Transcript Building Leaders for Tomorrow - Oklahoma State University

Civic Engagement
Through Youth & Adult Partnerships
Oklahoma 4-H
Leadership & Community Development Impact Team
Decline of Rural Leadership
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Current trend in rural America is for youth
to leave their home communities after high
school, creating a decline of educated and
vested leaders that are capable and willing
to assume leadership roles
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Leader and volunteer base is aging and not
being replenished
Decline of Rural Leadership
To reverse trend and sustain vitality and
growth of rural communities:
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Create a sense of ownership and pride in our
youth at an early age
Provide opportunities for youth to interact with
community leaders, local government and
organizations
Provide meaningful opportunities to serve with
caring adults
Value of Civic Engagement
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Creates a stronger sense of community
pride and ownership
Asset monetarily, emotionally and
inspirationally
Educates and empowers citizens to be
involved
Value of Civic Engagement
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Concentrated effort to recruit, train and
utilize volunteers
Increase long-term involvement and
commitment of volunteer
Rural Volunteerism
Two main groups of volunteers
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High school-aged youth that volunteer as a part
of class work or school organization
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Adult business and/or organization leaders in
local communities
Teen Volunteers
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74% of youth who volunteer do so through a
religious, school-based or youth leadership
organization
Youth who have a parent that volunteers are
almost twice as likely to volunteer themselves
63% of youth in a nationwide YMCA survey said
they wanted programs that built leadership skills
and allowed them to work with diverse
audiences
Adult Volunteers
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29% of the civilian, non-institutional population
age 16 and over volunteered through or for
organizations at least once from September
2003 to September 2004
Persons age 35 to 44 were the most likely to
volunteer, closely followed by 45 to 54 year
olds and then 55 to 64 year olds
Most adult volunteers volunteer for only one or
two organizations at a time
Youth – Adult Partnerships
What makes Y.A.P. the answer?
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Youth become invested while feeling safe
and involved in their community
Youth stay or return to a community
There is growth, capital gain and positive
interaction in a community
Youth – Adult Partnerships
What makes Y.A.P. the answer?
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Adults view youth as partners not
recipients
Organizations gain insight, creativity and
volunteers
Development of future community leaders
Building Leaders for Tomorrow
B.L.T. is a process for addressing community
needs and assembling a rural leadership pool
through the encouragement and
establishment of youth and adult partnership.
Each group recognizes the other as an asset
rather than a obstacle.
BLT-The Big Picture
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Form a team of youth and adults who see
each other as equal partners and share
responsibilities
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Empower a team of youth & adults to
identify and address a local need through a
service learning project
Step 1
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Identify, recruit and train teams of youth
and adult partners committed to the
concept of developing strong youth-adult
partnerships for the purpose of serving their
community
Step 2
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Develop partnerships and collaborations at
each local site
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Hold initial planning meetings
Serve as mediator or facilitator in the planning
process
Apply skills attained through curricula to break
down stereotypes and develop a plan
Implement action plan
Step 3
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Involve Building Leaders for Tomorrow
graduates in recruiting and training of future
teams
Keep graduates involved in on-going
projects within their community
Outcomes
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Step 1
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Youth and adults gain understanding and
respect of trans-generation partnerships
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Youth and adults gain an understanding of the
concepts and skills for effective leadership
Communication, conflict management, planning,
decision making, goal setting and
problem solving
Outcomes
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Step 2
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Youth and adults gain an understanding of the
value of Youth Governance in their communities
Youth have local opportunities for positive youth
development
Youth and adults understand the importance for
service learning experiences
Youth and adults develop an appreciation and
understanding for one another
Outcomes
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Step 3
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1/3 of each year’s graduating class continues
work with their trained BLT team and provides
training for new BLT teams
Youth are invited by the community to influence
issues which impact their lives by share their
voice and being involved in the decision making
process.
Community benefits from the
partnerships
How It Is Done
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Annually, sites in 14 counties will involve
15-30 participants
Utilize BLT curricula to train teams
Teams meet 5 to 8 hours per month for 4 to
6 months to plan and carry out action plans
Pre and post evaluations
Curriculum
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Building Leaders for Tomorrow
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Developed by Oklahoma 4-H
Hands-on activities that build progressive
leadership skills
Focus on Relationship Building, Planning and
Organizing, Group Process and Communications
Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced levels
Curriculum
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Step Up to Leadership
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Developed by National 4-H Curriculum System
Activity-based program with levels three age
levels; grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12
Encourages self improvement and assessment
Workbooks for mentors and youth. Includes a
journal component for youth.
Curriculum
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Building Community
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Created by Innovation Center and National 4-H
Council
Activities and facilitation ideas that will help
community identify assets and work as a team
Promotes youth-adult partnerships; includes
information on how to overcome stereotypes
Vision planning and implementation
activities
PR & Marketing Ideas
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Recruitment brochure with questionnaire
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PowerPoint presentations
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Newsletter support materials
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Press releases
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Novelty items used at training sessions
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Graduation certificates
Evaluation
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Success Indicators
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Approximately 25 key behaviors identify success
indicators
Potential outcomes compiled from each
curriculum
Success indicators are taken from the list of
outcomes and are representative of each
curriculum
Evaluation
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Tools used
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Commitment to Community Service survey
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Pre and Post survey - National 4-H Council’s Rural Youth
Development Project: Engaging Youth, Serving Community
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Participant evaluates their leadership skills and
ability to work on a youth-adult team
Separate surveys for youth and adults
Evaluation
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Tools used
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BLT Programming Sheet
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Record keeping part of evaluation
Action Plan tracks team activities, hours of service
and number of participants
Educator tracks participation in subsequent years
Evaluation
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Other Tools used
Art/Concept Mapping
 Daily/weekly journals
 Activity Observation
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