Who Is Volunteering for the Maine 4-H Program?

The study reported here was designed to identify the people who are most likely to volunteer for the Maine 4-H Youth Development program and determine how they became involved and why they continue to provide service to the organization. Volunteer demographics can then be used to shape marketing and volunteer recruitment efforts, ultimately enlarging a currently dwindling volunteer base for the Maine 4-H program. Although demographic profiles of 4-H volunteers haven\u27t changed much in 50 years, Extension staff should use this information to put new focus on recruitment, retention, and recognition

Experiential Learning in Workforce Preparation--An Application for Success

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension collaborated with Cherryfield Foods, Inc. to create an innovative experiential training program that qualified youth to participate in the mechanical harvesting of wild blueberries. Youth who successfully completed the course were guaranteed summer employment with the company. This allowed youth to earn an income while applying and refining their newly acquired skills. Twenty-eight of the 31 youth trained were employed during subsequent blueberry harvest seasons, with no injuries reported. The success of this program resulted from the application of positive youth development principles coupled with an employment incentive

Using Videoconferencing to Create Authentic Online Learning for Volunteers

Face-to-face training for Extension volunteers is no longer the only viable delivery mode. In times of rapid technological advances, we are faced with a plethora of options for offering volunteers the training and support they need. Zoom, an online videoconferencing platform, can easily be used to engage volunteers in professional development. Creating interactive virtual sessions with a face-to-face feel can be a win-win situation for both Extension staff and volunteers

Follow a Researcher: Using Innovative Technology to Connect Youths and Scientists

Today\u27s technology connects audiences to research-based knowledge and experts anywhere and at any time. Using social media allows Extension professionals to provide on-demand, asynchronous access to information. Synchronous, or real-time, interaction affords a more active and personal experience. The University of Maine has developed a program that facilitates live conversations between youths and graduate students conducting scientific research in remote locations around the world. This article describes a model for effectively using social media and satellite communication devices to engage kindergarten-through-grade-12 audiences with Extension in innovative ways

Life Skills Development in Youth: Impact Research in Action

Developing life skills is a key element of 4-H programming, but research on the impact of 4-H on life skill development is minimal. 4-H alumni and volunteers were surveyed to explore the question Does involvement in 4-H Youth Development programs help youth learn and use specific life skills? 4-H alumni identified life skills learned through 4-H participation from a list of choices and in an open-ended format. Volunteers agreed that life skills were learned, although their assessment of specific skills differed from that of alumni. Findings indicate that long-term impacts of 4-H membership exist and can be measured

e-Learning for 4-H Volunteers: Who Uses It, and What Can We Learn from Them?

Orienting and training 4-H volunteers are critical to individuals and the organization. The two-part study reported here re-establishes the profile of the 4-H volunteer and evaluates both the format and content of e-Learning for 4-H Volunteers modules launched in 2006. Volunteers from seven states perceived that online modules made learning more convenient and flexible. Volunteers with 2 years of experience or less (84.2%) liked e-Learning modules regardless of their age. Although the profile of the 4-H volunteer has remained similar over the course of six decades, technology has successfully provided new options for reaching and preparing 4-H volunteers

Maine 4-H Afterschool Academy—A Professional Development Opportunity for Out-of-School-Time Providers

The Maine 4-H Afterschool Academy trained 369 after-school and out of school time providers in 2011. This easy-to-adapt professional development opportunity used blended learning, a combination of in-person and Web-based opportunities. Providers successfully learned concepts and practical knowledge regarding 4-H, specifically 4-H Science. In post-training evaluations, 86% of participants reported feeling more confident in incorporating science, engineering, and technology in their afterschool program. This blended learning approach eliminated some barriers Extension faculty face when designing programing for afterschool providers

Implementing a Successful National e-Forum

The National 4-H Volunteer e-Forum is an alternative to multistate, face-to-face volunteer forums. Building on the success of regional e-forums, a collaborative group planned and offered three webinars that were relevant, economical, consistent, and convenient to attend. A blended learning strategy can successfully be used for focusing on both volunteer and organizational needs when approached with intentionality. Extension can use this model broadly to develop better trained corps of volunteers. Data-driven recommendations are included for Extension professionals interested in exploring hybrid training options

Electronic mentoring of offenders : the Scottish experience.

After summarizing the development of electronic monitoring as a penal measure in England and Wales and elsewhere, the article presents the main findings of evaluative research on pilots of restriction of liberty orders with electronic monitoring in three Sheriff Courts in Scotland. The evaluation found that fewer orders were made than the contractors who supplied the equipment had expected, and that it was rare for orders to be completed without some breach of their requirements. Younger offenders, and those with serious criminal records, were less likely to complete orders successfully. Although there was no consensus about the types of offence or offender for whom the orders were most suitable, they were generally imposed on young men for whom the alternative would have been a custodial sentence or another high-tariff community penalty. It was estimated that the orders replaced custody in about 40 per cent of cases, but they would only produce a cost saving if the sentences they replaced were relatively long. Offenders and their families generally welcomed the orders, since they believed them to be alternatives to custody. The policy implications of the research are discussed, in the context of more general reflections on the issues raised by electronic tagging

Cooperative Binding and Activation of Fibronectin by a Bacterial Surface Protein

Integrin-dependent cell invasion of some pathogenic bacteria is mediated by surface proteins targeting the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin (FN). Although the structural basis for bacterial FN recognition is well understood, it has been unclear why proteins such as streptococcal SfbI contain several FN-binding sites. We used microcalorimetry to reveal cooperative binding of FN fragments to arrays of binding sites in SfbI. In combination with thermodynamic analyses, functional cell-based assays show that SfbI induces conformational changes in the N-terminal 100-kDa region of FN (FN100kDa), most likely by competition with intramolecular interactions defining an inactive state of FN100kDa. This study provides insights into how long range conformational changes resulting in FN activation may be triggered by bacterial pathogens