4-H CLUBS & AFFILIATED 4-H ORGANIZATIONS

The Iowa 4-H Youth Development Program provides opportunities for youth to develop skills that they can use now and throughout their lives. Iowa 4-H builds upon a century of experience as it fosters positive youth development that is based on the needs and strengths of youth, their families, and communities.

Iowa 4-H follows the principles of experiential learning and draws on the knowledge base of Iowa State University and other institutions of higher education in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. The Iowa 4-H Program's vision and mission statements clearly view youth as partners working with caring adults, and as full participants in planning and working for individual and community change.

The Iowa 4-H Foundation provides funds to make these opportunities possible.

Funding from the Iowa 4-H Foundation allows for the development of new programs and training for caring adult volunteers.

4-H learning experiences are based on the principles and practices of positive youth development. Positive youth development views young people as vital resources with assets and potentials to be developed.

4-H youth programs provide opportunities for youth to develop skills they can use throughout their life. Iowa 4-H builds upon a century of experience as it fosters positive youth development that is based on the needs and strengths of youth, their families, and communities.

The Iowa 4-H Program’s priorities:

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
Healthy Living
Leadership and Civic Engagement
Communication and the Arts

These priorities align with Iowa State University, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, 4-H National Headquarters, and statewide initiatives.

The program priorities are cross-disciplinary. It is important to ensure all Iowa 4-H delivery modes (afterschool programs, camps, events, clubs, schools) are moving youth and their parents toward sustainable learning communities, usually referred to as 4-H Clubs. Iowa considers 4-H Clubs/Learning Communities as its deepest and most sustainable level of intervention.

The Iowa 4-H Foundation has an experienced and dedicated staff who work to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission to provide financial support of the Iowa 4-H program which follows the principles of experiential learning and draws on the knowledge base of Iowa State University and other institutions of higher education in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture.

The Positive Development of Youth: Comprehensive Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, a longitudinal study performed by Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University found that 4-H'ers are:

• nearly 4x more likely to make contributions to their communities
• about 2x more likely to be civically active
• nearly 2x more likely to participate in science programs during out-of-school time
• 2x more likely (Grade 10) and nearly 3x more likely (Grade 12) to take part in science programs compared to girls in other out-of- school time activities
• nearly 2x more likely to make healthier choices