Extension Communications
Extension 4-H Youth Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3630
(515) 294-9915
|
|
Extension Communications |
2/5/04
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Chris Gleason, ISU Extension 4-H Youth Development, 515-294-1557, cgleason@iastate.edu
Carol Ouverson, ISU Extension Continuing Education and Communication Services,
515-294-9640, couverso@iastate.edu
Army, 4-H Join Forces to Support Youth
AMES, Iowa--A joint Army/4-H initiative will bring support and educational programs to youth in Iowa whose parents are deployed in Iraq and elsewhere, according to an Iowa State University Extension 4-H spokesperson.
The focus of the initiative, called Operation: Military Kids (OMK), will be on youth with parents in the National Guard, Reserves and Accessions Commands. OMK includes outreach strategies and youth programs that will be pilot tested in Iowa and four other states March through May. After pilot testing, selected programs will be replicated starting in June by Extension 4-H programs in all 50 states, according to Chris Gleason, 4-H program coordinator and state military liaison.
Under this program, 4-H youth and military youth will work side-by-side to
build community networks of support for their military families, Gleason
said.
At the national level, youth from the National 4-H Youth Directions Council
(N4-HYDC), and their counterparts on the Army Teen Panel, have been working
together to create and promote OMK. Michael Cooley, a senior at Orient-Macksburg
High School, represents Iowa on the N4-HYDC.
OMK grew out of an eight-year Army Youth Development Project (AYDP) that provides support to Army staff and has established 295 4-H clubs in Army installations around the globe. The AYDP is a program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (USDA-CSREES).
The AYDP provides grants to states piloting OMK, ensuring rapid response to youth whose parents are currently mobilized or deployed, according to Sharon K. B. Wright, CSREES national program leader in families, 4-H and nutrition.
"Although these youth do not re-locate when a parent is mobilized or deployed, their lives change dramatically during the parent's absence," Wright said. They face new challenges and risks because they come from a civilian background, have little or no experience dealing with the military and often live 50 to 100 miles from normal military support mechanisms.
In March, OMK teams from Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Washington will be trained to understand military culture. They will then train 4-H members, volunteers, educators and community groups in their states. The program also will roll out at the National 4-H Conference March 18-23.
"Through OMK, 4-H has the opportunity to play a significant role in providing education, outreach and support to youth of dispersed military families, most of whom have not previously been reached by 4-H," Chuck Morris, ISU Extension 4-H youth development interim director, said.
#
ml: state