Welcome

Macon County 4-H Youth Development

4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship and live skills. In Macon County, the 4-H Youth Development program reached 4,634 youth ages 5-19 in the 2005-06 program year.

4-H Community Clubs

Last year 434 youth participated in a 4-H community club program with the support volunteer leaders. These 4-H clubs worked to "Make the Best Better" in Macon County by:

• Adopted out over 18 abandoned rabbits to good homes
• Volunteering over 60 hours at the School for Therapeutic and Recreational Riding
• Participating in Adopt-a-Street clean-ups
• Raised over $400 to purchase presents for those in need during the holidays

Summer Programs

Macon County 4-H held four different summer programs throughout Macon County last summer.

• Muscles in Motion - a sports nutrition camp, and Dirty Business - a Horticulture camp were held in two communities reaching 30 youth.
• Babysitting clinics reached over 75 youth over the spring and summer months.
• Blast Off with Aerospace - an aerospace camp was held in five locations, reaching over 70 youth. After attending the camp, participants could:
• Understand how air pressure changes to cause airplane "lift"
• List the basic parts of a rocket
• Write their name using the Phonic Alphabet

SNAP (Summer Nutrition Activity Playground)

SNAP, held in conjunction with the Decatur Park District, provided ninety-seven inner-city children ages 8 to 12 with an opportunity to learn about nutrition, character education and life skills. Most importantly, SNAP was facilitated by twelve Junior Leaders from local high schools. During four months of training, the teens picked the theme "A Taste of the World" and planned snacks, crafts, games and character education lessons for SNAP while developing their own skills.

At the end of the program, Junior Leaders reported in a life skills evaluation significant increases in leadership skills, communication, responsibility and healthy lifestyle choices. Participants showed an increase in cooking and measuring skills through participation in a cooking skills skillathon. This program was funded by a grant from the Illinois 4-H Foundation.

Moonlight Mic

U of I Extension sponsors Moonlight Mic to give teens an opportunity to perform and showcase their talents. This program is organized by a youth planning committee that oversees 3 performances during the summer. This program was funded in part by a grant from the Decatur Community Partnership.

In 2006, over 40 youth performed during three different Moonlight Mic events. Members of the planning committee reported significant increases in the following life skills from their participation, as listed in a pre-post test evaluation:

Leadership: Assisting a group in meeting its goals by directing

Respect: Demonstrating regard for the dignity, worth, and autonomy of all persons

Responsibility: Acknowledging and living up to duties to others and self

Citizenship: Recognizing and living up to obligations to society and community

Youth Advisory Councils

U of I Extension believes in increasing opportunities for youth/adult partnerships in the community. We continue to partner with the Mayor of Decatur and the Superintendent of Decatur Public Schools to facilitate youth advisory councils. These groups were formed in 2004 through a collaboration with Youth Engagement Strategy and Decatur Community Partnership.

Mayor's Youth Advisory Council

The Mayor's Youth Advisory Council developed a plan to open a teen center at the Decatur Indoor Sports Center. The youth took the proposal to the City Council and were successful in receiving $2500 to support this effort for the fall of 2007. From this experience, the fifteen-member committee learned the process of developing a proposal, researching budget details and communicating their ideas to others.

One youth member, Temisan Shebi, said about this process "This showed the benefits of a youth/adult partnership in a really grand way. We showed that youth can do stuff to make a difference and a positive change in their community."

Superintendent's Youth Advisory Council

The Superintendent's Youth Advisory Council includes about 20 youth from MacArthur and Eisenhower High Schools. The youth felt that students smoking outside the school left a bad impression on visitors and the community. One of the ways to stop this is to close campus - keeping youth on school grounds and unable to leave to smoke. The Superintendent asked the group to research the issue of closing campus. The committee visited schools with closed campus, discussed the benefits and consequences and presented a proposal to the School Board. The School Board voted to close campus.

Youth Council member, Jaime Bunning, said about the experience "It was really interesting. I have never been involved with something like that before. It was really in-depth from going to visit the schools [with closed campus] to speaking in front of the School Board to seeing it passed. People still complain about wanting open campus, but they are not doing anything about it. We learned how to do something about a problem and to make something happen."

4-H Job Shadowing

In March, 4-H sponsored an opportunity for youth to explore careers through job shadowing an adult in their chosen field. Over 30 youth participated in this experience and were able to gain insight into what it takes to be in the "real world".

Jillian Dort job shadowed Dr. Hudson, an orthodontist. Of the experience, Jillian said, "When you brush your teeth, you have to brush them a certain way to get them clean. I also learned that it takes a lot of practice to bend the wires that go into brackets for braces.

4-H member Kellie McCullough spent the day with librarian Katie Gross. Of the experience, Kellie said, "I learned that there are a lot of jobs at the library besides being a librarian! I would love to be a children's librarian when I "grow up" but I'm not sure I want to go to college that long!"