Wooden planks are a tool for developing youth skills through science, technology, engineering, and math exploration. These are small planks that can be stacked to create complex structures as youths explore math and physical relationships in an applied context. Building with wooden planks also cultivates planning, reasoning, and team skills as…

The purpose of the study addressed in this article was to gather information from military service members and their teenage children attending Extension camping programs together. We used a pretest and a posttest to examine resilience of both groups and compared other postprogram youth outcome measures to a normative sample. We found…

As U.S. Extension broadens its reach around the globe, an increased need exists for Extension professionals who have not only technical knowledge but also the cultural competencies to apply that knowledge in international settings. We describe a course that provides students with the opportunity to develop skills needed for potential careers in…

State crop scouting competitions (CSCs) promote agriculture by introducing youths in Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska to various agricultural disciplines while focusing on integrated pest management (IPM). High school students compete as teams to address crop management issues at various stations. Each station is led by university representatives. Two…

Does participation in the Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program (WHEP) help develop life skills? 4-H members and coaches who participated in the National WHEP Contest between the years 2003-2005 and 2007-2009 were asked to complete an evaluation at the end of each contest. A portion of the evaluation asked participants and coaches to determine if…

Planning youth and family programming in the 21st century is daunting given family members' busy schedules. This is even more challenging when planning programs in rural areas, where there are vast distances between communities. This article discusses a research and educational outreach project that uses best practices in program development…