4-H

The goal of the “Project Essentials” sheets is to provide a basic resource for 4-H members and parents to get started in a new small stock project. Small stock projects are a challenge, and these sheets will help provide first steps and basic knowledge on your animal’s needs. These sheets should be utilized by families to foster a youth’s ‘learning to learn’ skills. There are several key housing boarding and feeding needs to be discussed, in addition to cost estimates for each type of animal. You will also see an “additional resource” and "local resources" section. The additional resources are links to examples within a greater body of resource material, again this is not a complete source but rather a place to get started in your project journey. The local resources section is very important – getting involved in your local community will provide a 4- H member with a rich body of knowledge and experience, and this is a great opportunity for young people to interact with peers and caring adult volunteers.

Small Stock projects provide day to day experiences that enable youth to learn new skills and, most importantly, ‘learn how to learn. ’We expect 4-Hers to gain abilities and knowledge in: 

• Marketable skills for many careers
• Planning, organization, goal setting, and record-keeping
• The wise use of resources
• Critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision making
• Learning to learn
• Stress management and personal safety
• Self-discipline, self-motivation, and self-responsibility

Small Stock projects provide challenges that enable youth to gain social skills, learn valuable skills, and gain content expertise in career fields in a controlled context. These efforts allow young people to develop a sense of responsibility and maturity. Working through these difficult projects will have profound outcomes, not only as a 4-H member but as thriving adults. We expect 4-H animal projects to foster:

• Academic motivation and success
• Social competence
• Personal standards
• Contribution to others
• Connection with others
• Personal responsibility. 

Completing an animal project is a proud accomplishment, and our goal in Extension is to help youth achieve success. Please feel free to share these documents and contact county-based 4-H professionals with further questions and guidance.

4-H Project Essentials Series

• Project Essentials: Livestock Feeding Glossary of Terms
• Project Essentials: Small Stock Fact Sheets
• Project Essentials: Large Stock Face Sheets
• Protect Essentials: Growing a Show Swine to Market Weight
• Project Essentials: Feeding Your Beef Project

These Project Essentials sheets provide basic resources for new 4-H members and parents to get started in a beef, market goat, horse, market sheep or swine livestock project. The following information should be utilized by families to foster a youth’s ‘learning to learn’ skills. There are several key livestock boarding and feeding requirements discussed, in addition to cost estimates for each type of animal. You will also see an “additional resources” and “local resources” section. The additional resources are links to examples within a greater body of resource material – again this is not a complete resource, but a starting point. The local resources section is very important – getting involved in your local community will provide a 4H member with a rich body of knowledge and experience. 4-H Livestock Projects provide a great opportunity for young people to interact with peers and caring adults.

Livestock projects provide day-to-day experiences that enable youth to learn new skills and, most importantly, ‘learn how to learn.’ We expect 4-Hers to gain abilities and knowledge in:

• Marketable skills for many careers
• Planning, organization, goal setting, and record-keeping
• Wise use of resources
• Critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision making
• Learning to learn
• Stress management and personal safety
• Self-discipline, self-motivation, and self-responsibility
• Empathy and emotional regulation

Livestock projects provide challenges that enable youth to gain social skills, learn valuable life skills, and gain content expertise in career fields in a controlled context. These efforts allow young people to develop a sense of responsibility and maturity. Working through these difficult projects will have profound outcomes, not only as a 4-H member, but as thriving adults. We expect 4-H animal projects to foster:

• Academic motivation and success
• Social competence
• Personal standards
• Contribution to others
• Connection with others
• Personal responsibility.

Completing a 4-H Livestock Project is a proud accomplishment, and our goal in Extension is to help youth achieve success. Please feel free to share these documents, and contact county-level 4-H Staff with further questions and guidance.

Thank you to the following 4-H volunteers for input and helping produce a better resource for 4-H youth.

4-H Project Essentials Series

• Project Essentials: Livestock Feeding Glossary of Terms
• Project Essentials: Small Stock Fact Sheets
• Project Essentials: Large Stock Face Sheets
• Protect Essentials: Growing a Show Swine to Market Weight
• Project Essentials: Feeding Your Beef Project

Empowered goal setting is the foundation by which 4-H can support youth in defining and achieving a sense of personal purpose. In this article we review some important reasoning behind empowering goal setting and suggest some useful models for framing interactions with 4-H youth.

4-H leaders play a critical role in the development of young people. Volunteers who seek opportunities to mentor young people with an identified spark can be their best advocate and biggest cheerleader. Utilizing the 4-H Thrive Model, we discuss the positive trajectory of youth when sparks are ignited.

Earthworms are a crucial component of the soil food web—the symbiotic network of organisms responsible for soil health and subsequently the health of plants.7 Integrating vermicomposting (composting using earthworms) into a home garden is one of the easiest ways to harness these natural processes to create nutrient-rich soil, helping you grow a beautiful bounty!

For more than 100 years, the 4-H Program has played a role in counties across the country. While project areas change from place to place, the architecture of the program remains the same. The goal is to provide educational opportunities for young people so that they can acquire interpersonal and professional skills. Whether you are familiar with the 4-H Essential Elements framework (Gressley et al., 2009), that all 4-H clubs should have Belonging, Mastery, Independence and Belonging framework or the 5 C’s of Positive Youth Development framework (Lerner, 2007) which include Connection, Confidence, Character, Caring, Competence, Contribution the goals are the same.

This publication describes the preparation and organization of a 4-H youth development challenge adventure experience that culminates with hiking the Grand Canyon. The purpose of this article is to provide youth service professionals with the information needed to replicate a similar challenge experience. Details are provided regarding training, preparation, logistics, and safety. We have divided the article into the following sections: 1.Background information, which we have titled, “A Challenging Adventure: What is it?” 2.Instructional information, which we have titled, “Logistics: How is It Done?” and 3.Evaluation, which we have titled, “Evaluation: Why Do We Do It?”

As new 4-H Youth Development professionals you enter the organization with diverse preparation experiences, thus many professionals are unclear what the skills, competencies, and expectations are to be successful in the organization. Onboarding is an opportunity for the organization to help you maximize your contributions while also learning our organizational culture.

4-H youth development professionals are at a high-risk of burnout. Contributing factors leading to departure include organizational factors, such as a lack of professional development opportunities and adequate training. Extension professionals experience many challenges, such as stress, long hours, and turnover. To prevent burnout and turnover we recognize training is important especially at the beginning of a career. 

A systematic review of 4-H onboarding curriculum across the country was conducted to inform the development of a 4-H Extension professional onboarding process for county-based 4-H youth development professionals. As a result of this systematic review a blended approach to onboarding was adopted to facilitate technical knowledge, relationship building, and enhance understanding of organizational culture.

As a 4-H volunteer, you are responsible for the health and safety of youth in your care, custody, and control. The novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is highly infectious and can cause serious illness. This guidance strives to help Arizona 4-H volunteers get youth to “doing" in all of our projects.

Congratulations on being selected as your 4-H Club’s President or Vice President! It is an honor that you were selected by your 4-H friends to lead your 4-H Club! Remember, with this honor comes responsibility. You are expected to be a positive representative of your club, and also the Arizona 4-H program throughout the state of Arizona. During your year of service you will have many different duties. You will be expected to plan, preside, and delegate responsibilities. 

To be successful you will need to be observant and strive to be the best you can be. Responsibilities can include:

• Helping plan the yearly program.
• Planning the business meeting with the adult leader(s) and other youth officers before the meeting. If necessary, this can be done at the previous meeting by phone or video chat.
• When unable to attend the meeting, the president should inform the community club leader and Vice President several days before the meeting, if possible. Inform them as soon as you can to allow plans to be made for your absence.
• Keeping in close contact with local leaders, and the county Extension office. Be sure to read the newsletter or county communications for announcements and news that applies to the group