Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
The WA 4-H State Teen Conference programming offers 4-H youth from varying economic and educational backgrounds an edge in preparing the skills, experiences, and developmental opportunities for post-secondary education.Inspired by motivated WA 4-H State Teen Conference youth organizers seeking advancement in workforce innovation, leadership skills, and experiential learning, 4-H youth (ages 14-18) attending the WA 4-H State Teen Conference can better reframe a higher education investment with an introduction to the WSU College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Science's (CAHNRS) programs, while reducing uncertainty about future academic plans by participating in the WSU on-campus conference in Pullman, WA. The funding from the USDA SPECA grant would support the fiscal challenges attributing to statewide youth participation by offering 40 conference registration scholarships to a 4-H youth member from each of the 38 Washington counties and 2 Tribal Offices. By implementing this tactic, the proposed WA 4-H State Teen Conference can ensure statewide participation to encourage the economic mobilization of statewide low-income youth (while also providing additional opportunities for 4-H Juntos program participants and youth within the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program), to bridge post-secondary academic and mentoring opportunities by participating in innovative, experiential learning workshops, community service engagement, and networking opportunities.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The 4-H Youth Development program is the youth outreach initiative of our Nation's Cooperative Extension Service, serving as a model for positive youth development. The WA 4-H State Teen Conference hosted by Washington State University (WSU) is an annual event that supports our mission of education, outreach, collaboration, and advancement. The WA 4-H State Teen Conference provides a platform for agricultural education, engages with youth, fosters collaboration, promotes advancements, and cultivates future leaders in the field of agriculture.The overall goal of the WA 4-H State Teen Conference will be to encourage young people to consider post-secondary education in food and agricultural sciences through our three primary objectives:Objective 1: Increase participation of statewide low-income students in the WA4-HTC by 40 attendees to advance social, career, and leadership interests in agriculture and food science.Objective 2: Provide over 28 educational preparation courses and experiential workshops to support the recruitment and retention of participants to encourage post-secondary educational avenues of success, including providing a peer-to-peer mentoring program.Objective 3: Engage in a meaningful community service project for conference youth to demonstrate their commitment to making a difference and showcase their ability to balance academic responsibilities with extracurricular activities.
Project Methods
The support for WA 4-H Teen Conference can better ensure that financial constraints do not hinder the participation of WA youth passionate about post-secondary education at a land-grant institution.Objective 1: Increase participation of statewide low-income students in the WA 4-H Teen Conference by 40 attendees to advance social, career, and leadership interests in agriculture and food science.Method: The scholarship announcement will be shared with each 4-H county coordinator to share with clubs and local school districts, plus the 4-H statewide e-newsletter, and a social media campaign. Optimizing the online application process through 4-H Online for Conference Registration Scholarships will be a familiar, accessible resource for statewide 4-H youth and families. The Conference Registration Scholarships would allow attendees to address their financial limitations and how the scholarship opportunity would benefit their environment, regarding the WA 4-H Teen Conference event. County 4-H coordinators will review applications and provide the preferred applicant with the follow-up communication that their conference registration fee (including housing and dining) is covered.Objective 2: Provide over 28 educational preparation courses and experiential workshops to support the recruitment and retention of participants to encourage post-secondary educational avenues of success by creating a new annual theme, inviting additional speakers, experts, and previous conference alumni, plus supporting the latest trends in youth interests.Method: The speakers, tours and networking events drive the agenda, and the youth register in advance for the workshops, selecting topics they are most interested in. A/V equipment will be used by instructors to provide efficient delivery in classrooms and field location sites. WSU on-campus van transportation will used to assist students in navigating the 1742-acre rural campus and community business tours.Objective 3: Engage in a meaningful community service project for conference youth to demonstrate their commitment to making a difference and showcase their ability to balance academic responsibilities with extracurricular activities.Method: The service project, led by the 10-member Youth Advocates for Health (YA4-H) team, will take place on the fourth day of the conference. The teen participants will assemble 400-500 Kind-Care-Kits for the Ronald McDonald Housing (RMHC) locations to comfort the siblings of the hospitalized youth. The kits will be activity and art-based, helping with mental wellness as families deal with medical needs of one of their children. The goal of the service project is to cultivate a sense of social responsibility, empathy, and personal growth while empowering young individuals to contribute to the well-being of their communities.Attending the WA 4-H Teen Conference will be a transformative experience for students, especially those students who may have financial limitations and cannot attend without scholarship assistance. Removing the barrier of uncertainty at a higher education location can provide better decision-making on a post-secondary education path, enhanced enrollment, and increased student satisfaction.The success of the conference and our proposed objectives will be evaluated and analyzed with a Qualtrics survey, the collection of number of participants, time contributed, and testimonials to obtain feedback and make improvements, using the following methods:· Overall conference pre- and post-surveys to evaluate any shifts in participants' attitudes and perceptions towards agriculture. This will include measuring changes in their interest in agriculture as a career path, or their perception of their community's potential for innovation and sustainability.· Individual workshops pre- and post-surveys to review skill development and knowledge dissemination.· Monitoring of the formation of collaborations initiated during or after the conference.· A six-month follow-up survey after the conference to assess the progress made on the impact on the participants' post-secondary goals.The accomplishment of products, results, and measurable impacts from the WA 4-H Teen Conference will be evaluated using the data analysis from participants' interests, needs, and perspectives. Data collection methods include pre- and post-conference knowledge assessments, interviews, observations, social media monitoring, quantitative analysis of registration data, and theme identification for key takeaways and improvement areas. We will also conduct interviews and focus group discussions with participants, organizers, and stakeholders.When evaluating progress towards SPECA program goals, (1) expanding opportunities for economic development and (2)improving quality of rural life for youth, it's important for the WA 4-H Teen Conference planning committee to consider a range of strategies and metrics such as: enrollment and graduation rates in rural schools, and the number of vocational training programs available, availability of high speed internet, job opportunities and employment rates in rural areas, reduced rates of substance abuse and mental health issues among rural youth, availability of transportation options for rural youth, availability of mentoring programs, and the youth participation rates in community events and activities.Optimizing youth support strategies for a motivated workforce that's proud to represent USDA would include examples from the WA 4-H Teen Conference such as mentorship programs, learning and development opportunities, and representation of youth from diverse backgrounds and marginalized communities to advance to higher positions within the USDA more rapidly.We will measure the impacts of the youth agricultural conference; you can consider the following indicators and evaluation methods:Indicator: Attendance and Participation, Evaluation Method: Measure the number of attendees, including youth participants, speakers, and stakeholders. Assess their level of engagement during the conference, such as active participation in discussions, workshops, and networking sessions.Indicator: Feedback and Surveys, Evaluation Method: Conduct post-conference surveys to gather feedback from participants. Ask them to rate their satisfaction with the conference, the relevance of the topics discussed, the quality of speakers, and overall organization.Indicator: Knowledge and Skill Development, Evaluation Method: Assess the knowledge and skills acquired by participants through pre- and post-conference assessments. Compare their understanding of agricultural concepts, practices, and challenges before and after the conference.Indicator: Networking and Collaboration, Evaluation Method: Evaluate the extent to which participants established new connections, collaborations, or partnerships during the conference. Monitor the number of follow-up activities, joint initiatives, or projects initiated because of the networking opportunities provided by the conference.Indicator: Behavior Change and Implementation, Evaluation Method: Monitor the extent to which participants implemented the knowledge and skills gained from the conference. This can be measured through follow-up surveys to assess changes in their adoption practices.Indicator: Policy and Advocacy Impact, Evaluation Method: Assess the influence of the conference on policy development or advocacy efforts related to youth in agriculture.Indicator: Long-term Impact, Evaluation Method: Conduct follow-up assessments or surveys several months after the conference to track the long-term impact on participants' agricultural careers, educational pursuits, or community engagement.