Fair season has drawn to a close and many people mistakenly believe that means the 4-H program is over for another year. 4-H provides youth with the opportunity to learn by doing; but that opportunity is not only limited to youth enrolled in a traditional 4-H program.
There are other ways that the 4-H program is delivered to youth outside of the traditional program, two of these ways are school enrichment and afterschool.
School Enrichment provides learning experiences to youth during the school day, with participation and cooperation from the school system. 4-H School Enrichment programs are delivered by 4-H staff, 4-H volunteers, or classroom teachers, and utilize research-based curricula that meet Nebraska Department of Education Content Standards. The goal of these school enrichment programs is to provide classroom teachers with curriculum that supplements the lessons already being learned in the classroom, to provide students with an opportunity to learn with hands-on, minds-on methods, and to encourage long-term involvement in 4-H. And because Nebraska 4-H is an entity of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, 4-H School Enrichment is typically the first class a student takes at UNL!
4-H Afterschool programing are educational programs offered to youth outside of school hours, usually in a school or other community center and incorporating 4-H curricula. 4-H afterschool is designed to combine the resources of 4-H with community-based organization that provide afterschool programs which address community needs 4-H afterschool seeks to increase the quality and quantity of afterschool programs which provide a safe environment for expanded learning opportunities. To accomplish this the focus is on improving the ability of program staff to offer high quality care, education, and developmental experiences for youth. Extension offers training materials and support to help program staff increase their ability to use positive youth development principles, and to help provider’s access quality 4-H program activities.
If you are interested in more information about School Enrichment or Afterschool programing in your local community contact your local Nebraska Extension Office.
