Learn how UConn Extension is tying research to real life in your community through our 2015 Highlights of Extension.
4-H
Growing True Leaders
Every child has the potential to be a true leader. However, kids today say they are missing experiences that grow the life skills they need – like confidence, responsibility, independence and compassion. It is a serious problem now that will lead to a severe leadership void in the years to come – impacting […]
Thank you Volunteers!
During National Volunteer Week, we thank all of our Connecticut 4-H, UConn Extension Master Gardener Program, People Empowering People (PEP), and other volunteers who make our programs so successful each year! Our volunteers contributed over 100,000 hours, or $2.4 million to their communities served last year.
Volunteer Spotlight: Marcia Johnson
Teacher and 4-H Volunteer Brings Gardening, Nutrition and Fitness to Students in the Classroom and Beyond By Kim Markesich Originally published by Naturally@UConn on January 26, 2016 Twenty-eight years as an elementary school teacher has not dampened the enthusiasm of 4-H volunteer Marcia Johnson. She’s upbeat, energetic and clearly excited about teaching. Five years […]
Teen Mentors Attend National 4-H Congress
CT 4-H FANs IM Teen Mentors, and Danbury High School seniors, Ciara Broggy and Yanis Aracena, were selected to participate in the National 4-H Congress held in Atlanta, Georgia, November 27th through December 1, 2015. Both attendees were required to submit an application and attend an interview. While at the National 4-H Congress, they enjoyed […]
Cross Pollination Adventure for Hartford County 4-H
By Stacey Stearns Hartford County 4-H members will have the unique opportunity to participate in a Cross Pollination Adventure this summer. They will partner with a Costa Rican outdoor education center as part of a Cooperative International Learning Experience. UConn Extension has partnered with CIRENAS (Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales y Sociales) in Costa […]
4-H Attends Wellness Fair
UConn Extension’s LaShawn Christie-Francis the Eversource Wellness Fair with Aqueelah Virgo, our CYFAR afterschool instructor. They attended both fairs one was located on Prospect Street in Hartford and the other was at Windsor, Connecticut, both were in October. Over 200 people attended their wellness fair and it gave Urban 4-H/CYFAR afterschool programs a lot of exposure.
4-H Celebrates Food Day
MaryEllen Welch & Peg Grillo with Miss Dance of USA 2015 at the UConn Extension display at World Food Day celebrations at Yale on Saturday, October 24th.
Award Winning Grilled Cheese
Connecticut 4-H dairy members entered the Grilled Cheese Competition at the Big E in mid-September and won the top award against teams of 4-H members from across New England. Connecticut 4-H, which is part of UConn Extension, had two teams entered. The winning team consisted of Mikayla Durant, Victoria Footit, and Melanie Trotochaud. Mikayla and […]
Meet German Cutz
Dr. German Cutz is an Associate Extension Educator for Sustainable Families and Communities with a statewide appointment for UConn Extension. Dr. Cutz develops, conducts, and evaluates Extension outreach education programs. He is fully bilingual (English and Spanish) with more than 20 years experience working in community development in both developing and developed countries. In addition, […]
New Greenhouse Teaches Science of Gardening
New Greenhouse helps 4-H Center at Auerfarm Teach Youth the Science of Gardening By Sarah Bailey, Master Gardener Coordinator, Hartford County Extension Center Winter may have been unusually cold and long this year, but there was a sunny and green oasis at the 4-H Center at Auerfarm. Spinach and herbs grew throughout the winter, […]
Lynn & Marjorie Brown: Promoting & Supporting 4-H for a Lifetime
Lynn & Marjorie Brown: Promoting and Supporting 4-H for a Lifetime By Nancy Wilhelm, Program Coordinator, 4-H Youth Development Marjorie and Lynn Brown have spent a lifetime promoting and supporting UConn Extension and the 4-H Program. Both grew up on farms in Iowa where they were 4-H members – Marjorie participated in home economics […]
International Experience at Auerfarm
UConn Students from UConn’s Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders on Social Entrepreneurship and participants from either North or Sub-Saharan Africa came out to 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm camp in July. After a morning in the garden, everyone ended up in the shade sharing information about themselves and showing the campers where they came […]
Fairfield County 4-H Horse Show
The Fairfield County 4-H Horse Show was held in May, and a great day was had by all.
4-H Recognition Night
The Fairfield County 4-H Recognition Night was held on June 4th. Congratulations to all of the 4-H members who received awards.
Jolly Ranchers 4-H Club
The Jolly Ranchers 4-H Club of Durham celebrated Memorial Day by participating in the town parade again this year. Photos by Len Baginski.
Fun at 4-H Camp
Camp Counselor Delaney works with a group of 4-H members at camp on equine fitting and grooming techniques.
4-H Microwave Magic
The New London County 4-H program was at Norwich Summer Jam & Learn last week. This cooking project 4-H Microwave Magic. The 4-H program will be there every Wednesday with the youth.
UConn Extension Interns Tie Research to Real Life
Each year, UConn students apply and compete for paid internship opportunities with UConn Extension, whose mission is to connect the power of UConn research to local issues by creating practical, science-based answers to complex problems. This summer, 13 students are tying research to real life in our UConn Extension offices across the state. Santiago Palaez […]
Hartford County Urban 4-H
The Hartford County Urban 4-H after school programs are free for children age 7-19. Youth enrolled in Urban 4-H receive effective hands on STEM related activities which include but not limited to: health and nutrition, science related activities, social skills, and work force readiness courses. On May 26th at the Boys and Girls club in Hartford […]
Tools for Healthy Living
“Tools for Healthy Living,” a curriculum about healthy homes and food safety, has been accepted as a national peer-reviewed curriculum by the National 4-H Council. The curriculum, designed for students in grades four through six who are in afterschool 4-H programs, was developed by UConn Extension as part of a 5-year Sustainable Community Project grant […]
Barnum School in Bridgeport
Barnum School 4-Hers in Bridgeport celebrated Earth Day on April 25th. Parents, students and community volunteers celebrated with a Garden clean up. Twenty-seven beds were cleaned, wood chips laid, and eight new beds were built.
National 4-H Conference
In April, four Connecticut 4-H members and chaperone Rineicha Otero of UConn Extension attended the National 4-H Conference in Washington D.C. Each of the 4-H members participated in a roundtable project. Their assignments were: Molly Barnett – Adolescent Health – Presenting to the Department of Health and Human Services Lily Barton – Military Families – […]
Connecticut 4-H Citizenship Day 2015
By: Marc Cournoyer UConn Extension 4-H Program Coordinator Approximately 100 4-H youth and adults converged on the state Capitol in Hartford on Wednesday, April 15th for the annual state 4-H Citizenship Day. Representing all corners of Connecticut, these individuals came together to meet with legislators, explore our state Capitol, learn a bit more about […]
Litchfield County 4-H Programs
The Litchfield County 4-H Fair Association made up “Birthday Parties in a Bag” which are distributed to shelters and food kitchens. Every child wants a birthday party, and every child should be able to celebrate their birthday. They have been doing this community service project since 2012, when three 4-Hers went to a leadership Conference with Jann […]
Get Ready to Guac and Roll!
By Catherine Hallisey FoodCorps Connecticut Service Member It all started with me holding up an avocado, screaming enthusiastically, “WHO IS READY TO GUAC AND ROLL?!” Unfortunately, my quirky pun did not elicit the response I had hoped for— instead students started groaning, “ewww that’s green” and “where’s the ranch?!” even “I am not touching that!” Although […]
A Fair To Remember
Does the winter weather have you missing 4-H Fair season? Relive the 2014 Middlesex-New Haven County 4-H Fair with this video created by Connecticut 4-H volunteer Marianne Beckman and Cheshire Public Access.
4-H FANs IM Family Night
The 4-H FANs IM program has created this great video on Family Night that showcases what the program is all about. Connecticut Fitness and Nutrition Clubs In Motion, is a 4-H Afterschool program designed to reduce obesity rates in children ages 9 to 14, through sustainable interventions surrounding food and fitness. The program is a […]
Garden Programs in Fairfield County
Originally published by Naturally@UConn on December 16, 2014 Written by: Kim Markesich Fairfield County gardening programs teach nutrition, integrated pest management and life skills The Fairfield County Extension Center Demonstration Garden The Fairfield County Extension Center hosts a variety of gardening programs, and the season just past was a successful and bountiful one. With the support of […]
Barnum School Garden
The Barnum School 4-H Garden Club in Bridgeport built a compost bin for their garden:
4-H Recognition
Connecticut State Representative Dan Carter was our special guest at the Robotics and Technology recognition night. Two groups of children and youth from Danbury completed a 10-week pilot program. Participants built and programmed robots using laptops and artificial intelligence bricks. Before this program none of the participants was a 4-H member. At the end of […]
4-H Environmental Science Day
Registration is due no later than Saturday for 4-H Environmental Science Day on August 20th at Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum. The event flyer and registration are on the 4-H website, send yours in today.
Hartford Urban 4-H Program
The Boys and Girls Urban 4-H club of Hartford came to UConn for Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton’s visit.
Windham County Skill-A-Thon
By Marc Cournoyer, UConn Extension 4-H Program Coordinator 16 4-H members from around Windham County gathered together on Saturday, April 12th to explore STEM through a series of exciting and fun experiential activities. They participated in three workshops that were facilitated by UConn staff and students. In the first workshop, 4-H program coordinator Maryann Fusco-Rollins taught participants how to […]
UConn Extension 4-H Partners with UConn Engineering Ambassadors
By Marc Cournoyer, UConn Extension 4-H Program Coordinator Two undergraduate students from the UConn Engineering Ambassadors stopped by the Extension Center in Brooklyn, CT on February 22nd to assist members of the Windham County 4-H Saturday Science club in exploring some of the science required to colonize Mars. Participants had an opportunity to create their […]
4-H Saturday Science
Denise Coffey of the Reminder News covered the first 4-H Saturday Science Program at Windham County Extension: “The Windham County Extension Center in Brooklyn hosted the first 4-H Science Saturday on Nov. 16. Program Coordinator Marc Cournoyer led a group of youngsters through “Maps and Apps,” an exercise in map-reading and map-making. With nods to […]
Windham County 4-H Summer Science Mini-Camps
By Marc Cournoyer UConn Extension’s Windham County 4-H program continues to provide young people with an opportunity to explore the world of STEM education through hands-on minicamp programs taking place at various locations throughout Windham County. In 2013 we are focusing on three distinct programs; Junk Drawer Robotics, STEM Gardens and video production with special effects. […]
4-H Work Readiness Program
Tolland County Extension partnered with EastConn on a 4-H Work Readiness program for three weeks in the summer of 2012. Two groups with fifteen students each met five days per week. The focus of the program was on garden and grounds maintenance. Students also learned to fill out applications, interview for a job, and create a resume […]
4-H Education Center at Auerfarm
The 124-acre 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm is located in the northwest section of Bloomfield, Connecticut. Hartford entrepreneur and retailer Beatrice Auerbach deeded the farm to the CT 4-H Development Fund in 1976. Founded in the early years of the twentieth century, Auerfarm had been honored many times as a model site that included 60 […]