4-H and Youth Leadership Development

Contributed by Nicole Stork-Hestad, UK Graduate Student

Talking with Mr. Mark Mains about his work with extension offices over the past 11 years is like asking a 5 year old to talk about their favorite superhero. His eyes light up and you are hit head-on with the passion he has for the work he is doing. Mark works closely with the 4-H Development program which he described as “informal education” in a formal setting. As an Extension Specialist for 4-H Youth Development, Mark proceeded to enlighten me on the ends in and outs of 4-H as it relates to Legislation, education, and its impact on Kentucky youths.

Just as a refresher, the 4-H program is self-defined as “a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills” for youths between the ages of 9 and 18 (although the Cloverbuds’ program is becoming more popular for ages 5-8). Programs of involvement range from camping to international exchange and the meetings are usually held in more public areas, at schools in particular. Funding for the program comes from a variety of sources including individual donors to the USDA. 4-H relies on paid employees, as well as parents, volunteers, and alumni to keep the program going.

When asked to relate his work to current legislatives acts, Marks eyes widened. “My greatest concern, right now, is our standards,” he said. Apparently the Kentucky Education Reform Act, commonly referred to as KERA, is under heavy revision this session. The 4-H program’s guidelines and standards for their school involvement had previously been measured against the yardstick that KERA had provided. With the phasing out of the old rule book, Mark is concerned with keeping the 4-H programs above reproach. He stressed that 4-H’s goal is to meet the needs of the students involved; the whole point of the program is to positively impact Kentucky’s youth.

The kids involved present their own matters to state government and (with a little help from 4-H workers, like Mark) win their cases. Mark recounted that $2 million was given to the 4-H camping fund just recently because the youth spoke up for their programs. “We need to ‘Wow’ Legislation with impact and involvement,” Mains concluded. Which I don’t believe is going to be a problem since the 2008 data revealed there to be approximately 230,000 youth members alone. 4-H is providing youth who have something to say the opportunities to be proactive with their state government.

Direct Links:
Statistics related to Kentucky 4-H http://www.ca.uky.edu/agcollege/4h/about4h/statistics/pdf/Market%20Share%20Report%20-%202008.pdf
Home web site: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agcollege/4h/about4h/index.htm
News Article on KERA reform: http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/684937.html