Youth Development

West Mesa Community Center on the west side of Albuquerque was recently re-built and a brand new state of the art facility re-opened in January of 2007. This community center as well as a few others has the unique challenge of year round schools. In a sense the centers have to run the same kind of expanded day programs in order to serve the children and families in their neighborhoods. The Albuquerque Community Center programs are free to those who participate.
Over this spring semester I have worked with the youth serving staff at West Mesa Community Center to create a plan for the kids who are off school for 3 weeks at a time and need a place to be all day long while their parents are working. These children cover all the elementary grades K-5th. Additional resources have not been added to accommodate these year round programs so centers have to be creativity with the limited funding. Utilizing the neighborhood library, 4-H, ICAN educators and other resources already in place are part of the weekly plan so the kids at WMCC have many fun learning opportunities, has been a goal. Most week days the WMCC will have between 30 and 50 kids and many more join after school. During the months of February and March I spent one day a week at the center helping and training staff for the unique learning environment they have. This summer WMCC will run a summer program for up to 150 children ages 5 to 14.

During the school year, the Socorro County Extension Agent held 15 project days at the City of Socorro’s Finley Gym. Programs generally last between 2 to 2 1/2 hours and focused on hands-on activities with strong educational components. Information and project ideas were taken from the 4-H project list and adapted to fit a variety of themes ranging from seasonal lessons to cultural exploration. Programs performed during this reporting period include: Exploring the World of Plants and Soil: From Plant to Peanut Butter; 4-H Beef: Beef-O Bingo; Horse Program: Good Grubs for Horses; 4-H Gardening Project: Sprouting Fingers and Dirt Babies; Landscape Gardening: Grow Cards; Agriculture and Nutrition: Mini Pizzas; Environmentally Friendly: Biodegradable Plastic from Corn; Food and Nutrition (Dairy): Ice Cream in a Bag.

In December, the Socorro County Extension Agent hosted “A Homemade Christmas.” Youth were given the opportunity to make Christmas decorations, ornaments, and gifts.

As a result of these project days, a summer program was developed by the City of Socorro and more than 100 youth attended everyday. And as a result of the summer program an afterschool program was developed with 4-H curriculum being taught every Tuesday and Thursday.

Socorro County Extension Agent makes bi-monthly visits to the c-level class at Sarracino Middle School in Socorro, New Mexico. Program lasts 50 minutes and focuses on life skills training and character education. Programs include hands-on activities related to character education, life skills, and 4-H project materials. The youth that participate in this c-level class are students with a learning disability in any given subject. The students may be slow learners and are at a grade level or two levels below their age group, however they are not disabled. Programs performed during this reporting period include: the 6 pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship; Making positive Choices; Egg to Chick in conjunction with the Respect and Responsibility; Leathercraft; Sewing; Wildlife; Food and Nutrition (Dairy) Ice Cream in a Bag; and Sports Fishing.
During the Sports Fishing project, youth studied types of fish, fishing equipment, and baits used for the different types of fish. After the completion of the project the youth that exhibited good behavior were treated to a field trip at Elephant Butte for a day of fishing to exhibit the skills the learned in class.

The Egg to Chick program is an embryology project that is designed to provide youth with background information and exciting experiential activities dealing with life science. Students develop an understanding of biology through direct experiences with living things, their life cycles and their habits. 100% of youth reported gaining knowledge resulting in receiving an A in science for the 9 weeks.

During the summer months (June, July, and August), Socorro County 4-H Agent held monthly 4-H project day camps in Socorro. The day camps were designed for youth from Socorro and around the county to come together to complete 4-H projects to be entered in the Socorro County Fair. Projects competed during the project days included: Food, Friends, & Fun; Housing and Interior Design; Wood Science Unit 1; New Mexico Flavor, and Arts and Crafts. Youth completed projects such as picture frames, recipe card holders, adobe houses, stenciled terracotta pots, and painted desert chile just to name a few. Youth entered over 100 projects to be judged at the Socorro County Fair, with 30 of those items going on to compete at the New Mexico State Fair. The 4-H Agent each year work hard to increase the number of 4-H Indoor Exhibits exhibited during the county fair. A Hi-Point 4-H Indoor Exhibitor belt buckle was added this year as an incentive for completing 4-H indoor projects. We have seen an increase over the years with 100 entries in 2005, 146 in 2006 and 150 in 2007. With this new incentive we hope to see even more next year.

The Socorro County Extension Service hosted their 1st Kids, Kows & More event this year at the Socorro County Fairgrounds. This was an educational and hands on learning experience that introduced children and adults to the agriculture industry and where their milk comes from. Kids, Kows & More was a unique fun filled experience that let kids experience the world of agriculture up close. The event was designed to give kids a little taste of all types of agriculture in their area. The program was open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in Socorro County. Planning began in September 2006 which included meetings with local agencies to develop presentations, logistics of transportation, along with other concerns related to the program.

The school aged children involved included students from Socorro, Magdalena, Lemitar, San Antonio and Alamo. Volunteer leaders presented topics on dairy production, sheep production, cattle ranching, farming, water conservation, horses, and farm animals.

The program was a huge success with more than 550 youth and teachers attending the event. Evaluations were extremely positive from both teachers and students, most according to the evaluations leave with a better understanding of agriculture and the environment the surrounds them each day.