Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The San Carlos Apache Tribe Extension project desires to develop the skills, aspirations, attitudes, and behaviors of San Carlos Apache youth through programs in gardening, nutrition, cattle husbandry, horsemanship, and 4-H Clubs. Our extension office hopes to instill life skills of responsibility, generosity, and entrepreneurship in youth by involving them raising their own food in traditional Apache and conventional gardening, cattle production knowledge and application, horsemanship competency, and preschool programs in nutrition, gardening, physical activity, and early literacy. We will use classroom and demonstration and practice techniques, through which we will employ artistic, applied math, reading, and hands-on methods to motivate young people on the reservation to adopt positive attitudes concerning growing their own food, raising their own animals, learning archery, arts and crafts, and archaeology-- acquiring the traditional Apache culture that is connected with these activities. We will encourage them to adopt sustainable and traditional Apache techniques, and to continue post-secondary education at colleges, universities, and technical schools, so that they may have successful careers, in which they will pass on their knowledge to the wider San Carlos Apache community. We will strive to inspire adults from many career sectors in the community to teach and collaborate with youth and other adults, in order for them to become self-sufficient, "to learn how to catch a fish, not to be given a fish," that is, to learn skills that will last a lifetime, rather than receive to give away incentives that encourage dependency.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Extension Program Objectives: Extension will continue the 5 gardening programs at schools, with the Rehabilitation and Detention Center, with the 4-H club, and with Boys and Girls Club, which emphasize gardening techniques, soils, and principles of growth and maintenance. We will hold 6 classes/activities per year with each group. We will expand our programs to include community and youth outreach: students and youth will complete 1 service project each year for each group, in order to increase gardening in the communities of the reservation. They will also explore local markets in the community to sell produce, with the aim of selling to at least one market. Youth will learn how to plant seeds, garden, and market produce, and will plant 5 gardens and sell produce at 1 market by the 3rd year. Extension will continue to teach 6 classes of nutrition principles, as well as agricultural literacy, concerning the food system, and promote food safety at the 5 sites. The 4-H Gardening Club, as well as the schools, will incorporate traditional Apache foods into their hands-on activities. Youth will learn and apply 5 nutritional concepts, practice 5 techniques to ensure food safety, and identify-5 differences between conventional, natural and organic foods. We will involve 50 students and youth in the first year, and hope to grow to 100 youth by the last year of the program. Extension will involve the San Carlos Cattle Associations, R-100 Tribal Ranch, NRCS, San Carlos NRCD, BIA, the Extension Agent and Specialists to promote understanding and application of cattle production and financial principles, including recordkeeping in both, and cattle production, ranch, and range management. Youth will work together with the adult organizations listed above, in concert with the 4-H Beef Club and the Rehabilitation and Detention Center, to learn and practice 10 cattle production techniques such as sorting cattle and vaccination of cattle. We will work with 10 youth in the first year, 20 in the second year, 30 in the third year, and 40 in the fourth year. Extension will include local Apache and area Horse Trainers, the Extension Agent, Extension Specialists, Hoofin' It Tack and Feed Store, and the R-100 Tribal Ranch to conduct 4 youth and adult combined workshops/clinics on natural horsemanship, horse safety, equine science, working cattle with horses, and rodeo events per year. Youth/adults will learn 5 basic horsemanship skill categories and methods within these skill areas, including grooming, riding, training, working cattle, and rodeo. Youth will be able to identify 5 different types of horse hay and 5 types of feeds, know how to properly feed a horse, understand basic veterinary concepts and identify 10 major equine illnesses, as well as practice simpler veterinary techniques such as vaccination. We will work with 10 youth in the first year, 20 in the second year, 30 in the third year, and 40 in the fourth year. Our preschool program will reach 113 youth in 2-4 preschools and 5 home childcare providers, to promote gardening, healthy eating, and early literacy. Youth and caregivers will learn how to identify healthy snacks and meals, and how to prepare them, how to garden, and will plant a garden at each of the 11 locations. United Way and the Extension Instructional Specialist will train caregivers in 3 curriculums, Color Me Healthy, Family Bookbag, and Try It, Grow It, Like It, using basic math, reading , art, and hands-on methods and involving preschool youth in the training. 113 Preschoolers will become more physically active, learn how to grow their own food, eat more healthy foods, and improve reading skills. Extension will continue to revive 4-H clubs, which include a gardening club with 15 members. We will recruit at least 5 more club leaders, and 20 resource leaders, and revive the archaeology, archery, and arts and crafts clubs in the 4 years of the grant period. We will hold leader orientation for club leaders as they are recruited, and leader training at least once per year. We will establish a 4-H leader's council, as new leaders join, and that council will review and formulate 4-H rules and regulations, as well as suggest and implement youth leadership and community service activities. The council will determine how often they will meet. Extension will form a youth advisory committee, consisting of 4-H leaders, tribal agency, and community representatives. This committee will meet twice per year to review extension programs, give suggestions, and provide adult leadership to implement reservation-wide projects, at least 1 per year, to unite the various youth programs and provide outreach to the community-at least 1 youth will serve on this committee. The Extension Agent and Extension Staff will attend these meetings and the Gila County Cooperative Extension Director will attend the final meeting per year, and report extension activities to the University of Arizona Director of Economic Development and Extension. The Extension Agent will appoint members during the first year, after that, members of the committee will nominate new members. At the beginning, 5 members will serve for 2 years, with the option to continue for a 2nd term of 2 years. The Extension Agent and Staff will continue existing grants and pursue new grants to increase FRTEP program leverage--the amount of new grants applied for will depend upon staffing and existing grant workload. Extension will consider grants through First Things First, WSARE and other USDA sources.
Project Methods
Extension Plan: The San Carlos Extension Office plans to provide tribal youth with various opportunities for growth and leadership, particularly in areas of gardening and nutrition, including traditional Apache gardening, and cattle husbandry and horsemanship, which are traditional activities of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Our projects will be with 2 Alternative High Schools, Boys and Girls Club, San Carlos Rehabilitation and Detention Center, and through 4-H Clubs. Our Preschool Program, beginning in 2013, and funded through a state and regional First Things First grant, San Carlos: Nutrition, Obesity, Physical Activity, aims to prevent obesity in children ages 0-5 by educating young children and their caregivers through gardening, nutrition, and early literacy. University of Arizona Extension Personnel, Extension Personnel from other land grant universities, local reservation and non-reservation experts and elders will all contribute to our youth development program. We plan to use Western Sustainable Agriculture and Education programs and grants to enhance these activities. In the past, we have used WSARE and USDA People's Garden grant funds for these types of projects. Activities will include the following: Gardening: Through the Junior Master Gardener Program (JMG), youth will learn garden principles and practice hands-on garden techniques - plant needs, composting, planting seeds, seed saving, soils, land preparation, planting and design of gardens, which we began in 2012. Also, an area of expansion will be outreach to primary school youth on how to plant, donations of produce to elders and others, and selling produce to local markets, which will develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills in youth, and expand their influence to others in the community. Nutrition: Youth will learn basic nutrition principles with hands-on, graphic, and DVD methods from the JMG gardening and nutrition curriculum, including reading nutrition labels, My Plate, taste testing, smoothie making, healthy snacks, food safety, understanding organic and natural foods, and the agricultural food system. Cattle Husbandry: Youth will work with the 5 San Carlos Cattle Associations, the R 100 Tribal Ranch, the University of Arizona Extension Agent, and University of Arizona Extension Specialists, using classroom and hands-on techniques, to learn about cattle production, which will consist of recordkeeping, including production and financial records, cattle nutrition, range management, judging cattle, handling cattle humanely, bull selection, and breeding cattle. Horsemanship: Youth will work with Horse Trainers, the Extension Agent, Extension Specialists, and their 4-H Leader to learn about and practice natural horsemanship training techniques, horse nutrition, hoof care, riding and safety techniques, working cattle with horses, and rodeo events. Preschool Program: The preschool program will use three curriculums to teach about gardening, nutrition, and physical activity, involving hands-on, artistic, mathematical, and physical movement methods, at appropriate developmental stages, in order to help children develop healthy habits in eating, exercise, and growing their own food at an early age. The curriculums are evidence-based and consist of Color Me Healthy, Family Bookbag, and Grow It, Try It, Like It. We will be hiring an instructional specialist to manage this program in 2013. Our extension office is a subcontractor with United Way of Tucson on this grant. In 2012, the Extension Agent, through an Americorps VISTA volunteer, conducted a needs assessment for Youth Development using snowball sampling, where 5 initial stakeholders recommended other community members, and each new stakeholder suggested other community members. In summary, stakeholders recommended the following: continuance of gardening and school programs, the reinvigoration of 4-H clubs, opportunities for adult courses, cattle and livestock education, particularly with respect to youth involvement with cattle. Other advice consisted of these ideas: use of hands-on activities so that youth will stay more interested in activities or an academic lesson--classrooms settings are often not conducive to an interactive, effective educational atmosphere for San Carlos Youth. Another theme expressed in the interview was the importance of traditional Apache diet and gardens, traditional religion and sense of balance, using elders as a cultural resource, medicinal plants and holistic cures, craft items as well as other possibilities to help the youth gain a greater sense of pride in their culture. Additionally, interviews showed that the extension office needs to better employ the Tribe's Archeology Department and Culture Center to teach cultural symbols.