A Book Review of The 4-H Harvest: Sexuality and the State in Rural America

Gabriel Rosenberg’ book is a critical perspective of Extension and 4-H club work in the United States and the export of 4-H abroad. A retrospective of early 4-H and Extension domestic history, it highlights the social, cultural, political, and economic implications of 4-H implementation in rural America. An examination of 4-H’s role in creating gender, race, and sexuality norms in society today is conducted. Stories and history are told with rich detail providing extensive information to foster critical conversations about where 4-H has come from and where 4-H should be going. Extension professionals should read this book to understand the current domestic and international implementation context

Faculty Teaching Improvement: Opportunities Within a Graduate Student & Faculty Community of Practice

Improving higher-education teaching is a growing focus on American colleges. A program was developed to train current PhD students in effective pedagogy practices. The Community of Practice resulted in current teaching faculty pedagogical improvement

Intentional STEM Infusion (ISI) Approach for 4-H Non-STEM Project Volunteers: Finding STEM in Plain Sight

STEM literacy is identified as a necessary skill for participation in the future workforce. 4-H has responded to this need to develop STEM-ready youth by expanding access to project areas like Robotics. It has been acknowledged that recruiting and training STEM competent staff and volunteers is a limitation in expanding these types of programs. At the same time, 4-H youth are enrolled in many traditional non-STEM projects that are imbued with STEM concepts. 4-H volunteers with increased awareness of their role in fostering STEM education and STEM literacy can be a valuable resource in preparing 4-H youth with STEM-ready professional skills. 4-H professionals can train front-line volunteers to use an intentional STEM infusion approach within the experiential learning process. It is posited that volunteers will be better able to facilitate STEM learning in real-world contexts for a wide-range of 4-H youth by using this approach. The use of the ISI approach provides an opportunity for 4-H to develop more STEM-ready youth than by only serving those youths who are attracted to STEM-focused projects alone

A Youth Perspective: The 4-H Teen’s Leadership Identity Development Journey

A current focus of youth-serving organizations is youth leadership development with an objective of helping youth become productive contributors to society. 4-H is a leading organization in the effort to expose youth to leadership opportunities. This study examined the leadership identity development of 4-H youth serving in statewide leadership positions. The Leadership Identity Development (LID) model and mentoring mosaic served as the conceptual framework in this study. The purpose of this qualitative study is to shed light on the question, how do 4-H teens describe their journey to leadership? Youth reflected on the experiences, examples, and influences that impacted their leadership journey. The most common response for experiences that led to a 4-H youth’s choice to pursue a leadership role was a previous leadership experience. Leadership traits, Extension agents, and historical figures were the most frequently identified examples of leadership, and family members and Extension agents were commonly identified as influences. Four themes emerged from the youth perspectives: (1) leaders are characterized by traits, (2) individual-focused leaders, (3) team-oriented individuals, and (4) community contributors. The results corroborated with Stages 2-4 in the LID model. This study is a starting point for exploring leadership identity development of youth

Extension’s Response to the Change in Public Value: Considerations for Ensuring Financial Security for the Cooperative Extension System

Cooperative Extension is a partnership of county, state, and federal governments to fund the translation and community education of applied research from the land-grant university system. Cooperative Extension’s funding since the 1980s has experienced a few key trends such as federal budget stagnation as well as state and county cyclic funding cycles based on the states’ economic health. Accompanying the state-level budget cuts have been calls for Cooperative Extension to reinvent and improve communication about what it does. As budget stability has become a greater concern, ideas around value and return on investment have become more integrated into the messaging about why Cooperative Extension should be funded. These economic terms reflect the integration of neoliberalism’s frame. In a larger qualitative research study about how Cooperative Extension administrators recognize the need for change, funding emerged as a fundamental influence of organization adaptation. The public contract between citizen, legislature, and public-serving organizations has changed to, “What is the return on investment?” To respond to the shifting narrative, it was necessary to assess, measure, and communicate value. However, administrators also recognized relationships mattered to how the message was received by legislators and other funders

A Case of Shifting Focus Friction: Extension Directors and State 4-H Program Leaders’ Perspectives on 4-H LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Contemporary Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) youth are identifying and communicating their identities earlier in childhood than generations before as a result of more awareness and more acceptance of gender identity and sexual minorities by society. A qualitative study of U.S. 4-H program leaders and Extension directors generated an emergent theme around the importance of serving LGBT youth and the resulting implementation challenges. The administrators of 4-H, the largest youth serving organization in the country, recognize the presence of LGBTQ+ youth in 4-H and believe the organization must be inclusive. But challenges remain in ensuring youth experience inclusion at all levels of the organization and to manage political and societal pressures resulting from shifting focus friction

The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Treasurer Handbook

Congratulations! You have just been elected to serve as Treasurer of your club. As the club’s treasurer, you are responsible for taking care of the club’s money and bank accounts. Most importantly, you’re in charge of “keeping the books” (that is, your club’s receipt book, checkbook and check register, payment vouchers and bank statements). This responsibility requires honesty, integrity and cooperation with your club’s members and leaders. Adapted from: Michigan 4-H Secretary’s Record Book and Montana 4-H Secretary’s Handbook. Material Adapted by: Amanda Zamudio & Susan Pater, County Extension 4-H Agents, Arizona Cooperative Extension; Kirk Astroth, Professor & Extension Specialist, Family & Consumer Sciences; Cheyanne Colville, Eric Larsen, & Mary Jo Moncheski. Former County Extension 4-H Agents, Arizona Cooperative Extension; University of Arizona

A Book Review of The 4-H Harvest: Sexuality and the State in Rural America

Gabriel Rosenberg’ book is a critical perspective of Extension and 4-H club work in the United States and the export of 4-H abroad. A retrospective of early 4-H and Extension domestic history, it highlights the social, cultural, political, and economic implications of 4-H implementation in rural America. An examination of 4-H’s role in creating gender, race, and sexuality norms in society today is conducted. Stories and history are told with rich detail providing extensive information to foster critical conversations about where 4-H has come from and where 4-H should be going. Extension professionals should read this book to understand the current domestic and international implementation context

UACE 4-H Youth Participation Reporting Guide

Reporting is necessary for program evaluation and for ensuring Arizona Cooperative Extension is serving the citizens of the state. These two distinct purposes are mutually beneficial, and they are predicated on accuracy of the data reported. With more accurate numbers, we are able to understand the reach and quality of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development programming more clearly. Different than other program areas, 4-H Youth Development has two data management systems. This adds unique confusion on how to report impact numbers. This guide is an effort to help reduce confusion. To ensure county-based professionals, administrators, and legislators can confidently state the number of youths served by Cooperative Extension, we must be clear in our reporting procedure