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4-H2O Completes Banner Year
| Name | Rhonda Matthews | | Situation | The Piedmont region has offered the 4-H2O program since 1999. 4-H2O began as a local effort, with each county taking responsibility for the organization and implementation of the program. At the close of its fifth year, the program continues to be in high demand in each of the communities it serves. 4-H2O focuses on watershed education as it pertains to the local area. Due to increasing popularity of the program, however, the Piedmont region examined ways to deliver the program more efficiently. | | Response | During February 2003, the agent facilitated a regional meeting and training session for agents who were interested in initiating or continuing a county level 4-H2O program. Seven counties were represented at this meeting. Agents were able to gain first-hand experience with the equipment used during the program as well as collect feedback from prior 4-H2O programs. This effort led to more coordination in implementing the 4-H20 program. The 4-H2O program is a week-long, educational day camp that teaches youth about local aquatic resources and factors that affect those resources. Counties contributing to the effort during the summer months were Abbeville, McCormick, Greenwood, Newberry and Edgefield. Agents in these counties shared equipment, community resource people, personal expertise, and manpower.
The agent responsible for programming in Abbeville and McCormick counties has reported tangible successes. There was one program held in Abbeville County with 17 enrolled and 2 programs held in McCormick with a total of 25 enrolled. Each program allowed youth ages 9-13 the chance to take part in hands-on activities such as seining, fish dissection, data collection of dissolved oxygen content in water at varying depths, data collection on water clarity/turbidity, macro invertebrate collection from local streams, and snake identification. The youth were able to use professional equipment such as videoscopes and microscopes, d-ring nets and seining nets, secchi disks, plankton nets and dissolved oxygen meters. Being able to make use of equipment such as this in the field is something that cannot be duplicated in a classroom. Being there, using what a professional uses, collecting the data in the same manner as a professional and then interpreting that data to make it useful in an everyday setting is a process that can only take place in programs such as 4-H2O. There is no substitute for first hand experience and “learning by doing.”
The agent secured a $750 4-H2O grant from Dr. Barbara Speziale, Extension Associate Dean. This money was used to upgrade and add to the equipment used in the regional 4-H2O programs. This year we added dissecting pans, macro invertebrate id books, a plankton tow net, several student model plankton nets, as well as 5 additional canoes with paddles and one canoe trailer. The 4-H2O supply and equipment kit is now well stocked and includes ample gear to conduct a program with up to 20 youth per setting.
| | Impact | The ability of agents to exchange information resulted in less overlap and duplication of effort and a more streamlined coordination of dates/times/resource people. Agents left the training knowing when and how they would conduct 4-H2O programs in their respective counties. At the local level the enrollment, for 4-H2O in the counties for which the agent is responsible, was at its highest ever. Kids left the program with a stronger grasp of the interaction between humans and the environment. They expressed an appreciation of the resiliency and the fragility of nature and gained a greater understanding of their responsibility in helping protect the quality of their local watershed. In addition, the youth developed teamwork and leadership skills. Partnerships have been established with agencies such as SC Dept of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, SC Dept of Natural Resources, SC Forestry Commission, SC DHEC, and local volunteers.
Plans are underway to pilot a parent/child version of the program for 2004. The concept for this type of program shifts the focus from strictly youth environmental education to family environmental education. This opens a host of new possibilities for 4-H2O.
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Last update6/2/2008
This website is maintained by Bryan Smith.
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