4-H puts Kentucky’s youth first
Source: Mark Mains, assistant director for Kentucky 4-H Youth Development As the state’s largest youth organization, Kentucky 4-H focuses on helping youth develop into productive citizens. To achieve that goal, that means looking inward at our organization as well as outward at the clients we serve. To that end, 4-H has undergone a year-long process of developing a strategic plan that will guide our organization and programming until 2025 and help us continue to make the best better.
Kentucky 4-H is a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is implemented by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service under the direction of the UK College of Agriculture Food and Environment. We are intrinsically tied to the university and want 4-H to be the “first course” that youth take at UK. As a result, we want to develop young people to be college ready and to have the confidence, life skills, leadership skills and a sense of responsibility needed to succeed in college and beyond to the workforce. We hope that the skills young people learn through 4-H activities serve them well throughout their lives.
4-H offers programming that is grounded in research-based theories and practices. We train our staff and volunteers in many educational models and theories to ensure that they work effectively with youth. Adult-youth learning opportunities are so important because we want 4-Hers to have the best learning experience possible and take a leadership role in it. We also reach out into the community to develop partnerships that will provide our young people with valuable learning experiences, exposing them to things like science, engineering, mathematics and technology that go beyond the traditional 4-H programming.
While we are the largest youth organization in Kentucky, 4-H wants to include all young Kentuckians. To that end, 4-H state staff are working to reduce barriers that prevent Kentuckians from accessing their educational programming. We also want to ensure that our programming and educational opportunities promote a positive learning environment that values multicultural understanding, learning and respect.
The entire 4-H Strategic Plan is available online at https://4-h.ca.uky.edu/content/kentucky-4-h-strategic-plan. For more information on local 4-H opportunities, contact the Woodford County Cooperative Extension Service.