A diagnostic walkabout (DW) is an in-field diagnostic training program for professionals in the green industry (greenhouse, landscape, nursery, and turf businesses). DWs have been scheduled annually since 2002 and are easily replicable, fee-based programs that provide cost recovery. DWs also serve as a mentoring program for new Extension…

Despite the importance of bees, there is a gap in the public's understanding of them. To help address this gap, we developed the outreach tool Experience Bees, a series of simple learning and hands-on activities to teach community members about bees and their importance in our landscapes. Program evaluation showed that participants learned about…

Gray for a Day is an interactive educational curriculum that centers on use of an empathic model to improve knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to sensory and functional aging, empathy toward older adults, and one's own health behaviors. The program has been disseminated by Extension educators with varied audiences and evaluated with 2,440…

The occurrence of equine abuse/neglect cases is an ongoing issue. However, officials responding to equine cases are rarely experienced in handling horses. Therefore, workshops teaching basic horse husbandry were offered to better equip and prepare officials to respond to equine cases. Trainings consisted of both classroom and hands-on sessions.…

Honey bee colony declines have garnered immense public interest, and consequently there is a significant demand for the dissemination of apicultural information. The Oregon Master Beekeeper Program was developed in response to this increased interest in bees and beekeeping and a demand for a credible educational program for new beekeepers. The…

As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, Extension is called upon to modify its programming to meet the needs of its changing constituency. Georgia Extension created a professional development curriculum to assist Extension professionals in crafting effective programming for the rapidly growing Latino population. The study reported here…

Extension agents' use of demonstration gardens was studied to determine how gardens are employed in horticultural programming, perceived benefits and challenges of using gardens for Extension programming, and desired competencies. Gardens are primarily used to enhance educational efforts by providing hands-on learning experiences. Greatest…

TechXcite is an engineering-focused, discovery-based after-school science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program. The free curriculum is downloadable from http://techxcite.pratt.duke.edu/ and is comprised of eight Modules, each with four to five 45-minute activities that exercise the science and math learned in school by using…

The "train-the-trainer" model successfully created volunteer educators in insect identification. Intensive training programs prepared 71 individuals during 2 1/2-day (20 hour) training sessions. Trainees included university Extension faculty (13), agricultural professionals (13), and certified Master Gardeners (45). The sessions were…

This article discusses a qualitative evaluation of the Florida 4-H Health Rocks! program aimed at youth alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use prevention. A questionnaire was distributed to Extension professionals across Florida to gain insight into the strengths and barriers they faced with programming. Programmatic strengths included targeting a…

Research shows student participation in science programming can affect scientific interest, academic performance, college majors, and careers. This article reports a study where results obtained from questionnaires completed by participants, parents, and guardians assessed whether interest in STEM disciplines was advanced by a summer day-camp…

Summer 4-H camps present an untapped opportunity for advancement of mission mandates. The project reported here immersed campers in healthy living experiential learning. The goal was to improve self-efficacy and health behaviors related to nutrition and physical activity. Data was collected from enrolled campers through multiple survey tools. A…

The Summer Youth Forestry Institute (SYFI) was developed to inspire youth through experiential learning opportunities and early work experience in the field of natural resources. Declining enrollments in forestry and other natural resource careers has made it necessary to actively engage youth and provide them with exposure to careers in these…

Rates of type 2 diabetes are increasing nationally and in New Mexico, particularly in ethnic minorities. A key self-care area with challenging barriers is healthy eating. The New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service conducts diabetes cooking schools statewide together with community health providers. The study reported here determined if this…

Wheat and soybean producers pay a small amount per bushel produced as a check-off. Funds are used for research, outreach, and crop promotion. Commodity organizations and Extension joined forces to develop multi-state educational outreach on spring wheat and soybean production. Participatory planning involved producers in developing these…