Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:2025 ATP Grant Report Describe Target Audience: ATP aims to foster interest, skills, and proficiency in agriscience and technology by providing real-life experiences in agriculture innovation and learning activities to youth ages 8-18. In 2025, 2,733 youth and 67 adults were served through learning opportunities that included: Agri-STEM & Agri-Literacy Learning Kits were created and promoted among youth audiences ages 8-11 on topics such as Idaho Potatoes, Dairy, and Sugarbeets. AgRobotics competitions Agriscience and Technology Workshops held in cooperation with camps, conferences and special interest programs Interstate Drone League (iDrone) workshops in Idaho and Washington state. Agricultural Genomics Course for Teens (AGCT) at the UI Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station. This 20-hour summer workshop will taught youth about the evolving field of genomics and how genomic tools are used to improve the sustainability of food production systems. Agri-STEM industry tours at: Riverence, the largest U.S. producer of farm trout and Steelhead and Chobani's Twin Falls plant where America's #1 brand of yogurt is made. Engaging Idaho's Tribal 4-H Programs and Juntos 4-H Program to increase engagement of youth with agriscience and technology learning opportunities. Changes/Problems:The pre-professional internships have not been achieved. The liability and insurance for paid or unpaid internships for minors has been a formable challenge. There is a lot that can be accomplished through career and industry workshops and tours and that is where the focus has been. Developing industry partners has been key to the sucess in offering tours. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?4-H Ag Robotics Competitions have been publiszed through local news papers and social media. The Idaho 4-H LEADS Summit had a featured story promoted through the University President's office and the College of Agricutlural Life Sciences. The story was publshed through several rural news papers and websites in idaho. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are still developmenting industry partners to support the programs that are achieving the Agriscience & Technology Pathways Goals. In addition, we will continue partnering with the College of Southern idaho and County Extension Offices throughout Idaho to deliver ATP programming. Additional grants are being sought to provide ongoing funding for the programs that have been making an impact and reaching 2,733 youth in Idaho.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? These goals are being achieved through a wide range of programs that reached 2,733 youth in Idaho. Here's a highlight of the top programs: LEGO Robotics programs have existed for years, but in rural counties, they have taken regular robotics to a unique level. A new concept of LEGO agriculture robotics also known as "AgRobotics" was launched in 2023 by the University of Idaho Extension through their 4-H Youth Development program. AgRobotics began in six rural Idaho counties andadded six more through 2025. 4-H AgRobotics is a competitive robotics opportunity for youth ages 9-13 looking to improve their robotics skills while finding solutions to real world agriculture issues. University of Idaho Extension 4?H Youth Development hosted ILEADS, open to youth in grades 8 through 12, on the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) campus in Twin Falls. Seventy-nineyouth participated.The LEAD Summit highlights career opportunities in agricultural science and technology and what better place to do that than one of Idaho's community colleges. Several workshops were facilitated by CSI students from the college's Ag Ambassadors program, along with CSI faculty. Many of the other sessions were led by UI Extension faculty, who often partnered with 4?H youth leaders to deliver engaging and collaborative learning experiences. Trent LeBlanc, who co-taught the drone workshop credits 4-H for helping plan his career pathway. "Participating in STEM activities got me interested in engineering," LeBlanc said. "4?H has really helped me find what I want to do for a job later in life." Research demonstrates that 4-H programs cultivate life skills, fostering responsibility, teamwork, and adaptability in youth. Programs like 4-H are recognized as powerful platforms for developing these critical competencies that are needed for success in the workplace. Idaho is working to implement the National 4-H Beyond Ready initiative, which aims to equip youth with the skills and mindsets needed for success in work, life, and post-secondary pathways. According to the Beyond Ready initiative, 4-H programs must provide five key elements: 1. high-quality PYD environments, 2. opportunities to build workforce readiness, 3. engagement that fosters emotional and social development, 4. activities that support post-secondary planning, and 5. emphasizing positive decisions that lead to youth being healthy, engaged, and prepared to thrive outcomes. Serving youth in grades 8-12, the Idaho 4-H State Teen Association Convention (STAC) is a four-day, three-night event for teens on the University of Idaho campus that helps youth find career interests and develop critical skills for success. The program includes workshops and tours, on-campus living, community service projects, opportunities to develop leadership skills and build supportive relationships with peers and adults. STAC is planned by a steering committee of youth, 4-H professionals and volunteers throughout Idaho. By supporting youth voice, youth-adult partnerships and providing a strong developmental context, STAC promotes Youth key developmental outcomes. On a post-program survey, 127 out of 144 youth responded to how true statements were for them because of their STAC experience. The response revealed significant outcomes, with high percentages of youth reporting that the following statements were "very true" or "extremely true". Professionalism and Work Ethic: 89% know how to act professionally 97% understand that employers expect high-quality work. 88% feel capable of working hard on challenging tasks. Career Readiness and Exploration: 80% reported that STAC helped prepare them for work and career. 81% explored career areas that align with their interests.? Responsibility and Accountability: 90% accept responsibility for their actions. 94% strive to make things right when they err. 88% apologize when they hurt someone's feelings. The College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls,is a partner in meeting ATP goals through the Summer Career Academies.Designed to support youthexperiencesthrough hands-on learningand career exploration, sevencareer academies reached 684 youth. Here are just 3: The Tech and Trades Academy aim to keep manufacturing in America vital. The industry needs a workforce that is increasing in numbers and prepared to keep pace with advances in technology. This summer academy is designed for students, 12-17 years old, to support individuals in discovering their interest in trades and to encourage the pursuit of a manufacturing career. The Summer Ag Academy focuses on agriculture, the most important industry to the Magic Valley and to the state of Idaho. Students of the age 12-17 explore what agriculture is all about as they learn about the diversity and breadth of the industry. Students tour ag businesses and participate in hands-on learning activities at the CSI Breckenridge Farm with the CSI Agriculture Department. Agriculture is so much more than farming - students explore the entire process of bringing agricultural commodities to market. From farm to table students learn about Crop production, Soil, Irrigation, Animal care, Veterinary technology, Food processing and Ag equipment. Team Logic Control - Robotics is CSI's first robotics team "Magic Valley Logic Control" which gives high school students the opportunity to learn electronics, programming, mechanical, engineering design, and people skills in a hands-on environment. By building and programming their own robot to compete against teams from across the country and beyond, students develop not just technical skills, but their problem solving, teamwork, and ingenuity. Ages 14-18 can operate the robot at competition. 12-18 can help build the robot and participate in the STEM activities. Many more workshops were delivered through participating counties through club, camp, and special interest programs. Goal #4 for the Agriscience & Technology Pathways is to engage older youth participants through agriscience technology industry tours and pre-professional internships. 79 youth attending the LEAD summit participated in an industry tour to Riverence, the largest U.S. producer of farm trout and Steelhead and Chobani's Twin Falls plant where America's #1 brand of yogurt is made. 143 youth attending STAC participated in industry tours which included; Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, UI Seed Potato Germplasm Laboratory, UI Aquaculture Research Institute, Center for Forest Nursey and Seedling Research, WSU Raptor Center, WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, WSU Bear Center, and WSU Creamery & Dairy. Here is what some youth had to say when asked about something valuable about the tour: I learned about opportunities in natural resources which is of interest of me. Circuits are fun. I learned more about what SEL a company I'm interested in, does. I learned more high school options for these careers. I learned that I need to start shadowing and counting animal hours now, and keeping my grades up to improve the chances of getting into WSU Vet School. I gained more friends, and I am even more positive on what I want to do in the future The final ATP goal #5 is to develop AgriSTEM educational kits to be used across the UI Extension 4-H system to engage youth. There are several Agri-STEM & Agri-Literacy Learning Kits under development and in different stages of the publishing process. Idaho Dairy Learning Kits are now published and in the process of getting stocked and distributed throughout the four Extension Districts in Idaho. The Idaho Potatoes, and the Sugarbeets Agri-STEM & Agri-Literacy Learning Kits are still in progress with some lessons/activities needing to be completed.

Publications

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Agriscience Technology Pathways (ATP) addresses the shortage of youth entering agriculture careers related to data science, artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, genetics, and biotechnology. ATP aims to foster interest, agriculture literacy, and STEM skills, through real-life experiences in agriculture innovation. The project has increased (Ag. STEM) learning and access to youth to attend the State Teen Association Convention, State 4-H LEAD Summit, 4-H Summer Camps, the National 4-H Ignite Summitand more. In its first year, ATP has served 1,123 with Ag. STEM Programming.The demographic of youth reached are as followed: 720 female 401 male 10 other 39 Native American 7 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 7 Black/African American 491 White/Caucasian 5 Two or more/other 26 Hispanic/Latino 548 Underdetermined Changes/Problems:The major challenges encoutered during this last year were mentioned in the previous question regarding what you plan to do to reach goals for the comming year. Most of those centered on increasing the number of participating counties (4-H professionals) in ATP programming activities and getting participating counties to accurately report the number of youth served. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?ATP has supported the training of 56 4-H professionals and volunteers in AgRobotics and Ag. Literacy Kits. AgRobotics is a new program in Idaho that resulted from two 4-H professionals attending a training at Texas A&M. Once trained the two were able to furnish robots and materials to participating counties through the ATP grant and other funding sources. Some 4-H professions and volunteers were trained on the Dairy Science Learning Kit that was piloted by Matt Fisher and is now in the process of getting published. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Outreach activities through ATP are communicated through the 4-H network of emails to families, volunteers, and professionals and county and state newsletters. In addition, targeted communication engages 4-H programs that serve underrepresented populations such as the Military Partnership, Juntos, and the Tribal 4-H Programs. University of Idaho Impact Reports were written for participating ATP activities such as the Idaho 4-H LEAD Summit, the State Teen Association Convention. Those impact reports can be found on university's website: https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/about/impacts What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This first year has provided ample challenges that will be address this coming year. Although county 4-H programs are eligible for ATP funds to support youth registration costs and transportation to overnight camps if they offer AgSTEM learning opportunities to youth, there were only two counties that participated. We had anticipated at least 10 counties when we had written the grant proposal. The PI and coPI will be marketing this ATP partnerships with camps to 4-H professionals through meetings, flyers, and more to increase the number of ATP offerings at camps in 2025. One of the Tribal 4-H Programs lost their 4-H Educator which curtailed the level of programming originally planned for that target audience. The position is likely to be fill at the beginning of 2025. This will require the PI to reach out and build a rapport with the new faculty member to ensure full participation in ATP. The AmeriCorps program reaches nearly 10,000 youth each year through 25+ interns. Although interns are trained to deliver AgSTEM activities, once they are placed in the county 4-H Program, its up to the local 4-H coordinator to decide what types of programming will be offered to youth through afterschool, camps, and special interest programs. Again, the PI and CoPI's will need to market and encourage count 4-H professionals to deliver ATP activities and report on the number of youth served. Youth served through ATP activities was largely under reported this past year. The AgRobotics Program reached 46 youth from participating Counties. For the coming year, the goal is to double the number of participating youth. This will take more workshops to youth to grow the interest as well as marketing to 4-H professionals across the state. Roughly half of the youth reached were from ATP activities offered at county fairs and county Ag Days. There was no demographic data collected during these events as participants must self-report. Some counties may pilot a demographic collect strategy where youth (or their parent) self-report by dropping a bean in a cup labeled with the gender, race, and ethnicity. These large scale activities serve a higher level of diversity than other deliver modes, makes collecting the data critical to meeting goals to serve underrepresented audiences.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In 2023, Idaho 4-H launched the 4-H LEAD Summit. The objective of LEADS is to challenge youth in supportive ways to encourage them to learn, grow and improve their leaderships skills through various workshops ranging from drones, robots, Agriscience, art and more. Held over a weekend in the fall, 4-H LEADS is open to youth in grades 8 through 12 from all delivery modes (Club, Camp, Afterschool, In-School, Military Partnership, Juntos, etc.). This new program promotes sparks, belonging and relationships while empowering Youth Voice to lead change within their 4-H club, school and/or community. With an emphasis on leadership development, the program provides learning and teaching opportunities for teens in the areas of agricultural sciences, health & well-being, STEM and expressive arts. For three days, dedicated volunteers and UI Extension 4-H professionals worked directly with youth to help positively impact youth participation by giving them the opportunity to lead. LEADS was planned with youth voice and choice in mind. By working with other motivated participants, youth chose their areas of interest and took what they learned to implement in their counties and community. To determine if LEADS was successful and a quality program, we used the 4-H Thriving Model evaluation instrument which identifies and predicts specific factors influencing program quality. Data was collected from 53 of 75 youth who participated. The Developmental Context Instrument measures the extent to which youth experience spark, sense of belonging and developmental relationships with adults in the program. Data is determined as follows: Very low-quality experience = 1.0 to 2.2 Low quality experience = 2.3 to 3.5 Moderately quality experience = 3.6 to 4.8 High quality experience = 4.9 to 6.1 Very high-quality experience = 6.1 to 7.0 According to the data, LEADS was perceived as a very high-quality program with an overall developmental context score of 6.13 which is a significant predictor of Youth Thriving and Positive Youth Developmental Outcomes. Thriving youth are developing the skills to be beyond ready for work and life. The Ag. STEM workshops were highly rated by youth. The LEAD Summit was ranked the highest quality of the statewide teen programs. The ATP Program partners with the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) to offer Career Academy (day camps) through the summer. Themed Academies on Agriculture, Modern Manufacturing, and Computer Science reached 147 youth. Grant funds were used to provide transportation for field trips and to provide access to youth who did not have transportation to and from the CSI campus. Although an evaluation tool was made available, there was a very low response rate. We have discussed with CSI collaborators on how we can improve the response rate next year. The responses that were submitted were rated high. With support from the ATP Program, the Idaho 4-H State Teen Association Convention held at the end of June each year garnered more Ag. STEM workshops and career exploration field trips. Participants submitted rankings on workshops using a scale of 1-5 on six questions related to their experience. Topping the list were Agriculture Science and Technology related workshops with the class average rating out of 30 possible points: Livestock Vet Medicine 29.4 Heart Function and Anatomy 27.2 Decoding DNA 27.2 Forestry 101 27 Engineering for Disasters 26.3 Let's Plant for Pollinators 26 Wonders of Water 24.3 Fun with LED's 23.4 Idrone 21 Power of Data Science 19.3 In its first year, ATP reached 1,123 youth through the following outreach activities: 548 County Fair and Ag. Days youth AgSTEM activities 267 State and National 4-H Conferences 157 Camps 35 Afterschool Programs 46 AgRobotics 70 Special Interest

Publications