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AMC instructs youth development professionals in 4-H basics

  • Published
  • By James L. Hodges
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Air Mobility Command Headquarters instructed 19 youth coordinators from six AMC bases to take part in 4-H "101" and resiliency training here March 13-16, to learn and share best practices for Air Force youth development.

"Head, heart, hands and health" are the four H's in 4-H. This conference, based on these 4-H principles, was designed to provide an opportunity for AMC youth professionals to network with their peers, and identify positive youth development techniques and skills through 4-H clubs and curriculum. Participants also had the chance to practice innovative, engaging programming to make Air Force Youth Programs remain an important part in the growth and development of AMC families, officials said.

"4-H 101 is a training program to assist Air Force Youth Programs staff in delivering 4-H club programming through Air Force youth programs," said Susan Long, AMC's child and youth specialist. "The focus of the training program highlights the delivery and support of 4-H youth development and the ability for Air Force Youth Programs to engage with each state's land-grant university in offering high quality programming."

Land Grant Universities in each state support 4-H programs and have county offices throughout the United States, said David Brittain, 4-H youth development specialist. This allows for strong partnerships to be created between 4-H and Airman and Family Services and opportunities for training, services and resources for military families, youth and staff.

A Fairchild attendee plans to take what she learned at the training and apply it here.
"The training was very valuable," said Awanta Edwards, 92nd Force Support Squadron Youth Program Assistant team lead. "We had the opportunity to collaborate with youth development professionals from bases around the US [including joint bases] and exchange ideas and best practices, which could be used to improve Fairchild youth programs."

This partnership affords Air Force youth the opportunity to create meaningful contributions to their community while developing themselves in a variety of areas such as leadership, citizenship, critical thinking and making healthy life choices, said Brittain.

The nation's largest youth development organization, 4-H's mission is to help young people and their families gain the skills they need to be proactive forces in their communities and develop ideas for a more innovative economy. In the past, there has been a perception that 4-H is an organization for agriculture clubs.

"Cows, sows and plows," said Casey Mull, state military coordinator, University of Georgia. "There is that perception, but the history shows 4-H is about innovation."

"There are now curriculums and clubs for wind power, electricity and robotics the kids can choose from," said Mull. "They'll be the ones making the unmanned drones and performing Lasik on me tomorrow."

More than 100 years ago, 4-H started when researchers at public universities would try to get the adults in farming communities to adapt new agricultural discoveries. While the adults showed they were not ready to change their familiar ways, researchers found the youth were open to experimenting with new ideas and would share them with the adults.
 
The 4-H idea of practical hands-on learning and partnerships has led to a wide variety of clubs and curriculum that combines the expertise and resources of universities, and federal, state and local governments.

"4-H is still a thriving international organization that can benefit every young person at Fairchild," Edwards said. "I knew very little about 4-H before the training, now I know how to better use the resources provided by 4-H to apply them here. By identifying the interests of our youth, the youth development professionals of Fairchild will be able to better create groups, activities and events for our young people while fulfilling the essential elements of 4-H - belonging, mastery, generosity and Independence."

The four-day training concluded with resiliency training intended to develop critical thinking, knowledge, and skills to overcome challenges and bounce back from adversity. "Every action has a thought and every thought has a reaction," said Master Sgt. Sergio Gonzalez, superintendent of the Airman and Family Services Branch and a master resiliency trainer at AMC Headquarters.

"We're wired to think negative first," said Gonzalez, "[But] optimism is the engine that drives resiliency."

"It's important for us to teach it to our teens now so they have it for the future," said Vicki Wargo, youth coordinator from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.

When paired together, 4-H clubs and resiliency training can help children of deployed service members by bringing normalcy and stress relief. There are 4-H clubs at every base, county and state so it can provide consistency for youth and help make permanent changes of station better, said Mull. The conference was previously held at MacDill AFB, Fla. in November 2011, where 28 youth professionals from nine AMC bases gathered.

The youth development professionals in attendance can immediately put the 4-H ideas and resiliency training they learned into practice for their current youth and 4-H programs.

(Scott King, 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs contributed to this article)