This summer my special project was working with the “Astounding
(Unit) 8Teens”, a group of 9th through 12th grade 4-H
member from the University Of Illinois Extension Unit 18 in Christian, Jersey,
Macoupin, and Montgomery Counties.
| Members doing an activity to learn about different leadership styles. |
This group had been minimally active in the past, and it was
my goal to find out what they would like to do. We started by having a cookout
at Beaver Dam State Park in Carlinville. 10 members came to this first event, we
did some leadership and team building activities and had a brief meeting about
what the next steps would be for the Astounding (Unit) 8Teens. They made the
decision to meet once a month during the summer and every other month during
the school year. We also discussed what they would like to do, some suggestions
were museum trips, Chicago Trip, Movie nights, and laser tag. In addition, we
talked about what they would like to see done in 4-H to make it more meaningful
to older members.
For our second event of the summer we had a swimming party
and cookout at the pool in Hillsboro that 7 members attended. There we had another meeting with Kathryn, the
girl that is going to take over leading the group since I was only working for
the summer. They made plans to do community service and do some fun activities throughout
the upcoming year and a mentoring program was also discussed to let older
members help younger members with projects and 4-H activities.
In addition to planning activities for the Astounding (Unit)
8Teens I conducted a survey of the current 9th through 12th
grade 4-H members and their parents, as well as past high school 4-H members
who had left 4-H in the past 2 years and their parents. In total, I sent out
648 surveys and received 54 back completed.
| Surveys ready to be sent out! |
From the current members the biggest changes they would like
to see is more workshops for older students, they feel out of place with the
members under the age of 12. They also want to see the “cliqueness” of their
clubs and other 4-H activities reduced. Most all of these students felt that
they had gained valuable leadership skills as well as knowledge about the
projects they have completed. Many also commented that they now felt more comfortable
speaking in front of a group.
The parents of these students agreed that they would like to
see more workshop and leadership opportunities for the older members. They had
seen their children gain confidence and responsibility. They also mentioned the
knowledge their children gained through completing their projects. In addition
they saw their children building leadership and public speaking skills. Some
parents also found communication to be unclear and asked for a better schedule
of when things will be sent to them and their children.
| The results are in! Looking over all the information we collected from the survey |
Across the board there seemed to be a call for clarification
of the fair books and 4-H records. Perhaps by adding more description of what a
project must been to meet requirements for judging at the fair. Parents also mentioned that workshops about how
to do record to meet the state award requirements would be helpful and that
perhaps online records would simplify things.
Among the surveys I received back from past members and
their parents the reason that they most often left 4-H seemed to be that there
was not enough time to fit everything in and 4-H was what they chose to let go.
However, some also mentioned that the meetings were not at a convenient time
for them or they didn’t feel that they fit in or had fun at meetings.
I really enjoyed working with extension this summer and I
feel like I have learned a ton! I hope this survey will be useful in improving
the 4-H program and the Astounding (Unit) 8Teens will continue to be active.
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