North Dakota 4-H Foundation Grants Awarded

Youth across the state will be learning new skills in new ways, thanks to funding provided by the North Dakota 4-H Foundation’s Building Leaders for the 21st Century grants program. Since the program started in March 2000, the 4-H Foundation has approved grants for educational projects from across the state equaling about $20,000.

"A key criterion for these projects is that each helps achieve the Foundation’s goals, the most basic of which is to strengthen and bolster learning opportunities for youth, volunteers and youth leaders," says Arleen Bunt, 4-H Foundation development director.

One of the projects to receive funding is called "Take the Five-a-Day Challenge." The Cass County project will teach nutrition to seventh and eighth graders over the Internet. Using the World Wide Web, chat rooms and e-mail, the program will teach the importance of a diet to long-term health.

In Sargent County, a horsemanship series will develop the 4-H hippology program. This project will use a written test, judging and a team problem to teach horse science.

"Master Global Position System Youth Volunteers" will provide hands-on training for youth on global positioning systems and geographic information systems. This training will be available for youth in Emmons, Logan and McIntosh counties.

Another project, "Safely Surfing the Net," will teach teens and parents in Cavalier County about Internet safety. The teens will do classroom and community presentations about what they learn.

In Mercer County, "Kids in the Kitchen" will teach kids to cook for themselves. Nutrition, food safety and presentation are all included in this after-school program.

"Technology Day" is a day-long activity for youth on workforce-ready technology. Global positioning systems, digital cameras and computer applications will be taught to about 40 youth from several counties, including Mountrail County.

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Source: Arleen Bunt, (701) 231-8569, abunt@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Becky Koch, (701) 231-7875, bkoch@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Writer: Beth Payne, (701) 231-7881, bepayne@yahoo.com