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What does it mean to thrive?

By Savannah Aanerud What does it mean to thrive? The  4-H Thriving Model  is the root system for how 4-H programs successfully grow and cultivate positive experiences into the lives of our young people. It helps youth develop a growth mindset where key developmental outcomes are achieved. Karen Beranek explores this in  her blog  about how one must move beyond resilience to thrive. However, in order to truly help youth, volunteers and families thrive, we need to first consider how we as program staff are thriving. I want to encourage you to sit back in your chair and ask yourself, "Am I thriving?". Many of us are in "survival" mode while trying to encourage our youth to "thrive". How does that work? We see ourselves taking on a plethora of tasks, adding to our already long to-do lists. Our work can then seem like a checklist that we have to do each day instead of something that we enjoy "getting" to do. We are constantly pouring into our programs
Recent posts

Sparks for the future

By Sarah Odendahl It’s the time of year when “adulthood” is becoming a very real concept for many of our youth - college acceptance letters are arriving, tuition deposits are due, graduation ceremony and celebration plans are underway. When I think back to that time in my life, I remember lots of people asking variations of, “Can you make money doing that?” when I told them about my plan to major in theatre and music. It was the height of the Great Recession, so I can’t really blame folks - and yet, at 18, it was impossible not to be hurt by the lack of support from the adults around me. In 2011, Dr. Peter Benson of the Search Institute in Minneapolis gave a talk at TedxTC . He spoke about the research they were doing into “sparks” by asking youth, “Tell me what it is about you that gives you joy and energy.” In his talk, Dr. Benson defines sparks as “something that gives their life hope and direction and purpose” and explains the three different categories of sparks: a skill or talent

Coaching through change

By Jeremy Freeman As youth development practitioners, managing change is central to our practice. Whether it be with youth, adult volunteers or staff personnel, coaching through change is a foundational skill that helps us leverage the full extent of the potential around us. For example, a volunteer who has maintained overall control of a program is required to change when two or more volunteers are asked to co-lead the program to help its growth and expansion.  The challenge in change is, unsurprisingly, that it requires us to change! We often resist change, especially when it requires us to give up or modify previously held roles, values, actions, ways of being or power. In a recent course I took titled Leading Change, Transitions, and People I found the ADKAR Model to be instrumental in helping me think through a process that builds change through relationships. As we reflect on this model, I invite you to consider the ways it can embed itself in the context of change you are curr

Outdoors for ALL

By Nicole Pokorney In the recent Minnesota DNR newsletter, The Trailblazer , the editors featured stories of people not always represented in the outdoors. As I reflected on the voices and images, I continued to think about the statistics of who is outdoors, and the future of our spaces. According to the 2023 Outdoor Participation Trends Report , 2022 showed record numbers and rates of participation in the outdoors, but a decline in the number of outings. Also, the report showed that participants that were new to the outdoors were more diverse, with increases in several BIPOC communities. However, the total population of outdoor participants still hovers around 70% white, mostly men. The trends report does give us hope: "Although the outdoor participant base isn’t as diverse as the U.S. population, diversity among kids who participate and of new participants (participated for the first time in 2022) strongly indicate that efforts to maximize inclusivity in outdoor recreation are r

Humor - A key ingredient to engagement, meaningful connection, and creativity in youth development

By Amy Sparks Student: Is Thursday crazy legging day or something? Teacher: It is now. The tale you're about to hear is true. Picture a packed tenth grade English classroom, 30 students begrudgingly tackling Shakespeare, and their 38-year-old teacher, freshly licensed and new to the teaching scene, adding excitement by flaunting leggings that had a design of the "Eye of London" ferris wheel on them. Over time, this teacher expanded her collection for each "crazy legging Thursday." That teacher was me, and I still don't take myself too seriously. According to Dr. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, instructors of "Humor: Serious Business" at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, humor enhances intelligence, fosters meaningful connections, and stimulates innovative thinking. Laughter releases hormones that make us happier, more trusting, less stressed, and even slightly euphoric. Injecting humor into professional interactions can alter brain che

Partnering with schools: A conversation with a public school teacher

By Jessica Pierson Russo Jessica Russo , a 20+ year youth development professional, and her husband Mark Russo, with 20+ years as a public school teacher, discuss the benefits of partnerships between formal and nonformal education.  Jessica : Mark, you have been teaching in the school systems for over 20 years, but you’ve also done some nonformal education—Boy Scouts, you helped me lead a 4-H club for a while, and you’ve taught after school classes as well. I’ve seen your attitude towards nonformal education change over time because of your experiences and your conversations with me. I wanted to understand how that happened, because I know I, and many of my colleagues in youth development, struggle with starting partnerships with schools. Nonformal education tends to get overlooked or seen as merely a way to entertain kids. What can you remember about your previous experience and thoughts about nonformal education?  Mark : I remember being hyper-focused on the few things that I had con

Rethinking behavior management

By  Courtney Johnson & Katie Ecklund No matter what age group we're working with, most of us have experienced this frustrating situation: You have a great program planned, you’ve got everything prepped, but when you enter the program space, things go haywire. Emotions erupt, youth are struggling to stay focused, arguments are happening, and your program plan seems to be flying out the window. At this point, you may be looking for strategies on behavior management. But is behavior management what’s really needed, or is it something else?  Behavior management is the term we often use in programming to describe keeping order, and there is no end to the number of approaches out there. However, if we look closer, we may find the words themselves are problematic. Google the definition of management, and you’ll find "the process of dealing with or controlling things or people."   Other definitions include, the "judicious use of means to accomplish an end," which