After several weeks and many nerves I have submitted my project proposal both to the professor for my course "Community Planning, Engagement, and Governance" and to my former 4-H leader in Washington State, USA.
My ideas are at this time vague but as I share my ideas with my 4-H Leader and my peers I hope to refine many of these based on what people are willing to do back home as well as where they have already been. Below, please find my proposal. Within the coming week or two I plan to have a background not only to 4-H and my involvement within in but also the background the current financial issues occurring around Washington.
PROJECT PROPOSAL:
PROJECT TITLE: Learning in Action: Save King County 4-H
PROJECT FOCUS: Youth
PROJECT AIM(S):
With this project I hope to begin further conversations perhaps even in a new direction, on how to gain both County/State support for local 4-H (& by default Cooperative Extension Programs) in order to secure funding for the continuation of the program for the long term, rather than the current situation of year-to-year support and funding approval. In addition, I would like to create some type of forum for the youth involved in the organization to at least share their fears, worries and even excitements with one another. This exists at the national level but does not exist at the local, county or state levels.
Long-term I see the project going much further. I would like to be able to work alongside the youth, parents and volunteers within the organization eventually work on legislative change which has made it necessary for 4-H as a non-profit reliant on each subsequent County Council approval each year in order to maintain operations.
PROJECT RATIONAL:
As a former member of 4-H, along with a continued support of the organization, believe that it is a worthwhile youth development program engaging youth from all backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations and abilities with absolutely no discrimination. It is both urban and rural and in essence is a preventative program through extracurricular education and leadership opportunities. It is something I hope to see my children and grandchildren involved in one day. 4-H is a perfect example of a program that has produced many state and national leaders (even former presidents) as well as civically minded and often engaged community members.
PROJECT ACTION(S):
My initial goals in beginning collective action will be work closely, via email, Skype and other messaging programs with my former 4-H leader who is actively engaged in the current struggle to ‘Save 4-H’. Nancy is a not only a club leader but a State Project Coordinator and works very closely with state level volunteers to coordinate the program as a whole. She is my main contact and source of current information from within the organization. I hope to work with her as a club leader to begin speaking (again through web based media) with parents and volunteers within my old club and propose some of my ideas for raising awareness of the issue as well as overall organization marketing. I additionally hope to work with the parents and volunteers to set up some sort of forum (perhaps a blog space) for the children/youth involved in the programs to discuss with one another their fears and ideas which at a later time may be integrated into the actions of the adults within the organization.
Through both conversations hopefully both the adults and youth will be able to collectively move forward with more substantial goals of maintaining the program. I only at this time hope to be a source of rejuvenation of their previous efforts and wish to begin empowering the youth to actively speak out as well.
RISK IDENTIFICATION:
In undertaking this work I will need to be mindful of the fact that all those involved are volunteers and that there are children’s feelings and emotional well being at stake as well. The program is a place to facilitate education not necessarily involve any children in political action (although this is one area that youth can choose to be involved in through 4-H). In addition, I will need to remain conscious that all things take time and that I am mostly acting out of a place of insider knowledge and feelings, as well as my idealized state of consciousness in regards to the subject and program itself, where the actual economic and political ramifications of the project are much larger than my current scope and vision.
Additionally, people may or may not want to participate and could already be resigned to the way things are and the very real possibility of losing 4-H in King County and Washington State within the next 1-2 years. Figuring out a way to either pre-empt this resignation or empower the group again will be another strategy I may need to consider.
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