May 8, 2012

Today we went to The Ohio State University Extension building to learn about 4-H and other programs they offer. First, Brittany presented what 4-H, which is a youth organization composed of children and young adults around the area. 4-H stands for head, heart, heath and hands. The purpose of 4-H is to shirt to science from all fields, national vs state, community clubs vs school enrichment, and saving America's youth. Brittany emphasized that children from urban, suburban and rural areas are all part of 4-H and has been the case since the 1980's. The funding source for 4-H comes from many different places. The majority comes from the county commissioner, a smaller portion from OSU and they fund there activities by membership fees. She did not really talk about it, but I believe they plan, monitor and evaluate their program by how many members are each county program. If they did not have enough participants they cant do certain things because they do not have the funds. The role of the nutrition professional could be in the nutrition sector of the 4-H club. Many of the students who chose to do the nutrition projects, they can help with their projects and give them information. Next, Joyce Shriner talked about the OSU  extension program in general. The mission of the extension program is engaging people to strengthen their lives and communities through research based education programming. The funding for the extension program comes from federal, state and county and sometimes levy's bring in some money for the program. The role for the nutrition professional could be in the family  nutrition program and also in the 4-H sector. This was a very interesting talk and I never even realized this as a possible opportunity in the future.