Continuing to upgrade the skills of county agents is important for all Extension program areas.  Organized by Kim Ledger and Chuck Stamper, the 4-H Youth Development Institute is geared toward 4-H agents who have established themselves in the county, and who have begun to take a critical look at their 4-H program and ask “why we do what we do.”  As a result of participating in the Institute, agents gain a better understanding of Positive Youth Development concepts, how to apply the concepts in designing their local 4-H program, and they learn not only how to go into more depth in programming but also in making a greater impact.

The Instituted was first conducted in 2016 for which I was asked to provide a presentation that not only addressed how to use secondary data, but included a discussion of the importance of research ethics and how a philosophy of knowledge is embedded in the research-based approach of Cooperative Extension.   Since participants in the 2016 Institute ranked my presentation as among the most influential, in 2018, I was again asked to be a part of the 4-H Youth Development Institute and have already be asked to return for the 2020 Institute.