The problem

Pike County is the largest county in Kentucky. Pike County Extension Community Arts is always looking for ways to take arts programming into remote areas of the county because clients can't always come to the Extension office. Programming has traditionally been aimed toward young children or teens. By targeting tween, students aged 8-12, we were able to tailor our programming to meeting the needs and abilities of this sometimes overlooked age group.

The educational program response

We partnered with Pike County Libraries to bring a colored pencil class to tweens in each branch of the county - Pikeville, Belfry, Virgie, Elkhorn City, and Phelps. This gave students the opportunity to attend a class close to home, regardless of their county location. We chose a drawing that would also qualify as a 4-H project in drawing, so that students could enter their drawings as projects at school fairs, if they chose to do so.

The participants/target audience

Tweens - students ages 8 to 12.

Other partners (if applicable)

Pike County Libraries and their tween librarian.

Program impact or participant response.

We had a great response to the Color Pencil program. The library asked if we would partner with them again, specifically for art programs. The programs were well attended, with 35 children and 15 adults attending. The Pikeville branch booked up quickly, so we are adding another class for those who weren't able to get into the first one. One parent said that any time we do programming at her home library, she and her children will be there. While helping judge art projects at one of the school 4-H fairs, we saw that at least one colored pencil drawing had been entered as a project.