Progress 09/01/17 to 08/08/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The 4-H Youth Development Program targets youth from the age of 5 to 18. FRTEP encourages tribal youth in this age group to participate in the 4-H program to help them develop skills in raising different animals, develop self discipline, communication, leadership and other life skills. The FRTEP Program also includes the CRIT Head Start students which are between the ages of 3-5. are exposed to vegetable gardening at the school garden. At age 5-8, the kids are enrolled in Clover Buds and from 8-18, they are enrolled in 4-H Clubs. These are voluntary and it is up to the parents to enroll their kids to the 4-H program. To encourage participation, a recruitment info drive is conducted every year to inform all parents about the program and it's benefits to the youth. Another project that promotes youth development is the school garden at Le Pera Elementary School. It caters to students at the local school within the reservation. It is targeted primarily to the 7th and 8th grades but interested classes in the lower grades are also welcome to participate. Aside from the 7th and 8th grades, the garden gets participation from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. The school is open to all students of any race, so our participants include tribal students as well as non-tribal students. The farming sector in the reservation is composed of both tribal farmers and non-tribal farmers who leased lands from the tribe. The tribe also runs it own corporate farm. These farmers operate a total of 70,000 acres of land within the reservation. FRTEP provides workshops, field trials and consultations on crop, pest and disease management, nutrition, in collaboration with the Extension Specialists and Ag Agents from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. The ANR Tribal Community is targeted to the rest of the tribal community who are interested in Vegetable Gardening, food preservation and backyard cattle production. FRTEP provides gardening and food preservation workshops, demonstration and community gardens to help community members learn and improve gardening techniques. Backyard cattle production is also growing, with more of the younger members of the community getting into cattle growing. The FRTEP program also reached out to the Agriculture Sector by providing crop update workshops to farmers in the reservation. Farmers get the latest research results from the Extension Specialist from the University. These workshops also provide continuing education units which the farmers need to renew their permits to use pesticides. As the reservation is very close to the town of Parker, the FRTEP program also has participants from the town of Parker who are non-tribal and are mostly Caucasians and Hispanics. Changes/Problems:The major challenge facing the area is water. The long-term drought in the Southwest has brought the water level of Lake Mead/Hoover Dam to critical levels. This means less water for everyone - both for human consumption and agriculture. Unless the weather condition changes, the area will be forced to reduce farming acreage and production due to lack of water. In the past five years, farming areas have already been fallowed because of the reduction in water supply. Drip irrigation studies are ongoing in the field to determine the economic viability for the two major crops of the reservation - Alfalfa and Cotton. FRTEP is working with CRIT Farms, and N-Drip (a drip irrigation company) on these drip irrigation studies in Alfalfa and Cotton. And consultations are ongoing with the soil health specialist of the University of Arizona. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?FRTEP has two annual conferences that provides professional development opportunities for Extension Educators. These provide the extension educators an opportunity to share good practices and learn from each other on what works best for tribal communities. Also an online FRTEP workshop was conducted on Collaboration and how to make it an effective tool in doing Tribal Extension work in the face of FRTEP's limited resources. The Intertribal Agricultural Council (IAC) as well as the Southwest Indian Agricultural Association (SWIAA) has invited FRTEP agents to participate in their annual conferences. This has provided networking opportunities to learn what is happening in other tribal communities and what programming can be adapted to your own community. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?* While local press continue to provide a medium to disseminate information to the community, Social media has developed into a good medium of disseminating information about the activities of the project. Community members readily share postings of workshops and other activities that are posted on Facebook and Instagram. The weekly Ag Newletter of the Cooperative Extension is emailed to farmers to provide current weather, pest and diseases and other information relevant to farming operations. * Exhibits and posters were displayed during the La Paz County Fair to showcase the services and projects of FRTEP and the County Extension Office. These are updated every year with new information and pictures of activities for the current year. * The TribalExtension.Org webpageis updated regularly with information and pictures of the CRIT FRTEP Projects and success stories. The Tribal Extension Website is at: https://tribalextension.org/project/colorado-river-indian-tribes/ * Le Pera Elementary School has featured the school garden in their school website as a program that the school offers. They call it the Learning Garden. Here's the link to their website: https://lp.parkerusd.org/o/le-pera/page/school-garden What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?* The main thrust of the 4-H program is to get more youth to participate in the program. A major recruitment activity is planned at the start of the school year to encourage students to enroll in 4-H. The clubs are also preparing for a "Back-to-4H Bash" to provide youth and families with more information about the program and the benefits that the youth gain for being in 4-H. Additional programs will be introduced to capture the interest of more youth. The shooting and fishing sports are other options that kids can participate. A NAAF grant has provided drones which can be used to teach the youth of its many uses, like making maps, wildlife or cattle monitoring, and in farming. These can bring more youth with different interests to the program. Other opportunities and grant funding will be explored to provide more learning opportunity for the youth to capture their spark or interest. * The Fab Lab is another project that can provide more learning opportunity for the youth. The setbacks brought by Covid-19 and the resignation of the Science teacher handling the Fab Lab has limited the learnings that the lab can provide to the youth. FRTEP will work closely with the replacement teacher to maximize the use of the Fab Lab. * The school garden project will introduce hydroponics as an additional offering to students. This may improve interest in gardening having something new to learn. When funding allows, a greenhouse is planned in the future. * The CRIT Food Distribution Program Community garden will continue to provide season-long outdoor classes on vegetable gardening. CRIT FDP will construct a shed near the garden where classes can be held. Interest in expanding the community garden is still under consideration and has gained support from a couple of council members and the CRIT Farm manager. This community garden will help develop producers that can eventually support the Farmer's Market. * Plans to construct a commercial kitchen are in place. This will support the interest in food preservation that the community has shown in the few food preservation workshops that were offered this year. Funds from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension was obtained through a grant to purchase the basic equipment needed for the commercial kitchen. This will be placed at the County Extension Office building.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Priority 1: Tribal Youth: * From 2017-2022, 4-H youth members went through the program and activities learning life skills and developing communication and leadership skills along the process. These past two years, senior 4-H members participated in State 4-H leadership activities, and one tribal member became a 4-H State Ambassador representing both the county of La Paz and CRIT 4-H. That was the first time, that a CRIT tribal member became a State 4-H Youth Ambassador. This shows an accomplishment of one of the medium-term goals of the program. Other senior members play active leadership roles in their respective clubs. * The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected the 4-H program. The enrollment dropped 50% in 2020-2021. As the situation improved, recruitment efforts were intensified to bring the youth back in 4-H. A "Back-to-4-H Bash" was conducted before enrollment where clubs sponsored a waterslide activity and brought their animals to show invited youth what 4-H is all about. This attracted families to come and have fun and get to know more about the 4-H program. Information tables were set at the venue to answer questions that parents may have about the program. Flyers were sent out to schools and distributed to each student to bring home to their parents. This resulted in a 175% increase in enrollment from last year. All animal projects were sold during the county fair. CRIT Tribal council supported all tribal youth by making sure that all their animals were bought at the fair. They allocated $75,000 for this year alone. Overall, the county fair generated $400,000 in animal sales. Plans are already in place to do another recruitment push to bring enrollment back to pre-covid numbers or better. * The school garden continues to provide students with learnings on food production and physical activity. Each year new students participate in the garden as they enter the 7th and 8th grades. They learn, hands-on, all gardening activities from soil bed preparation up to harvesting. They get to grow different vegetable crops in both the cool season and warm season planting. They also get to learn how to take care of perennial crops from the adjacent fruit grove. Both the vegetable garden and the fruit grove have provided the students with valuable knowledge that they could use in their Ag subject in high school, as well as practical knowledge in growing food crops in their backyard. The school is very supportive of the program as this sets them apart from other school in the district. They have included the project in their website and called it a learning garden. They community has also come to know of the garden because the students sell the produce from the garden to the community to raise funds for the PTSO for their year-end activities. Some of the funds were also used to buy tomato cages for the garden. The project is still not self-liquidating but the students are learning that food production is also an income generating activity and could be a good livelihood in the future. * Another program that was introduced just before Covid-19 hit was the 4-H Fab Lab Project. In 2019 a University of Arizona grant established a Fab Lab for tribal students to explore new technologies in fabrication and teach them new skills. The grant was able to provide 3D printers, a Vinyl Cutter, and a laser engraver. It also provided laptops that can interface with these equipment, and other accessories and supplies. A memorandum of agreement was signed with Le Pera School to house the project and provide a teacher to manage the project. Unfortunately, the project has not taken off properly because of Covid-19. Now that the Covid situation has improved, the Fab Lab program suffered another setback as the teacher assigned to manage the project has resigned. Hopefully this year, a new teacher will be assigned and get the program running to its full capacity. Students are eager to learn new technologies. This is first step in preparing the youth for the 21st century, learning new technologies and practical applications of STEM concepts learned in school. Priority 2 - Farmers: * The FRTEP Ag and Natural Resources program has continued to provide workshops for farmers in the reservation. Extension specialists and Ag Agents were invited to provide latest crop updates. During the pandemic, crop updates were conducted online through Zoom. In 2021, workshops went back to in-person. FRTEP collaborated with State Extension Specialists and Ag Agents to provide crop updates and field consultations to the farmers in the valley. Topics ranging from pest and disease management, plant nutrition, weed control, weather forecasts were provided by the specialist to help farmers in managing their farms. The workshop also offers Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that farmers, crop advisers and certified pesticide applicators need to maintain or renew their respective certifications. Farm visits were also conducted to address specific farmer concerns. Field trials are conducted to generate local data and address pressing pest and weed problems. A weekly AZ Ag newsletter is also forwarded to the farmers to provide additional information. University of California Cooperative Extension Ag Agents were invited to present topics on newly discovered pests in the neighboring farms in Blythe, as these may have the potential of reaching the farm areas in the reservation. Priority 3 - Tribal Community: * The aim to establish a farmer's market has also experienced a setback during the pandemic. Before Covid-19 struck, FRTEP has already organized a couple of Farmer's market activity that was well received by the community. Local producers and food processors also participated in the activity. Although there was an increased interest in gardening as people were staying at home, the restrictions on outdoor gatherings has prevented the program in organizing another farmer's market. Now that the situation is getting better, the program will work on having a farmer's market again starting in the fall/winter season. * The demonstration garden at the Extension Office compound has provided some learning experience for tribal high school interns. The CRIT Employment Development and Training Program provided two high school interns to the Tribal Extension and were assigned to take care of the garden which for the season, is growing tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, squash and watermelons. At harvest, the interns were taught to preserve the produce from the garden by dehydrating them, making them into salsa and spaghetti sauce. The interns also gathered mesquite beans, a traditional food of CRIT. These are processed into flour and jelly. * The CRIT Food Distribution community garden project was shut down during the pandemic. This year, the project is being rehabilitated after almost two years on inactivity. The irrigation system needs replacement. Participation is still very low. Hopefully, as things normalize, we can bring back old, as well as invite new participants to the community garden.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The 4-H Youth Development Program targets youth from the age of 5 to 18. FRTEP encourages tribal youth in this age group to participate in the 4-H program to help them develop skills in raising different animals, develop self discipline, communication, leadership and other life skills. The gardening project targets the school children from head start up to the junior high. Participation depends on the willingness of the teachers to participate in the garden project. Six classes participated at Le Pera Elementary School, one class at Wallace Elementary School and one at the CRIT Head Start. Adult community members are also targeted as well as the senior population to promote physical activity and production of local nutritious and healthy food. Raised garden boxes were established at the CRIT Senior Center so the clients can do gardening without bending over. The garden at the CRIT Food Distribution Center cater to the low-income clients of the Food Distribution Program. A vegetable demonstration garden was established at the Extension Office with the help of Master Gardener volunteers to reach out to the whole community. The FRTEP program also reached out to the Agriculture Sector by providing crop update workshops to farmers in the reservation. Farmers get the latest research results from the Extension Specialist from the University. These workshops also provide continuing education units which the farmers need to renew their permits to use pesticides. Changes/Problems:Only challenge foreseen is the uncertainty of the Covid situation. New variants have developed that are found to be more virulent and more transmissible. Although online platforms have provided a good alternative in delivering our programs, some of the projects like gardening and the 4-H Fab Lab cannot be done online. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?*Attended the Virtual IAC Annual conference; and the Professional Development Conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the annual professional development training provided for all FRTEP Extension Educators. In addition, FRTEP Extension Educators attend the Virtual 2020 Inter Tribal Ag Council Annual Conference, and the Virtual 2020 Southwest Indian Agricultural Association Annual meeting. These provide insights into what other tribes are doing to help develop their community. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?*Local papers and radio have been utilized to disseminate information to the community. FRTEP publishes articles and announcements to the Manataba Messenger, a quarterly publication of the CRIT, as well as the Parker Pioneer, a local newspaper of the town of Parker. *The Weekly Ag Newsletter of the Cooperative Extension is emailed to farmers operating in the valley. This provides information on weather, pest and diseases, and other information relevant to their operations. *Exhibits were displayed during the La Paz County Fair to showcase the services and projects of FRTEP and the County Extension Office. *Webinars and Social Media livestream were utilized to deliver programs when the Covid-19 lockdown was declared to continue to serve the community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?*The 4-H program is preparing for a big recruitment push in anticipation of improving Covid situation and an increasing vaccination rate. This is to bring back enrollment to pre-Covid levels and even more. Campaign materials are prepared for distribution when schools open in August. A back-to-4-H Bash is also planned in September. A waterslide will be set-up for children to enjoy, while parents can get more information about the 4-H program from the information booth. *Re-Launch the Fab Lab project at Le Pera when school opens back hopefully this Fall 2021. The project was not fully utilized due to the pandemic. We plan to get the students be more involved this year and connect the garden with the Fab Lab by challenging them to develop tools that can potentially help solve problems encountered in the garden. *Introduce a hydroponics demonstration garden to get students to learn something new in the garden that may spark interest and stimulate their inquisitive minds. *Resume activities at the CRIT-FDP community garden. Already started laying out schedule of activities with the Director of CRIT FDP. They are also planning to put up table and benches with shade adjacent to the garden that can be used for gardening classes. *Plans for expanding the community garden is in its initial stages. A couple of tribal council members have showed interest in the project and CRIT Farms, is willing to help in developing the location. The goal is to establish a tribal farmer's market once the program develops enough producers to support a sustainable farmer's market.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
4-H: *The Covid-19 pandemic has affected 4-H Youth enrollment. Enrollment went down and activities were cancelled. The shooting and fishing sports were cancelled. The reservation was closed including the river. Fishing was not allowed in the rivers and ponds within the reservation. Market and showmanship classes were also provided online through Zoom, to refresh the kids with information on how to properly groom and present their animals at the fair. Plans were made both for online and in-person animal show and sale. Fortunately, the Covid situation improved in March and the County Fair was allowed to push through in-person. All 4-H members were able to show and sell their animals. Indoor projects were required for all enrolled youth to develop their writing skills. The Tribal Government supported the program by buying all animals of tribal 4-H youth. Gardening: *The school system opened back at the start of the school year on a hybrid type of attendance. The class was divided into two cohorts. One cohort reports to school in-person while the other half stay at home and work on assignment packets. They switch roles every day. So the school garden was able to continue but working only with 50% of the class each week. Even when outdoors, CDC guidelines on wearing face masks, physical distancing and hand washing/sanitation were strictly observed. *The farmer's Market was cancelled by the Tribe due to Covid, so produce from the farm were sold to the parents and teachers, and the nearby community. All proceeds were donated to the Parents, Teachers and Students Organization to fund their year-end awards program. * The CRIT Food Distribution Program community garden and the CRIT Senior Center garden were cancelled due to the Covid mitigating measures. Both facilities were closed to outsiders. Only clients are allowed to pick up food boxes. Hopefully, these projects will resume in the fall planting season. *The demonstration garden at the Extension Office was kept operating even during the office closure. Only the FRTEP Extension Educator and an Americorp member and Master Gardener volunteer were taking care of the garden. Produce from the garden were donated to the senior center, and essential employees of the tribal department offices. Ag and Natural Resources: *In-person field crops updates were cancelled due to Covid. The program transitioned to online workshops to continue to provide important updates on weed, pest and disease management, as well as nutrition and irrigation management for Alfalfa and Cotton, the main crops grown in the reservation. The online workshops also offered CEUs to participants who need them to be able to use and/or purchase pesticides. *Farm visits were also conducted to address farmer calls and help diagnose field problems.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of the 4H program includes all youth in the county between the age of 5 to 18. FRTEP worked closely with the 4H coordinator to encourage participation of Tribal Youth in 4-H. 42 out of the 176 youth participants are tribal members or of Native American descent. There are also 38 club leaders, mostly parents or grandparents, of which 4 are tribal members. The gardening project targets the school children from head start up to the junior high class. Participation depends on the willingness of the teachers to participate in the garden project. Six classes participated at Le Pera Elementary School, four classes at Wallace Elementary School and five at the CRIT Head Start. Adult community members are also targeted as well as the senior population to promote physical activity and production of local nutritious and healthy food. Raised garden boxes were established at the CRIT Senior Center so the clients can do gardening without bending over. The garden at the CRIT Food Distribution Center cater to the low-income clients of the Food Distribution Program. A vegetable demonstration garden was established at the Extension Office with the help of Master Gardener volunteers to reach out to the whole community. The FRTEP program also reached out to the Agriculture Sector by providing crop update workshops to farmers in the reservation. Farmers get the latest research results from the Extension Specialist from the University. These workshops also provide continuing education units which the farmers need to renew their permits to use pesticides. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?*Attended the 2019 FRTEP Professional Development Conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the annual professional development training is provided for all FRTEP Extension Educators. In addition, FRTEP Extension Educators attend the 2019 Inter Tribal Ag Council Annual Conference, and the 2019 Southwest Indian Agricultural Association Annual meeting. These provide insights into what other tribes are doing to help develop their community. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?*Local papers and radio have been utilized to disseminate information to the community. FRTEP publishes articles and announcements to the Manataba Messenger, a quarterly publication of the CRIT, as well as the Parker Pioneer, a local newspaper of the town of Parker. *The Weekly Ag Newsletter of the Cooperative Extension is emailed to farmers operating in the valley. This provides information on weather, pest and diseases, and other information relevant to their operations. *Exhibits were displayed during the La Paz County Fair, and CRIT EXPO, Farmer's Market to showcase the services and projects of FRTEP and the County Extension Office. *Webinars and Social Media livestream were utilized to deliver programs when the Covid-19 lockdown was declared to continue to serve the community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?*The 4-H program is looking at new virtual programs in anticipation of the extension of the Covid-19 restrictions for in-person activities. New programs like Augmented Reality will be provided online if the restrictions continue. Other measures that follow CDC, CRIT and University guidelines for in-person programming are prepared when Covid numbers improve. *Launch the Fab Lab project at Le Pera when school opens back hopefully this fall. *Continue to utilize the school garden project as a tool for learning not only on gardening but also Science, Math and Nutrition Concepts, and as an alternative means to provide physical activity to students. Also stimulate interest of students in farming and food production. *Continue to use the CRIT Food Distribution Program community garden to provide learning opportunity to the low-income tribal members and encourage them to produce their own vegetables. *Increase campaign to encourage more community members to grow their own vegetables and synchronize production to better support the planned farmer's market project. Utilize Master Gardeners and Americorps Volunteers to help educate, encourage and assist community members in their gardening efforts. *Note: The Fab Lab project has been put on hold due to the closure of the schools last March. If schools open up this Fall, the Fab Lab Project will have a trial run for the students in the 7th and 8th grades. These are also the students that are participating in the garden project. We aim to connect the Fab Lab with the gardening project. How the Fab Lab project can potentially help solve problems encountered in the garden.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
4-H: *A total of 176 youth have enrolled in the 4-H program this year for the whole county. Of this, 42 are tribal members or with native American descent. There are four 4-H adult leaders who are tribal members or of Native American descent. Livestock clinics, indoor project training, interview training, record keeping training were provided to help 4-H members with their animal and indoor projects. Market and showmanship classes were also provided to train the kids on how to properly present their animals at the fair. The youth were also required to do community service to train them the importance of giving back to the community. All these have exposed the kids to handle responsibility, develop discipline, and gain self-confidence. *The 4-H program has generated enormous community support. The 4-H Leader's Council organized a Barbeque fundraising which were participated by 4-H families and patronized by the whole community. It generated around $3,000, as well as taught the youth some life lessons of what can be achieved when the community works together for a common goal. Gardening: *The $34,000 grant that was awarded to the FRTEP CRIT from the Extension Strategic Initiative Project of the Cooperative Extension of the University of Arizona last year was mostly used to fund the Fab Lab Project at Le Pera School. The Lab was finally established but the school closure due to Covid-19 prevented us from offering it to the students. Hopefully, if school opens back this fall, the students could avail of the STEM training that the Fab Lab can provide. *Another Farmer's Market was done last November. More vendors participated this time. The school garden participated with produce from the fruit grove. Pomegranates and Lemons were harvested by the students and were displayed at the farmer's market. The student' made $175 from the sale. * Again this year, the students participating in the garden were encouraged to bring their produce home. This is to promote healthy eating and to let parents know that their students are doing gardening and may encourage them to do their own gardening at home. They were able to bring home broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots, and citrus products from the fruit grove. Despite the school closure, the teachers that collaborated with the school garden project continued to take care of the garden and planted watermelons and tomatoes. CDC guidelines on Covid-19 mitigation were followed when doing garden activities. * The CRIT FDP and the CRIT Senior Center garden was able to produce beets, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes, squash, radish, carrots, and watermelons. These were distributed to the garden participants and other CRIT FDP and Senior Center clients. *The demonstration garden at the Extension Office has added production of traditional food crops like Tepary Beans, Blue Corn and Squash. Other crops like melons, okra, and tomatoes were also planted. Produce from the garden were given to essential workers of CRIT departments who continue to work during the pandemic lockdown. Ag and Natural Resources: *This year, two field crop updates were again offered to the farmers in the reservation. This was participated by a total of 45 farmers, farm managers and pest control advisers. The first one was done in the fall providing updates for cotton, and the second one in the spring, providing updates for Alfalfa, the two major crops of the reservation. The meeting also offered continuing education units needed to renew pesticide use permits of the farmers. *One herbicide trial in Alfalfa was conducted in collaboration with the Area Ag Agent. Results were shared during the Workshop conducted last March. *Farm visits were also conducted to address farmer calls and help diagnose field problems.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of the 4H program includes all youth in the county between the age of 5 to 18. FRTEP worked closely with the 4H coordinator to encourage participation of Tribal Youth in 4-H. 47 out of the 204 youth participants are tribal members or of Native American descent. There are also 38 club leaders, mostly parents or grandparents, of which 5 are tribal members. The gardening project targets the school children from head start up to the junior high class. Participation depends on the willingness of the teachers to participate in the garden project. Five classes participated at Le Pera Elementary School, four classes at Wallace Elementary School and five at the CRIT Head Start. Adult community members are also targeted as well as the senior population to promote physical activity and production of local nutritious and healthy food. Raised garden boxes were established at the CRIT Senior Center so the clients can do gardening without bending over. The garden at the CRIT Food Distribution Center cater to the low-income clients of the Food Distribution Program. A vegetable demonstration garden was established at the Extension Office with the help of Master Gardener volunteers to reach out to the whole community. The FRTEP program also reached out to the Agriculture Sector by providing crop update workshops to farmers in the reservation. Farmers get the latest research results from the Extension Specialist from the University. These workshops also provide continuing education units which the farmers need to renew their permits to use pesticides. Changes/Problems:A Mini Fab Lab Project will be implemented in partnership with Le Pera Elementary School. This project was made possible by grant funds from the Extension Strategic Initiative Project of the Cooperative Extension of the University of Arizona. The project is patterned after the Fab Lab concept developed by MIT. This will incorporate STEM in teaching students to fabricate parts and models of different things. Prices of the different equipment needed in the project has increased. Other sources of funds needs to be explored to complete the equipment needed for the Fab Lab. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?*Attended the 2018 FRTEP Professional Development Conference in Polson MT, the annual professional development training is provided for all FRTEP Extension Educators. In addition, FRTEP Extension Educators attended the 2018 Inter Tribal Ag Council Annual Conference, and the 2019 Southwest Indian Agricultural Association Conferences (Annual meeting and Summer Livestock Field Days). These provide insights into what other tribes are doing to help develop their community. *The project has allowed the FRTEP Extension Educator to participate in the Project CENTRL, a 9-session Rural Leadership Training conducted by the Center for Rural Leadership. The FRTEP Extension Educator was selected and granted a scholarship to participate in the training. The class topics include communication and leadership skills, local and international agricultural trade, an exposure to different industries that drive the economy of rural Arizona and learning how the government system works with focus on the executive and legislative branch. This provided a comprehensive understanding of how rural Arizona runs and contribute to the economy of the state. The learnings can be used in dealing with the tribal leadership, the community and the agricultural enterprise of the tribe. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?*Local papers and radio have been utilized to disseminate information to the community. FRTEP publishes articles and announcements to the Manataba Messenger, a quarterly publication of the CRIT, as well as the Parker Pioneer, a local newspaper of the town of Parker. *The Weekly Ag Newsletter of the Cooperative Extension is emailed to farmers operating in the valley. This provides information on weather, pest and diseases, and other information relevant to their operations. *Exhibits were displayed during the La Paz County Fair, and CRIT EXPO, Farmer's Market to showcase the services and projects of FRTEP and the County Extension Office. *Telephone, Email and social media, particularly Facebook, are utilized to disseminate news and announcements. 4-H has a separate Facebook page where information is disseminated to members. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?*A back-to-school bash project will be implemented to recruit more youth to the 4H program. Families will be invited to the Extension Office Compound where different activities and exhibits will be done to promote not only the 4-H program but also the other program offering of FRTEP and the County Extension Office. *Continue to utilize the school garden project as a tool for learning not only on gardening but also Science, Math and Nutrition Concepts, and as an alternative means to provide physical activity to students. *Continue to use the CRIT Food Distribution Program community garden to provide learning opportunity to the low-income tribal members and encourage them to produce their own vegetables. *Increase campaign to encourage more community members to grow their own vegetables and synchronize production to better support the planned farmer's market project. Utilize Master Gardeners and Americorps Volunteers to help educate, encourage and assist community members in their gardening efforts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
4-H: *Again, a total of 204 youths have enrolled in the 4-H program this year for the whole county. Of this, 47 are tribal members or with native American descent, which is a 12% increase from the previous year. There is a 19% increase in club leaders bringing the total to 38. Five of these are tribal members which is the same from last year. Livestock clinics, indoor project training, interview training, record keeping training were provided to help 4-H members with their animal and indoor projects. Market and showmanship classes were also provided to train the kids on how to properly present their animals at the fair. The youth were also required to do community service to train them the importance of giving back to the community. All these have exposed the kids to handle responsibility, develop discipline, and gain self-confidence. *A $30,500 grant was awarded to the FRTEP CRIT 4H Youth Development thru the Extension Strategic Initiative Project of the Cooperative Extension of the University of Arizona. The funds were used towards upgrading equipment and paraphernalia needed for the different 4H projects. *The 4-H program has generated enormous community support. A total of 125,000 volunteer hours were provided by parents and relatives of 4-H members during 4-H activities and community events across the county. Approximately 25% of that comes from the tribal community. Animal sales during the county fair generated $230,000, of which $47,000 came from the CRIT Tribal Council and $25,000 from CRIT Farms. An approximately $10,000 of "in-kind" support (transportation assistance, awards and prizes, etc) was given by the tribal government and its departments for various 4-H activities throughout the year. Gardening: *A $34,000 grant was awarded to the FRTEP CRIT Gardening and Ag and Natural Resources Projects thru the Extension Strategic Initiative Project of the Cooperative Extension of the University of Arizona. These were used towards equipment and materials needed to enhance the different projects of FRTEP. A new project, a mini Fab Lab project, will be funded by this grant. The Fab Lab is a concept developed by MIT that utilizes the latest technology in fabrication, and incorporates STEM in teaching using these fabrication equipment. This project will be done in collaboration with Le Pera Elementary School, who will provide the space for the Lab as well as provide teachers who will develop the curriculum for the project. The fund will buy some of the equipment needed. Additional funding will have to be sourced out to complete the equipment needed for a full pledge Fab Lab. Part of the funds was used to pay shipping of a tractor acquired from Federal Surplus, which will be used in the various garden projects. *The first farmers market was organized last April 6th, as a trial run. There were seven vendors who participated. It ran from 7 AM until 12 noon. Most vendors ran out of products to sell before noon. The next Farmers Market is planned in November when the winter visitors start to arrive. These will increase the customer base and may encourage more vendors to participate. * This year, the students participating in the garden were encouraged to bring their produce home. This is to promote healthy eating and to let parents know that their students are doing gardening and may encourage them to do their own gardening at home. They were able to bring home broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots, and citrus products from the fruit grove. *The CRIT FDP and the CRIT Senior Center garden was able to produce carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, zucchini, tomatoes, squash, radish, carrots, and watermelons. These were distributed to the garden participants and other CRIT FDP and Senior Center clients. *The demonstration garden at the Extension Office has added production of traditional food crops like Tepary Beans, Blue Corn and Squash. Other crops like cucumber, melons, okra, peppers and tomatoes were also planted. Produce from the garden were donated to the Senior Center, and other tribal departments. Ag and Natural Resources: *This year, two field crops update were again offered to the farmers in the reservation. This was participated by a total of 45 farmers, farm managers and pest control advisers. The first one was done in the fall providing updates for cotton, and the second one in the spring, providing updates for Alfalfa, the two major crops of the reservation. The meeting also offered continuing education units needed to renew pesticide use permits of the farmers. *Collaborated with University Researchers to conduct field trials in the reservation. One herbicide trial was done in Alfalfa on Nutsedge, an emerging problem in the reservation. The second one is on onion, to test a new product for onion weed problems. The third one is on wheat. Research results were shared during the crop updates so farmers will benefit from the trials. *Farm visits were also conducted to address farmer calls and help diagnose field problems.
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The 4H program reaches out to all youth throughout the county. FRTEP worked closely with the 4H coordinator to encourage participation of Tribal Youth in 4-H. 42 out of the 204 youth participants are tribal members or of Native American descent. The 4-H program also reaches out to the parents of participating youth. This year, the gardening project was able to reach tribal members from all ages. The school garden at Le Pera School focused on the 7th and 8th graders, where they are exposed to all aspects of gardening from land preparation, maintenance, and up to harvesting. The CRIT Head Start garden caters to pre-school kids where they are taught how to plant. Maintenance was mostly done by head start teachers. Another school garden project was started at Wallace Elementary School located in the town of Parker. The students in these schools comprised of tribal, Hispanic and Caucasian students. The garden at the CRIT Senior Center also reaches out to senior tribal members. The garden project at the CRIT Food Distribution Program (CRIT FDP) caters to the low income member-clients of the CRIT FDP. The FRTEP program also reached out to the Agriculture Sector by providing crop update workshops to farmers in the reservation. These workshops provide continuing education units which the farmers need to renew their permits to use pesticides. Field trials are conducted in coordination with Extension Specialists from the University of Arizona to generate local data that will help not only the local farmers but also farmers from around the state. A vegetable demonstration garden was established at the Extension Office with the help of Master Gardener volunteers to reach out to the whole community. Changes/Problems:No major changes planned for next year. Apply for an Americorps Volunteer to be assigned at the Extension Office to assist the FRTEP Extension Educator in the gardening day to day activities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?*The program has partnered with the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative to provide all FRTEP Extension Educators to be trained as trainers of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Once certified, they will partner with a certified lead trainer to conduct Food Safety Training to tribal produce growers to make them compliant to the new food safety laws. *An annual professional development training is provided for all FRTEP Extension Educators. In addition, FRTEP Extension Educators attend the Inter Tribal Ag Council Annual Conference and the Southwest Indian Agricultural Association Conference. These provide insights into what other tribes are doing to help develop their community. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?*Local papers and radio have been utilized to disseminate information to the communities. FRTEP has a section in the Manataba Messenger, a publication published monthly by CRIT. Articles and announcements of FRTEP and 4-H projects are published in the paper. *Weekly CALS-CES Ag Newsletter is emailed to farmers operating in the valley. This provides information on weather, pest and diseases, and other information relevant to their operations. *Exhibits were displayed during the La Paz County Fair, and during the SWIAA Conference to showcase the Agriculture Industry in the valley, as well as, the CRIT Farms operations. *Telephone, Email and social media, particularly Facebook, are utilized to disseminate news and announcements. 4-H has a separate Facebook page where information is disseminated to members. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?*Improve school campaign to increase 4-H participation next year. Follow-up on the Equine project to push through in the second half of the calendar year. *Continue to utilize the school garden project as a tool for learning not only on gardening but also Science, Math and Nutrition Concepts, and as an alternative means to provide physical activity to students. *Continue to use the CRIT Food Distribution Program community garden to provide learning opportunity to the low-income tribal members and encourage them to produce their own vegetables. Finish installation of the donated greenhouse to add learning opportunities to CRIT FDP clients. *Increase campaign to encourage more community members to grow their own vegetables and synchronize production to better support the planned farmer's market project. Utilize Master Gardeners to help educate, encourage and assist community members in their gardening efforts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
4-H: *A total of 204 youths have enrolled in the 4-H program this year county wide. Of this, 42 are tribal members or with native American descent. There were also 32 certified 4-H leaders who are mostly parents or grandparents of the 4-H members, 5 of which are tribal members. Livestock clinics, indoor project training, interview training, record keeping training were provided to help 4-H members with their animal and indoor projects. Market and showmanship classes were also provided to train the kids on how to properly present their animals at the fair. The youth were also required to do community service to train them the importance of giving back to the community. All these have exposed the kids to handle responsibility, develop discipline, and gain self-confidence. *The 4-H program has generated enormous community support. More than 30,000 volunteer hours were provided by parents and relatives of 4-H members. Animal sales during the county fair generated more or less $200,000, of which $75,000 came from the CRIT Tribal Council. An approximately $20,000 in additional monetary and "in-kind" support (transportation assistance, awards and prizes, etc) was given by the tribal government and its departments for various 4-H activities throughout the year. Gardening: * The students participating at the Le Pera School Garden had an opportunity to sell their produce at the school premises on several occasions. Products include Lemons, grapefruit, oranges, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage and sweet peas. Teachers and parents came to support the kids. All proceeds went to the student's common fund for their year-end activity. *The CRIT FDP garden was able to produce watermelons, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, broccoli radish and carrots. These were distributed to the garden participants and other CRIT FDP clients. The CRIT FDP is prohibited by their program to sell the produce from the garden. *Activities towards capacity building was given emphasis so that community members will learn to grow their own gardens. In addition to the CRIT FDP community garden, gardening classes were conducted at the CRIT Library to teach interested community members to grow their own vegetables. This year, not enough were produced to allow participants to sell in a farmers market. The tribal government though has signified their support for the project by providing several places where a farmer's market can be done. The challenge for next year will be to increase participation and synchronize planting, so substantial produce can be generated at the same time. *The gardening project has continued to provide education as well as physical activity to the participants. Another garden project was established at the Wallace Elementary School located in the town of Parker. About 30% of the schools population are tribal members or of tribal descent. The project is a partnership with the SNAP-Ed program of the County Extension office and the Americorps Vista Volunteers assigned to the school. Four classes coming from the 3rd and 4th grades, and a special kids class participated in the project. *Three tribal members were recently certified as Master Gardeners after having undertaken the Master Gardener course and rendered at least 50 hours of volunteer work. They will be encouraged to assist in the gardening project to achieve the set goals of this program. Ag and Natural Resources: *Two field crop updates were conducted for the farmers operating in the reservation participated by a total of 45 farmers, farm managers and pest control advisers. The meeting offered continuing education units needed to renew pesticide use permits of the farmers. *Collaborated with University Researchers to conduct field trials in the reservation. One fungicide trial on Alfalfa Root Rot was conducted and two herbicide trials are on-going in Alfalfa and Wheat. Results will be shared during the field updates.
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