Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:This project in year one serves at least the following: 40 youth participants per year (program participation and employment), 4 partner organization staff (program development and implementation, evaluation, community design charrette, development of culturally and linguistically relevant program and marketing materials), 7+ Extension staff (program development and implementation, evaluation, community design charrette, development of culturally and linguistically relevant program and marketing materials) and 50 community members (community gardening, garden-based community events, design charrette) Changes/Problems:Concluding Statement The future outcomes of this project will have the ability to benefit society by supporting positive impacts for youth. By supporting youth to have a deeper understanding of STEM-related careers and pathways, we aim to inspire youth to enter fields that promote innovation that can lead to new discoveries in STEM fields. Youth will also be supported to engage in their communities and lead projects to create positive change in their communities, which directly benefits society by finding problems in their community and addressing them. Lastly, youth will be supported in increasing their capacity to develop relationships and organizational support that sustain their overall wellness and pursuit of goals, which will build skills, such as working in teams, that are applicable to the workforce and applicable to playing a positive role within society. A major milestone of this project will be the output, Science Strikes Back Community Science Fair, an event that produces youth-created artifacts that exhibit engagement in community problem solving through scientific experiments and exploration. The outcomes of this event will demonstrate changes in STEM engagement for youth by the number of presenters and attendees participating and demonstrating collaboration, authenticity, inquiry, and relancy to society, measured by community judges. The activities leading up to the event are led by project staff, site coordinators, and teachers. These activities include SOE, judge training for community members, teacher workshops to support curriculum development, project-based learning for youth, and continuous collaboration amongst program staff, stakeholders, and partners to evaluate progress and sustain quality practices. Documented Project Changes Key Personnel Brad Bessler will be added as key personnel and assigned as the program evaluator for the project. Julio Fuentes will be added as key personnel and assigned as the project's technology specialist. Budget The budget and sub budgets have been reflected in Year 2 submissions for upcoming changes moving forward. Project personnel have filed for institutional review board approval at UW-Madison and received approval into the upcoming year (IRB #2024-1745-CP001). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Project team attended CYFAR PD. Project team also hosted 2-day training in December 2024 for project planning and resource developemnt, as well as Summer kick off training in June 2025. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Scholarly Products/Resources Project outcomes with broader impacts include published curriculum, dissemination of scholarly products, training for program staff and youth, and the development of curriculum that supports progress toward meeting the program objectives. Listed below are the scholarly products and resources developed by program staff: STEM Curriculum Luther, S. (2025). Garden curriculum work scope 2025. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Bessler, B., & Hougham, R. J., (2025). Capturing your environment. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Community Placemaking & Design Curriculum Luther, S. (2025). Community placemaking work scope 2025. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Conference Presentation Bessler, B., Hougham, J., Quevedo, L., Boland, K., & Gruenewald, L. (2025, May). Growing climate literacy in urban green spaces: An Extension youth climate education experience [Poster presentation]. Institute of Urban Education Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States. Publications Bessler, B., & Hougham, Hougham, R. J., (2025). Growing climate literacy in urban green spaces: An Extension youth climate education experience. [Manuscript under review]. The Journal of Extension. Bessler, B., Hougham, J., Gruenewald, L., & Giri, N., (2025). Evaluation framework for sustaining youth project-based learning experiences [Manuscript under review]. Journal of Experiential Education. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Expected Outcomes and Impacts In year two, the expected outcomes will include youth STEM skill development; increased youth sense of agency, empowerment, and sense of community; and increased youth leadership skills, including goal setting, communication and teamwork; The impacts in the upcoming year include youth understanding of STEM-related careers and pathways; youth community engagement and project-leadership, creating positive change in their communities; and increased youth relational and organizational capacity, sustaining their overall wellness and pursuit of goals. Although progress towards these impacts will be accomplished, they will not be fully realized in the upcoming year. The previous efforts in this grant showcased many achievements and revealed areas that will need to be addressed in the upcoming year. One area that will be addressed in the upcoming year is curriculum refinement and implementation. Through refinement and implementation, the STEM and placemaking curriculum will be utilized to better target and measure outcomes related to the program objectives, better prepare youth to participate in SSB, and increase program sustainability by producing shared resources for program coordinators. The table below reflects adjustments needed to align project activities to grant outcomes as well as align partner site activity throughout the project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The project, Cultivando Conexiones (CC), has demonstrated recent achievements in engaging youth in STEM programming, community placemaking, design, leadership, and goal-setting over the past year. Collaboration amongst community-based, youth-serving agencies, resulted in increased capacity for the partners, as well as expanded unique opportunities for youth. The CC community partners include TransCenter for Youth (TCY), Milwaukee Christian Center (MCC), and UW-Extension, and continue to develop programming with the aim of meeting the program's objectives. Program Objectives The program objectives of CC are addressed through a series of activities and events that require the continuous cooperation between partners with the purpose of supporting youth STEM education, community engagement, and leadership. Each year, the program aims to actively engage in evaluation to ensure progress toward meeting each of the short-term and long-term goals listed as in the program's logic model. Review of Past Accomplishments The initial year for CC demonstrated accomplishments targeting program objectives. These accomplishments were prevalent in the conducted activities which produced outputs aligned to each goal. Accomplishments related to Goal 1: STEM Education, were evident by youth engagement in Scientific Outdoor Exploration (SOE) which promotes scientific inquiry such as forming and testing a hypothesis, taking scientific measurements and scientific storytelling. The specific outputs included: training workshops in Digital Observation Technology Skills (DOTS) (STEM mobile data collection tools); youth participation in, Capturing Your Environment (CYE), SOE that equips youth with Infrared Thermometers and Kestrel Weather Stations to collect data on local weather conditions and patterns; and youth involvement in experiential learning through cultivation in local green spaces. The activities accomplished for Goal 2: Community Placemaking and Design, supported outcomes such as increased youth sense of agency, empowerment, and sense of community. Program partners identified sites for community design charrettes and developed a timeline for implementation; community placemaking was introduced to youth in a pilot curriculum outlined in four parts: placemaking, opportunities, stakeholders, and developing; and program coordinators for program sites received training for ArcGIS StoryMaps as an avenue to capture youth voices and youth project elements. Lastly, the activities accomplished for Goal 3: Leadership and Goal Setting, consisted of youth community engagement and workshops to increase leadership skills, including goal setting, communication and teamwork. The Youth Development Interns Program supported by MCC focused on cultivating leadership skills through hands-on opportunities in public speakingworkshop facilitation, and organizing community events.
Publications
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