jeff buckley, extension 4-h specialist, georgia jenny ... · pdf fileengaging youth, serving...
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Engaging Youth, Serving Communities Jeff Buckley, Extension 4-H Specialist, Georgia
Jenny Jordan, Extension 4-H Specialist, Georgia [email protected] [email protected]
Program History
Engaging Youth, Serving Community began with
a grassroots effort to recognize the 4-H
Centennial in 2002. As a result, the National
Conversation on Positive Youth Development in
the 21st Century brought together youth and
adults in local communities, at the state level,
and finally in Washington, D.C. to discuss how to
develop a positive future for youth in America’s
communities. Forty-two Georgia youth and adult
joined in the conversation.
From Conversations, national goals were
established to empower rural communities to
involve youth as partners in decision making and
governance. In Georgia, the Youth Summit was
working towards similar goals.
In 2011, Georgia joined 15 land grants in working
together to impart youth with the life skills and
experience they need to emerge as effective
leaders and contributing members of society.
Another objective is to improve the ability of
youth and adults to collaborate with
community members to identify local
issues and develop strategies for
addressing them. The end result is that
Youth and adults have a more positive
attitude toward the role of youth in
communities.
Accomplishments, Impact &
Results
• Georgia team provides 8 hours of training for
county groups and awards $2500 in grant
funding for projects; program is extended for a
second year through National 4-H Council grant.
• Lumpkin County is added to the county teams
and creates a collaboration with high school
teacher
• Kings Bay collaborates with the navy base to
raise awareness, connections and collaboration
between on base and off base residents.
• Chattooga County beautifies downtown and sees
and increase in tourism
• Morgan County completes the DFACS room
renovation and moves to health education
projects to raise awareness of safe behaviors
• Taylor County is creating awareness for healthy
choices through use of technology. Teen created
messages for teens are part of the solutions.
• Teams have retained at least 50% of their
original team members and all have recruited
additional planning team members.
• Teams have completed community forums and
shared the success and challenges of the forum
with a statewide listening session of EYSC
counties
• Instructional techniques and activities for youth
adult partnerships, team building and forum
success have been expanded from original
curriculum
Program Attributes & Goals
• Teams of youth and adults in rural
communities collaborate to make a difference
• County teams host a community forum to
identify needs or solutions.
• Teams expand to include other stakeholders
and leverage support for project.
• State youth adult teams support counties
• Evaluation of learning, project and process
as important as results
• Curriculum provided for planning teams and
support systems in place online and in training
throughout the process