were able to master new content. The 4-H agent looks forward to partnering with the school’s life skills classes in the future, and in the years to come, to further instruct students with disabilities in the other core content areas of 4-H.