Tag Archives: glep

by | July 21, 2011 · 8:49 am

Through Toyota 4-H2O grant, Michigan 4-H Youth Development continues to educate kids experientially

For the fourth year, Michigan State University Extension 4-H Youth Development has received a Toyota 4-H2O grant. The $65,000 grant is divided between two areas: $50,000 goes to continue the yearlong 4-H2O projects in Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties along with a cluster of counties in northeastern Michigan. The remaining $15,000 supports the 2011 4-H National Youth Science Day activities that will take place throughout the state Oct. 1–8.

Oakland County puts the Toyota 4-H2O grant money to work with “I pledge my hands to larger service,” a campaign focused on involving elementary through high school-aged youth in water issues and water-related cleanup efforts. Youth also learn about water issues hands-on when they attend the 4-H2O Eco-Challenge summer weeklong camp at Indian Springs Metropark in August.

In Washtenaw County, the Huron River Watershed Council partners with MSU Extension to teach students about community-based water resources such as the Huron, Detroit, Ottawa-Stony and Raisin watersheds. The kids test the quality of the water and learn how their daily actions can have an effect on that quality.

In Wayne County, the grant allows students in the Detroit area schools to continue to engage in the Great Lakes Education Program (GLEP) “School Ship” cruises. Students study curriculum in the classroom that prepares them for the cruise. On the boat, students visit stations that involve them in learning about life on board.

Through Toyota 4-H2O, the Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service give students in northeastern Michigan a chance to participate in shipboard learning experiences. Students will conduct water quality tests from Lake Huron, the Ocqueoc River and the Trout River. MSU Extension staff members prepare teachers who in turn teach the students.

The grant allows kids the opportunity to learn science using a hands-on approach and relate what they learn to real-world experiences. It also gives them a taste of career options that they previously may not have known existed.

This is just another great example of how we are effectively carrying out our I Know MI Numbers science literacy initiative, providing science education in a non-formal setting using an experiential, learn-by-doing method and sharing it with teachers in formal school settings.

The Toyota 4-H20 Project is funded by a grant from Toyota to National 4-H Council and the Michigan 4-H Foundation.

To read more about 4-H Youth Development and the Toyota 4-H2O grant, click here.

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by | January 27, 2011 · 10:15 am

GLEP becomes 4-H Program of Distinction

National 4-H Headquarters recently named the Great Lakes Education Program (GLEP) a 4-H Program of Distinction. Programs of Distinction (POD) are peer-reviewed programs that reflect the high quality of Extension youth development programs from across the United States and territories.

 Based in Macomb and Wayne counties and led by senior Extension educator Steve Stewart and Extension educator Gary Williams, GLEP combines conservation education and science in the classroom and outdoors. It includes a shipboard field trip that introduces Michigan fourth graders to the Great Lakes. GLEP, which has its own curriculum and website (www.glep.us), has been replicated four times.

 Michigan 4-H Youth Development, Sea Grant, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and Michigan State University Extension collaborate to make GLEP a winning program.

 Since its inception in 1991, more than 80,000 students and adults from 26 communities have participated in GLEP. The program annually serves approximately 4,000 students from 160 classrooms in 20 school districts and 6 counties, including urban, suburban and rural areas. Many people had a hand in developing the GLEP curriculum, with leadership provided by Dr. Shari Dann, associate professor in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies; Carol Swinehart, recently retired communications manager with Michigan Sea Grant, and others. Even I had a hand in reviewing some of the materials and provided information on some of the ichthyological information in the curriculum. If you know of others who were involved in the creation of GLEP, please go to my blog and add their names as a comment on this entry.

 Impact evaluation results rate GLEP as a highly successful conservation education program. Students gain knowledge of the Great Lakes and natural resources while gaining positive attitudes and strengthening stewardship intentions toward those areas.

 Because of the experiential nature of GLEP, kids see and learn firsthand the importance of the Great Lakes and conservation efforts. It gets kids outdoors and in nature when many of their peers are sitting home with video games and missing out on what the great outdoors has to offer.

 GLEP now joins three other Michigan 4-H Youth Development programs that were named PODs: Ottawa County Journey 4-H Youth Mentoring in 2007, Leelanau County 4-H Kids Club in 2008, and 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp in 2009.

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