August 17, 2021
Program Planning for 4-H Youth Development
Submitted by Diane Mack & Karen Nelson
4-H Youth Development will offer three signature programs for the new programming year. They are: Health, Communication, and Community Vitality. To learn more please join us for a Program Planning webinar on September 3, 10 a.m. Connection details will be shared later.
Youth Development is partnering with SNAP-Ed for the Health signature program. We will be using the Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness curriculum (CHFFF). CHFFF was developed by Cornell University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program. This is a great opportunity to connect with our SNAP-Ed colleagues. Agents without SNAP-Ed programming in your unit are still encouraged to consider the health signature program.
CHFFF is a direct education curriculum for third to eighth graders that uses experiential learning to teach healthy eating and active play. Designed for use in a variety of settings, the goal is to improve the following research-based behaviors for preventing obesity and chronic disease: eating more vegetables, fruits and whole grains; consuming fewer sweetened beverages and high-fat, high-sugar foods; and increasing active play. Another exciting feature of this curriculum is that it was also designed for use in our partner program, Choose Health Action Teens (CHAT), in which teens are trained to co-teach CHFFF to younger youth.
If you choose this signature program, you must attend the virtual training September 21-23, 2021. You will need to register before September 10. More details will be shared with those who choose this signature program. Please email Diane Mack at dmack@ksu.edu if you plan to participate.
National 4-H Council’s 4-H Communications Curriculum, Module 1 is the resource for the Communication signature program. This will be the second year for this signature program that focuses on club project leaders teaching lessons during the club meeting. A set of the curriculum was shared during our spring retreat in 2020 so it may be on your shelf.
The curriculum for the Community Vitality signature program is The Facilitator’s Guide to Extraordinary Learning Opportunities. A copy of the curriculum and tool kit was provided at the spring PFT retreat in 2019 held in Garden City.
As you work through the planning process with your PDC, the plans and the recorded July 2021 PFT webinar outlining the plans, are available in the KSRE Resources Team, Youth Development channel, YD Action and Signature Plan Resources folder.
Please complete this short survey before September 24 to help us know which signature plan you choose and if curriculum is needed.
Let us know if you have questions.