Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of the Army CYS 4-H sub-awards was Army-connected youth enrolled in youth center programs on garrisons and Army CYS professionals working in youth centers. The target audience for the Army 4-H Youth Development Specialist was Army CYS professionals working in Army CYS programs OCONUS. The target audience for the Army CYS Healthy Menu Initiative was Army CYS food program staff working in Army CYS programs worldwide. Changes/Problems:Due to regulations, the K-State project team had to modify goal #3 from providing grant funding to Army CYS SAC/MST programs to providing support, including education and 4-H kits. Although the proposal was approved, a modification request was sent from USDA to K-State to comply with federal fiscal guidelines. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Army 4-H Youth Development Specialist offered in-person and virtual training on topics ranging from Real Colors© to public speaking, experiential learning, experiential facilitation, creating 4-H programs, and using 4-H curricula. The Army 4-HYDS also attended several calls with Army CYS leaders, directors, and coordinators to share information about 4-H. See the accomplishment section for the number of professionals served. The Army CYS Healthy Menu Project also provided professional development opportunities to CONUS and OCONUS Army CYS Food staff. See the Accomplishment section for more details. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The K-State project team completed a monthly report for Army CYS leaders on activities accomplished under the agreed objectives during the month prior and any upcoming plans. The A4-HYDS also created an After Action Report after the OCONUS training event. These reports were shared with all Army CYS leaders via email. Partnership Zoom sessions were held every other month, with the exception of 2 meetings. Participants are informed about the 4-HMPOS's current happenings, and military-service POCs share information about current efforts in their child and youth programs. Army CYS Healthy Menus and any accompanying documents were submitted directly to G9 POCs via email or other means identified by Army CYS (safe link, for example). Annual Reports are under development and will be shared with stakeholders via the K-State listserv and placed on the 4-HMPOS website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal #1: The K-State project team, including the A4-HYDS, supported a youth leadership service event for Army-connected youth during PY24 by submitting recommendations for revising the YLF handbook and attending the YLF Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During the conference, the K-State team facilitated several sessions focused on teamwork, team building, strategic planning, and service-learning projects. YLF allows Army-connected youth membership representatives to actively participate in the planning and decision-making processes that drive the MST Program. This gathering of teens from around the world is designed to foster communications between Army teens and Army leadership regarding the most important issues teens encounter in society. GOAL #2: One of the two sub-awards was the University of Minnesota REACH Lab Positive Youth Development (PYD) course focuses on each of the eight features of positive youth development programs as identified by Eccles & Gootman (2002) in their groundbreaking National Academy of Sciences publication, Community Practices for Promoting Positive Youth Development. All Army Youth Program staff are required to complete this course as it sets the foundation for the BDRY course and is the grounding for the AYPA. In PY24, 174 Army CYS professionals completed the training and earned certificates of completion of PYD. Search Institute's Building Developmental Relationships with Youth (BDRY) course prepares Army staff to understand what makes a relationship developmental, how these relationships can positively impact youth outcomes, how to assess your current level of intentionality in relationship building, and how to integrate relationship-building tools into your interactions with youth. In PY24, 70 Army CYS professionals completed the training and earned certificates of completion in BDRY No Army programs initiated or completed the online AYPA process in PY24 as Army CYS delayed implementation but launched training of the system in April and May 2024. Army-wide training was conducted by Directorate on Apr 30 and May 2, 7, 9, 16, and 30. A total of 158 Army CYS Service Youth Directors, Training Specialists, and other staff were trained in implementation of the AYPA process and website system. Another contract was provided to Search Institute for materials, tools, technical assistance for CYS to administer the Youth And Program Strengths (YAPS) survey to Army youth participating in the Youth Program (up to 100 youth surveys per Garrison), AND a YAPS Aggregate Report, AND continued support and modifications. Because this data is garrison-specific, it is shared with the garrison and Army CYS leadership. Goal #3: Due to USDA regulations on directly funding Army CYS SAC/MST programs, this goal was modified to support these programs with 4-H curricula and kits. With the help of Army CYS Trainers, the K-State team developed 20 kits per Army Core Program Area. These kits included supplies, equipment, new technology, and curriculum to support the development of 4-H programs in the centers. All Army CYS School Age and Youth Centers were eligible to apply and were required to seek assistance from their local 4-H Educator for training or program implementation. Upon receiving a kit, the state's 4-H Military Liaison was notified. This project has rekindled many connections and revitalized numerous 4-H programming efforts. All 100 kits have been claimed and are currently in use. Goal #4: The primary focus for the A4-HYDS was to enhance the understanding and comfort level of Army CYS professionals with 4-H curricula. To address the needs of Army CYS professionals globally, the K-State project team organized a 4-H Army CYS Workshop for staff members in the Pacific Region. This initiative was made possible and highly successful through the support of Army CYS HQ Pacific and the University of Hawaii Manoa. Workshop participants have continued to engage with the Army 4-H Youth Development Specialist through various channels, sharing compliments, implementation queries, success stories, and requests for further information. The opportunity for the K-State team to facilitate this training was invaluable for both the participants and the K-State to gather data for improving and tailoring future trainings. A total of 35 CYS professionals from around the world attended the PY24 Army CYS 4-H Pacific Workshop. Feedback: "I see it helping me to conduct an engaged training." "I feel we can finally faithfully reintroduce 4H activities at our centers A big, big impact. I could bring it back to the staff and management to implement everything that was learned." "All of these new tools will help me to build the facility, the staff, and the youth." K-State also hosted four virtual training events for Army CYS professionals, focusing on the Army's Core Program Areas: Health and Wellness, The Arts, STEM and Education, Leadership and Service, and Sports and Recreation. These sessions included a variety of curriculum options, club options, existing training from Cooperative Extension, and 4-H State and National Efforts. Recordings of these sessions were made available to Army CYS HQ for distribution to all CYS staff. Finally, the K-State Project Team shared 21 articles on topics related to food and nutrition, and child development throughout the performance period. GOAL #5: Recipe and menu development continued during PY24. With K-State faculty and staff guidance, draft versions of the traditional 5-week fall/winter and spring/summer menus, the simplified fall/winter menus, and the fall/winter and spring/summer K-State formulated 16 new recipes for inclusion to new menus in PY24. K-State also carried out the ingredient reduction plan, which modified 27 recipes used in Army CYS Centers worldwide. The ingredient reduction plan was developed to simplify the recipes (i.e., decrease the number of ingredients used) and reduce the food inventory at centers. Army Healthy Menu Cooks Trainings: Kansas State University trainers conducted an OCONUS Army Healthy Menu Cooks training in DAF Europe, Germany, in March of 2024, where Army Cooks participated in a three-day training. A total of 37 Army CYS cooks, chefs, directors, and managers from bases in Germany, Italy, and Brussels attended the training, marking the first OCONUS session since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, K-State hosted a CONUS Army Healthy Menu Cooks training in July of 2024 at the Food Innovation Accelerator Lab on the Kansas State University Olathe Campus in Olathe, Kansas. 24 Army CYS cooks took part in this training, which included both classroom and hands-on instruction on special diets, ingredient modifications, food allergies and intolerances, food safety, inventory management, and inspection requirements. Kitchen instruction covered knife skills, recipe scaling, recipe best practices, troubleshooting recipes, and maintaining and inspecting kitchen equipment. Cooks also scaled, prepped, and cooked snack, side, and entrée recipes with various modifications, discussing how each ingredient affected the final dish. 100% of the participants stated they would use things they learned in their youth centers. Finally, for PY24, in consultation with the IMCOM nutritionist, K-State invited the Army Instructional Designer to assist in building out the online classroom portion to be used as a pre-requisite for future Army Healthy Menu Trainings. Several K-State Food Innovation Accelerator videos were created and submitted to be part of the online training. This effort will increase knowledge and skills in the short term and reduce the amount of time trainees are in the classroom and increase their ability to spend more time learning useful kitchen techniques, cooking methods, recipe modification, kitchen maintenance, and safe handling skills during the in-person Army Healthy Menu trainings.
Publications
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