Author: Lena Mallory
Planning Unit: Marshall County CES
Major Program: Community Vitality and Leadership – 4-H Youth Development
Plan of Work: Empowering Community Leaders
Outcome: Initial Outcome
What do you do in 4-H? Do the kids do anything? Is it just cows and cookies? All questions asked over the years, but a standard form of measuring the Communications, Leadership, and Civic Engagement impact of Kentucky 4-H programming has not been available. For the 2023-24 program year, Kentucky 4-H has made evaluation tools available with counties able to add their spin as needed. Marshall County 4-H Youth Development Agent implemented these evaluation tools at the last club meeting for all three County 4-H Club levels – Teen-Middle, Elementary (4th & 5th) and Cloverbuds (K-3).
Beyond the standardized questions asked, the Marshall County 4-H Youth Development Agent went a step further asking the Teen-Middle 4-Hers to identify things the liked; things they learned; and future program/project suggestions. Below are some highlights from the 21 Teen-Middle 4-Hers who responded.
Things liked about 4-H this year (2023-24):
• Being with friends./The people./Making new friends. (15 responses)
• Community Service/Learning about the community. (7)
• Helping with Cloverbuds and Elementary 4-Hers (5)
• Planning as a group. (3)
Things learned this year because of 4-H:
• Social skills. (3)
• Communications skills. (4)
• More about leadership skills. (7)
• Teaching skills. (3)
Notable quotes from the Teen-Middle 4-Hers:
• “Self-awareness. Impact on others. Part I play.”
• “4-H is awesome!”
• “Be a better me!”
• “I have learned more about leadership, how to plan more things, and how to pitch in with helping community.”
Program/project suggestions for the future made by Teen-Middle 4-Hers:
• Art classes
• Cooking classes.
• More civic engagement/community service.
• Literature based 4-H clubs.
• Sewing classes.
• Game night for 4-Hers!
Based on the above, it was worth asking beyond the standard questions to get more than Yes/No responses. The responses received by the Teen-Middle 4-Hers prove Marshall County 4-H does make a difference and we have an exciting future ahead!
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