Focus on Youth
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News for OCES staff working with youth 4-H
is a community of young people across America learning
leadership,
citizenship and life skills.
http://agweb.okstate.edu/fourh
December, 2005
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Dear Extension Educators, 4-H
Youth Development:
As the holiday season
approaches we have much to celebrate in Oklahoma
4-H. We have the highest membership we have had in
five years, with a total club enrollment of 33,696
youth. Most are part of community 4-H clubs, but
some are members of 42 organized 4-H after-school
clubs and five military 4-H clubs. More
minority youth were also reached this past year,
with an increase of 18 percent participation over
last year. Congratulations Extension 4-H youth
development educators and 4-H volunteers!
I thought you might be
interested in what project categories members
enrolled in this year. Following is a breakdown by
percentage of enrollment for major project
categories.
- Citizenship and Civic
Education, 3.34 percent
- Communication &
Expressive Arts, 9.04 percent
- Consumer & Family
Sciences, 4.68 percent
- Environmental Ed.
& Earth Sciences, 10.95 percent
- Healthy Lifestyles
Education, 21.80 percent
- Personal Development
& Leadership, 8.15 percent
- Plants and Animals,
27.81 percent
- Science and
Technology, 14.21 percent
The most dramatic overall
increase in enrollment occurred in the Healthy
Lifestyles Education projects. Last year this area
accounted for 13.5 percent of the enrollment.
Environmental education enrollment was up from last
year’s 7.7 percent of the enrollment.
I hope you are tracking
enrollment trends in your own county in order to
know where interest trends are increasing and where
you need additional volunteer support.
Looking back, it has been a
very good year for 4-H in Oklahoma. I hope each of
you takes time during this holiday season to relax
and enjoy the season and your family.
Best wishes for a happy
holiday!
Sincerely,
Lynda Harriman
Assistant Director
4-H Youth Development
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The 2006 4-H Community Tree Planting Grant
Program offers a limited number of youth grants in the amounts
of $500 to $1,750 to 4 H/Extension groups in local communities,
in counties, and at the state level. This program provides
opportunities for young people and adults to take action with
ongoing community tree planting and/or reforestation projects
or to stimulate new and creative youth-led projects. Youth are
empowered to lead the planning, implementation, and evaluation
process with minimal mentorship from adults. Youth will
learn how their leadership can result in community
collaborations that amplify the impact of their project.
Grants are offered only to 4-H/Extension
Programs in the United States and its territories.
The application can be found at on
the bottom of the page under “Related Links.”
Completed applications are due on Wednesday, February 1,
2006. If you have any questions, email
schaconas@fourhcouncil.edu.
To help save lives and encourage good
driving habits during teens' first years on the road, MetLife
Auto & Home(R) (NYSE:MET) is offering a "Teens on the
Road to Safety" program to customers in 11 states:
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maine,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The program offers
cash incentives and savings bonds for simply developing safe
driving techniques.
Two components of the company's
"Teens on the Road to Safety" program provide these
financial incentives. The first, "Drive Safe and Cash
In," offers teens between the ages of 16-19 a chance to
earn $50 each year they drive with no accidents, claims, or
violations. It also encourages them to drive safely, buckle up,
and never drink and drive. Another component, called
"Sunday Drive," offers teens the opportunity to earn
a $100 US Savings Bond for logging 20 drives with a parent or
guardian in the co-pilot seat. Teens insured by MetLife Auto
& Home in these 11 states can take advantage of the program
as their auto policies renew.
In addition to the "Drive Safe and
Cash In" program, MetLife Auto & Home is encouraging
safer driving habits and greater parental influence for all
teens. The company is offering a free a step-by-step guide
called "Teaching Your Teens to Drive (Without Driving Each
Other Crazy)," and a video entitled "Young Drivers,
the High-Risk Years." Both are available nationally by
calling 1-800-MET-LIFE.
For more information contact David
Hammarstrom, 401-827-2273, dhammarstrom@metlife.com, or
Ted Mitchell, 401-827-3236,
tjmitchell@metlife.com
No endorsement by 4-H is intended or
implied by sharing details of this program.
The 2006 Healthy Lifestyles Grant Program
offers approximately 24 grants of up to $7,000 to 4-H/Extension
Programs to foster community-based, innovative and fun programs
to address reversing the climbing trend of obesity among young
people ages 5-12. The grants can be used to fund new programs
or enhanced/expanded current programs that include information
on nutrition, physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices
through the formation of youth-adult partnerships and community
collaboration. Plans must include involving and educating
family members through personal participation, information and
activities in nutrition, health and physical activities. A
public awareness and outreach campaign must be initiated to
increase community awareness of youth obesity issues and the
benefits of fitness, nutrition and healthy living.
Grants are offered only to 4-H/Extension
Programs within the United States and its territories. The
4-H/Extension office must be the fiscal agent for the program.
Previous awardees can apply with a modified or expanded
program.
The application can be found at http:
//www.fourhcouncil.edu/GrantsHealthyLifestyles.aspx. Click on “2006 Application” at the
bottom of the page under “Related Links” to open or
download the application. Completed applications are due
January 13, 2006. If you have any questions, email
jleatherman@fourhcouncil.edu.
The national study, conducted by the
Corporation for National and Community Service, in
collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent
Sector, found that 15.5 million teenagers volunteered during
2004, contributing more than 1.3 billion hours of service. That
translates into a rate of 55 percent compared to the adult
volunteer rate of 29 percent as established by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. A copy of the study, titled “Youth
Helping America – Building Active Citizens: The Role of
Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering,” can be found
at http:
//www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/performance_research.asp.
The survey found that the likelihood that
young people will volunteer is directly related to their
connections to the social institutions of family, religious
congregations, and schools. Among other key findings, the
survey found:
• 74 percent of youth who volunteer
do so at least in part through a religious organization, a
school-based group, or a youth leadership organization such as
Scouts or 4-H, while 64 percent do so primarily through one of
those three institutions.
• Students who volunteer do better in
school than their counterparts who don’t volunteer.
• A youth from a family where at
least one parent volunteers is almost twice as likely to
volunteer as a youth with no family members who volunteer and
nearly three times as likely to volunteer on a regular basis.
• Among youth who attend religious
services regularly, 64 percent also volunteer.
February 18, 2006, the State 4-H Horse
Leader's Conference will be hosted in Stillwater. Attached is a
PDF of the conference schedule enrollment form. The program will include classroom
presentations, discussion on youth development and hands-on
demonstrations with horses. Over 60 volunteers and 4-H families
attended last year. We hope to meet or exceed that number this
year. Please distribute this information to those with
potential interest. Pre-enrollment is necessary. Materials are
due on or before February 10th.
July 21, 2006, the State 4-H Leadership
team will introduce the W.I.P. Conference in Stillwater. The
program is designed for county officers, teen leaders,
ambassadors and an adult volunteer advisor. Its purpose is to
provide a county leadership team(s) with the training necessary
to fulfill their roles and responsibilities to the county
program and provide the materials and guidance for training
local club officers.
Possible Topics include “Goal
Setting,” “How to Plan and Conduct a Successful
Activity or Event,” “How to be a Partner on a
County Committee involving Youth and Adults,”
“Effective Committee and Business Meetings,”
“Planning Meaningful Service Projects,”
“Being a Good Communicator,” “Visibility and
Recruitment,” and “Team Work.”
We encourage counties to bring
officers/ambassadors elected/selected for the 2006-07 program
year. This may require some counties electing officers earlier
than has been done in the past. One of the conference goals is
for teams to plan and prepare programming prior to the fall
school semester starting.
This program is the inspiration and
efforts of the 2004 National 4-H Conference team.
Ten new and revised 4-HCCS product series
will be available this summer. Before our state receives these
products, they will be piloted at the county level and reviewed
by content specialists. Our state is invited to have direct
input into the final products by participating in the national
pilot of these materials through February 15th.
If you would like to head up a review team
for our state, you may do one or both of the following:
1. Provide the appropriate Product
Evaluation Captain(s) with names and email addresses of who
will facilitate the piloting.
2. Send the attached “Piloting 2006 4-HCCS Products” to your leaders or even to other counties
asking each to recruit those interested in piloting one or more
of the 10 sets. This piece is also available on the 4-HCCS web
site www.n4hccs.org.
Note that each pilot site that submits a
minimum of 10 evaluations will receive a complimentary set of
the materials piloted.
If you have questions please call or
contact the team leader from the attached more details request
of pilot sights.