Mission Statement
Motto- To make the best better. www.ca4h.org
Means to do their best the first time, and to do better the next time, to reach their fullest potential in whatever they choose to undertake.
Through the 4H Youth Development Leadership Curriculum ("iTHRIVE"- Provided by UC Davis & other land grant universities, that come under the Dept of Agriculture and ANR (Dept. of Agriculture & Natural Resources)), the kids learn life skills like time & organiztaional management, project management, budgeting, record keeping, finance management, public speaking, presentation and communication skills, citizenship (by doing community service to fill a need and also having the opportunity to see government in action on the state and national level, of the law making process and what it means to be an engaged citizen.
www.ca4h.org (4H San Mateo County, CA), the governing parent for our club www.belmont4h.org
Description
4H is the leader in Youth Development & leadership curriculum from UC Davis (Dept. of Agriculture). What sets 4H apart from other youth orgs. is the mentorship process of partnering youth with adults to support youth in taking on leadership roles with adult responsiblities through hands on community service learning. The kids think of a need in the community, raise money (teaches entrepreneurship skills- marketing, budgeting, finance & project management), they execute their solution to address a community need, and evaluate their successes and failures. 4H calls this the Revolution of Responsiblity cycle of hands on learning to acquire skills of adulthood by taking on increasing leadership roles in their club, then county, state, national conferences, and then give back to their community and act as role models and mentors of other youth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC90-fGzGuo
www.4Hmilliontrees.org
www.belmont4h.org - Our club projects list- teaching life skills and hobbies to tap into their passion and explore their interests with adult volunteers to keep expenses low and expand youth hands on experiential opportunities. A club is only as good as the volunteers and resources available.
The kids learn a skill, then apply it in their community. Ex. www.littledressesforafrica.org ;
The youth learn to sew pillow cases (straight lines), and immediately give back to other humane organizations. We buy the material, thread and pay for shipping of the dresses and shorts sewn by the youth & their parents, to send to orphanages around the world.
www.mynewredshoes.org - I've gathered uniform shirts being thrown away and 2 shirts make 1 pillow case or little dress. My New Red Shoes fills the pillow cases with school supplies and donated clothes for underprivilged or foster kids.
It's an amazing transformation and growth process to watch these kids take off and pursue their own ideas once they understand this "THRIVE" model process of youth development and learning. All our adult project leaders get trained in this 4H THRIVE leadership curriculum- which sets us apart from other youth organizations because of the support from UC Davis. 4H is wanting to be the leaders in youth development for other youth organzations to model our example, and thanks to the internet, we're now seeing the "amazing power of 4H youth" as they become empowered with life skills training.
The 4H clover stands for: 1) Head- analytical thinking & problem solving, 2) Hands- hands on community service learning, 3) Heart- finding their passions in life that drive them and may lead to career exploration, 4) Health- Making Healthy life choices.
Tufts Univ. has studied these 4Hers for 8 yrs and found that 4H youth: tend to be engaged learners who go on to higher education, and especially in SET (Science, Engineering & Technology), and 4H girls are 2x more likely to enter SET careers; the youth make healthier choices, and a google search will show that some of these amazing youth are starting to tell their Revolution of Responsiblity stories & impact their world.
As 4H club leader, we've doubled from 25 to 50 this year, and we'd like to do more hands on science, carpentry, engineering activities the kids- like marshmallow trebucheut catapults, marshmallow blow guns out of pvc pipes, electrical circuitry kits with brass brads, wire, grid surface, light bulbs, batteries, motors, switche- I love science myself and I believe in encouraging imagination and experimentation. I'm a single mom and my daughter is homeschooled and she's been empowered to reach her full potential for learning through the 4H leadership currculum. I see it as enhancing the value of what she gets from home schooling, but applying things she learns to real life problems to make the world a better place. I initially got into 4H because of their writing, speaking, presentation and communications opportunities, and found that 4H had so much more to offer, and there are 4H youth international exchanges- where I hope United can be the carrier of choice for these 4H families that partiipate. My daughter is studying Mandarin and I hope to partner with a 4H Chinese family in the future!
UC Davis and the 111 land grant universities support 4H by giving us their latest scientific research in youth development through 4H THRIVE curriculum- to create leaders for tomorrow, to encourage youth in SET- Science, Engineering & Technology careers, and to maximize their full potential and to give back to their community & world to make it a better place.
