Agency Details:

Kent County 4-H Youth Development Program

The vision of Michigan 4-H is to mobilize volunteers and communities to meet the needs of youth. To accomplish the 4-H mission volunteers help create nonformal, educational opportunities to help youth thrive in a complex and changing world.

Description:
Michigan 4-H Youth Development involves volunteers to provide positive, experiential, educational opportunities for and with youth aged 5 to 19. Programming is primarily delivered through 4-H clubs, in-school and after-school settings, and throughout community-based networks.

4-H'ers and volunteers work together in a variety of project areas. Some of these include adventure education, animal science, clothing and textiles, citizenship and civic education, communication arts, food, nutrition and health, global and cultural education, environmental education, personal development and leadership, and science and technology.
Michigan 4-H Youth Development is committed to seven guiding principles that provide the foundation for the educational methods, activities and events that positively affect the lives of Michigan's youth. These are:

□ Youth develop positive relationships with adults and peers.
□Youth are physically and emotionally safe.
□ Youth are actively engaged in their own development.
□ Youth are considered participants rather than recipients in the learning process.
□ Youth develop skills that help them succeed.
□ Youth recognize, understand and appreciate diversity and multiculturalism.
□ Youth grown and contribute as active citizens through service and leadership.

History:
Kent MSU Extension and the 4-H Youth Development Program are part of the National Cooperative Extension Service, an outreach and education program of Michigan State University. Michigan State University was designated a land-grant university in 1914 under the Smith-Lever Act and the US Department of Agriculture. Land-grant universities are unique in that they are given the charge to extend education beyond the confines of a college campus and help people throughout the state improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Michigan State University Extension offices are located in 82 of the 83 counties in Michigan and work in partnership with local, state, and federal government agencies.

Contact people:

Glenda Kilpatrick, Extension 4-H Educator, (phone), (email) Renee Bainbridge, Secretary, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (616) 336-3836

Address:

775 Ball NE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.msue.msu.edu/kent

Last updated on January 22, 2009