Program/Project Objectives:
1. Research-based curricula focusing on natural resource/environmental
science will be used to train 4-H staff and collaborators statewide,
youth educators and 4-H adult volunteers in Hawaii annually.
Sixty-three volunteer 4-H leaders, fifty-two teachers, forty-five
college students and nearly one hundred families took part educational
workshops designed to introduce the juried 4-H curricula in East
Hawaii and statewide.
Workshops held for a statewide audience in 2002-3 include:
Horticulture and Gardening: 4-H juried curricula were used to teach
a workshop for agents, agencies working with youth, and 4-H collaborators
in September 2002.
Horticulture and Gardening: 4-H juried curricula were used to
teach a workshop
for 4-H members and site collaborators at the statewide Ahaolelo
in June 2003. Workshops were presented to a statewide math and
science conference for girls in March 2003.
Conservation Awareness: workshops organized for intermediate and
high school teachers and students in September 2003.
Workshops held for East Hawaii audience in 2002-3 include:
Watershed Awareness: Fifteen teachers from five participating public
schools in the Hilo area are taking part in a watershed awareness
class, and I am working with the science resource specialist
to provide lectures, reading materials and field experiences
in September 2003.
Invasive Species Awareness: Four workshops have been presented
to students at UHH and HawCC on invasive species identification
and inventory.
Ward provides assistance to several teachers maintaining school
gardens. Workshops were given to classes at Volcano School of Arts
and Sciences, Waiakeawaena and Keeau Elementary Schools: topics
included plant biology and reproduction, soil preparation, planting
and care of the garden, insect and pest identification, harvest
and use of garden crops.
Ward maintains a demonstration native plant garden at Liholiho
Garden in Hilo. Liholiho Garden is a Hawaii County Parks and Recreation
facility in Hilo devoted to Hawaiian culture and natural heritage.
Ward leads monthly excursions to the garden for Hawaii Community
College students, instructors, and numerous adult volunteers provided
an opportunity to learn about the horticultural care of native
plants in an urban setting. Many youth and college-age adults volunteer
to maintain the garden as a service project.
Ward participates with the HCC Forest Team program in maintaining
the UHH/HCC campus garden for the use of students at events such
as Earth Day, Math and Science Conference and others.
Composting and Recycling: Workshops held monthly. Participants
included docents of Recycle Hawaii, preschool teachers, families
at Keaau Materials
Recycling Center, families at Kona Queen Liliuokulani Trust youth
facility, teachers at Keaau Elementary School and Na Wahi Charter
School, seven preschools and Waiakea Intermediate School.
Ward presents composting workshops to teachers and students at
Volcano Arts and Sciences Charter School, Hawaii Academy of Arts
and Sciences Charter School, Waiakea Intermediate, E.B. deSilva
Elementary and several HeadStart and preschool classes. Composting
demonstration site set up at Komohana Ag Complex was dismantled
during my annual leave in August 2003.
Mini-Society workshops were conducted for 9-14 East Hawaii adult
collaborators in May 2003 by Dr. Linda Cox and Kaufmann Foundation.
The annual Hawaii District Science and Engineering Fair provides
an entrée to the intermediate and high school students science
classes. As a mentor, judge and sponsor, Ward provided assistance
and training to teachers and students preparing for the contest.
During Earth Day in April 2003 Ward offered native plant and garden
workshops to elementary and intermediate school teachers from public,
charter and private schools.
Ward has joined the Natural Resources Career Pathway team to assist
the DOE in developing NR standards and criteria for environmental
education.
Over 1000 people are expected to attend the CTAHR Open House in
November 2003 where youth and families will view displays about
water quality, integrated pest management, environmental literacy,
insect pest identification, and other information useful for health
and environmental protection. Agent is preparing publicity, displays
and interactive experiences for the public for this event.
UH/ Community liaison:
Forest TEAM Advisory Board: agent participates in quarterly advisory
board meetings.
Big Island Invasive Species committee: agent participates in quarterly
meetings as education coordinator.
Hawaii Organic Farmers Association: agent participates in quarterly
meetings as education committee member. Works with HOFA educational
coordinator to organize educational workshops for retailers and
farmers
County of Hawaii Environmental Management Division: agent attends
meetings and provides responses to queries as requested.
With the Office of Mauna Kea Management, Agent and the Mauna Kea
Environment Committee continue to work with the University to ensure
protection and monitoring of the Mauna Kea, including Hale Pohaku,
road corridor, and summit region.
Agent reviewed the Pohakuloa Training Area’ s Expansion
Plan document, and provided comments about the condition of the
endangered plant habitat relative to wildland fire and ungulate
predation.
Agent has participated in a Community Development Assessment in
collaboration with the County Prosecutor’s Office to provide
a compendium of youth-serving agencies and programs to combat the
effects of crystal methamphetamine use in youth.
2. Five hundred youth annually will gain knowledge and skills
through after-school, community, and traditional 4-H club activities
emphasizing agriculture and resource management.
Eleven hundred school public school students learned hands-on
skills in botany, horticulture, composting, entomology, water quality,
recycling, conservation awareness and endangered species awareness.
Two hundred fifty-four 4-H members in sixteen 4-H clubs took part
in 4-H Club activities and East Hawaii 4-H Federation programs.
Club members and adult advisors organized 4-H Cloverbud Fun Day
for community youth aged 5-9 years, 4-H Rally Day for junior youth
aged 9-13 years, and 4-H County Camp for community youth aged 13-17
years of age. These venues offered youth and families an opportunity
to take part in non-formal educational programming. Nutrition education,
leadership skills, natural resources, service learning, literacy,
and public speaking skills were enhanced by these programs. In
addition, programs for youth included record keeping and resume
building at the 4-H Record Book Workshop. Creative arts were fostered
at the Project Linus Blanket project workshop, Creative Arts Day,
Holiday Activity, and others. Presentation Day offered youth an
opportunity to practice public speaking and demonstration skills,
exhibit their work, judge and compare products, and provide constructive
feedback to each other.
3. Youth, teens and adults will put their knowledge to use through
practical action, using leadership, communication and group process
skills.
Students organized and took part in community service activities
such as native plant propagation, planting and maintenance in an
urban public park, setting up a composting and recycling facility
at a school, using GPS and compass to walk transects to identify
and measure impact of invasive species at a national wildlife refuge,
cleaning of anchialine ponds to enhance the water quality so that
native opae-ula could return to the pools, and planting of native
palms and wiliwili at a shoreline park.
The East Hawaii 4-H Federation and the East Hawaii 4-H Leaders
Council meet in executive session month, and with full membership
quarterly. The executive boards and the standing committee members
make the decisions regarding budgeting and fundraising to conduct
the programs they decide to run. They offer leadership training
workshops regularly to build skills and competency among the youth
and adults. They plan the educational program for the year with
the advice of the agent. The clubs also organize the annual 4-H
Leaders Recognition and 4-H Awards Banquet. This year the group
focused on an international theme, with foods from many countries,
cultural costumes, dances and musical performances.
Adult and teen volunteer leaders in the community conducted a
survey of East Hawaii members and families to determine the desired
focus of youth programming; as a result they planned and carried
out the following 4-H programs: Cloverbud Fun Day, Rally Day, Presentation
Day, Creative Arts Day, Christmas Program, Fashion Revue, 4-H County
Camp, Read To Me, and 4-H Leaders' Recognition and Awards Program.
Eighteen 4-H teens and 68 adults volunteered to assist with the
kindergarten transition programs, "KAMP" held at the
eight East Hawaii school sites in July and August, 2003. A $3000
grant obtained from the Hawaii 4-H Foundation provided the funds
to sponsor this project.
As a result of active leadership and community service, accurate
records, and skill development in the 4-H program, three 4-H members
from East Hawaii were selected as State delegates to the 2003 National
4-H Congress. Two 4-H members received Leaders Council travel scholarships
to attend Western Regional Leaders Forum in 2003 in Oregon. Two
East Hawaii 4-Her members were selected to represent the Hawaii
4-H Tech Corps. A 4-H club received a Hawaii Service Learning award
for outreach to the Puna Community. The Dragon’s Eye 4-H
club was awarded 4th place in the national Colgate Award for Community
Service.
4. Extension faculty in collaboration with community and governmental
agency personnel will secure funding to develop educational materials
for youth and adults about natural resource issues.
With extension assistance, faculty at two elementary schools were
able to obtain funding for natural resource projects on water quality,
gardening and native plant propagation.
The East Hawaii 4-H program is partnering with the Dragon’s
Eye Learning Center in Kapoho to provide a variety of experiential
education opportunities to the children of the Puna district. The
families of the Puna district on the Big Island are challenged
by poverty, lack of health care, lack of transportation, and the
highest rates of social dysfunction in the state of Hawaii. Services
for children are virtually absent. The approach being offered by
the Dragon’s Eye Learning center, providing educational services
for children in many circumstances including home school, after-school,
and weekends, is a welcome innovation. The programs offered by
the center balance the physical, intellectual and emotional needs
of the children in a way that enhances both self-esteem and developmental
skills while building readiness for academic literacy. The programs
are cross-generational and provide a high degree of mentoring for
the youth involved. The instructors offer programs in dance, art,
theatre, music, performance arts, animal husbandry, environmental
education, sustainable living and entrepreneurship. The partnership
with the 4-H youth program provides the youth an opportunity to
take part in local, regional, and national educational events,
and provides the instructors access to the juried curriculum, research
and faculty of the University Land Grant system nationwide. The
Hawaii 4-H Foundation has provided the non-profit 501c.3 base for
an application for a $5000 grant from the Atherton Foundation to
provide after-school educational opportunities in gardening, performance
arts, literacy and sustainable living. The project was funded,
and three 4-H clubs are active now at the Center.
4-H club members organized fundraising projects to raise $6,000
by purchasing ingredients, holding a cookie baking workshop, packaging,
labeling and marketing the products, and managing the financial
accounting. Leaders conducted a fund appeal through former members,
leaders, and community supporters to raise funds for the travel
and educational scholarships for selected 4-H members in good standing.
Impacts/Outcomes:
School students initiated a Read To Me club, wherein members aged
6th-8th grade select books to read to kindergartners and first
graders to encourage them to learn to read. Other students designed
murals for their new charter school and painted the offices during
a school break. Students organized and took part in community service
activities such as native plant propagation, planting and maintenance
in an urban public park, setting up a composting and recycling
facility at a school, using GPS and compass to walk transects to
identify and measure impact of invasive species at a national wildlife
refuge, cleaning of anchialine ponds to enhance the water quality
so that native opae-ula could return to the pools, and planting
of native palms and wiliwili at a shoreline park.
4-H Club members took part in community service projects such
as Hawaii County Zoo beautification and maintenance (monthly),
Casey Family outreach, gifts to families who were orphaned by the
9/11 bombing, washing and mending for the Teddy Bear Club and food
baskets for needy families. Community Recycling, food bank donations,
senior activities in Papaikou, community and school performances
by theater, circus and gymnastics clubs, elder care service projects
have all been completed by 4-H clubs in East Hawaii this year.
These projects were initiated and conducted by the club members
themselves.
4-H Federation members attended the Hawaii County Council meeting
wearing 4-H Do It For Youth shirts, and presented testimony regarding
the passage of Bill 362, to have a smoke free workplace environment
in which young people can work, including bars and restaurants.
The County passed the bill, and council members commented that
they were touched and impressed by the message presented by the
4-H members.
At Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge, agent worked with Hawaii
Community College students and adult volunteers, who learned to
identify several of the rare, threatened and endangered species
on the Refuge, and took steps to increase their numbers. They in
turn shared the skills they learned with over 200 visitors to the
Refuge Open House.
Statewide 4-H staff, adult and teen volunteers completing formal
and non-formal educational programs have shown subject matter competency
as measured by test instruments and record books judged by community
leaders and professionals.
Seventy-five adult and teen volunteers in the 4-H youth program
annually use curriculum to offer educational programs to youth
in a variety of community settings such as community clubs, after-school
programs, community events, literacy programs, school enrichment
and other non-formal education settings.
Youth taking part in formal and non-formal educational programs
are putting knowledge to use through community improvement projects
that demonstrate understanding of subject matter in natural resource
management. Communities are enhanced by the improvement projects,
tourists and residents utilize the facilities, natural resources
values are enhanced, and the economy is strengthened by this work.
Over two hundred youth work collaboratively in communities to
formulate appropriate action. Youth in 4-H clubs demonstrate leadership,
group process skills and effective communication to accomplish
their goals as reflected in journals and self-reporting documents.
Youth-organized events provide prevention models that reduce drug
use, avoid premature sexual activity, and enhance work preparedness
skills for adolescents.
Enrollment in natural resource programs has increased in University
of Hawaii CTAHR- NREM and at the Hawaii Community College, and
students enrolled expect to earn credentials that will lead to
careers in sustainable agriculture and natural resource protection.
Hawaii-educated workers in natural resources are effective at planning
management strategies and carrying them out in a way that enhances
our resource values. These skills are transferable to tropical
and sub-tropical regions across the globe.
Resources:
To find out more about the 4-H Youth Development Program in Hawaii,
link to http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/4h/
For more information about organic farming, or to contact the Hawaii
Organic Farmers Association, link to http://www.hawaiiorganicfarmers.org/
For more information about the Hawaii Community College's Forest
TEAM Program, link to http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu/forestteam/
For more information about Hawaii's Invasive Species link to Hawaiian
Ecosystems at Risk Project http://www.hear.org
To learn more about GIS, link to Hawaii Statewide GIS Program http://www.state.hi.us/dbedt/gis/
To find out more about the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge,
link to http://pacificislands.fws.gov/wnwr/bhakalaunwr.html
Learn to make a compost pile for yourself! Link to Recycle Hawaii
at http://www.recyclehawaii.org/
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