Youth Development Insight

By Darcy Cole Youth treasurer roles are important because they provide an opportunity for young people to play an essential role in managing an organization's funds and provide a chance for youth to gain priceless skills that can help them their entire life. However, in some youth development organizations, the youth treasurer role isn’t always used to its full potential. For these youth, it can mean a year of practicing their signature without much learning. It may feel easy to leave youth out of the nitty-gritty of finances and financial decision-making, but doing so also deprives youth of the learning we promised them when they accepted their treasurer position. As a youth development professional, I challenge you to be intentional about creating meaningful experiences for youth that result in financial knowledge and skill acquisition. Serving in a youth treasurer role can help fill the financial literacy gap . Additionally, by fulfilling the role of treasurer, youth also pract...

By Jacob Halper Fall is a time of reflection and transition. In my work as a 4-H educator, the county fair is over, many youth went on to state-level showcases, and we begin planning for the new year. As we reflect on the past year, many focus on the county fair and how to improve it. The article The County Fair as Celebration and Cultural Text  captures the beauty of the chaos so simply as, "Periods of intense excitement alternate with periods of intense calm." Intensity is something I believe resonates with all youth development professionals. For many the hard part is the calm, but it is important to stop and intentionally explore the story that was told amidst that intensity. The county fair is a time of connection, reconnection, and public display. In Minnesota 4-H we often use the language of “showcase”. These youth showcases represent another concept I am familiar with: youth storytelling. Stories and storytelling come in as much variety in their definition as their ac...