Faces Can Tell Us Lots!

We are all asked to be accountable for the work that we do. As we continue to evaluate our programs and measure their impact, valuable evaluation strategies continue to surface. Evaluating young people can be extremely challenging. This holds especially true for young people under the age of 10 years. However, there are dynamic programs going on with this age group. One method that is being used as an attitude assessment using three faces. This article discusses how three faces can be used to evaluate programs for young people

Presentation of Oral Reasons

Oral reasons are very important to 4-H and FFA livestock judging team members. This is their opportunity to defend their placing and to help paint a clear picture of a particular class

Evaluating Market Steers From a Grading Standpoint

This handout is to help the reader reach their goals of being a more accurate evaluator of market steers

Managing Beef Cattle for Show

There’s a lot you need to know if you’re going to raise beef cattle to exhibit at shows. Your first job is to decide what kind of beef project you want to undertake. There are four types of beef projects to consider: ✦ Haltered market steers ✦ Haltered breeding heifers ✦ Commercial steers ✦ Commercial heifers. Of those, haltered show steers and heifers demand the most time, expense and work. This publication will focus mainly on these projects, with some references to commercial projects

State 4-H Council: A Look Back on What It Meant to Serve

An ex-post facto evaluation design was implemented to Texas 4-H Council Members from 1987-2006 to seek the perceived impact of life skill development as a result of serving on council. Former Texas 4-H Council members (n = 38) noted that the life skills that were enhanced the most from serving on the council were: development of oral communication skills, ability to relate to others, working in teams, and building self-esteem. In summary, data presented in this article indicate that Texas 4-H Council is an excellent promoter of youth through various aspects of youth development

Listening to the People--A Strategic Planning Model for Cooperative Extension

The first step in the program development process is planning. In order to properly plan, Extension must listen to the people of their communities to hear their needs. In Texas, this is done through a county forum process that identified needs people are facing in their communities. This article outlines the listening steps Texas Cooperative Extension took to host its Texas Community Futures Forum (TCFF) Process. This includes how TCFF was organized and how each county in Texas held a county TCFF to help identify issues facing Texans

Positive Psychology and Youth Development: A New Science for a Time-Honored Extension Mission

Extension professionals can play a significant role in building positive psychology in youth programs. The psychology research clearly demonstrates the significant impact of positive psychology. In addition to subject matter related to 4-H and Youth Development, Extension professionals can utilize positive psychology best practices to enhance human capacity, ultimately leading to a greater quality of life. This article explains the three pillars of positive psychology and provides tools that can be used with youth to enhance their 4-H experience. These simple, creative tools do not take a great deal of time to implement, but the impact could be life long