ATTACHMENT #11

GRANT APPLICATION FROM THE

WSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION 4H PROGRAM

Gates Foundation “Connecting Schools and Communities Initiative

Community Project Grant Application 2002

WSU Cooperative Extension; 4-H Youth Development Program

Contacts:          Alice Hibberd, WSU Faculty, San Juan County 4-H

Tom Schultz, WSU Faculty, San Juan County Extension Chair

221 Weber Way, Suite LL, Friday Harbor, WA  98250

Phone (360) 378-4414, Fax (360) 378-2187

II. a. Describe in detail the community project’s goals and implementation plans including how it will embody these principles:

1.) Distinct and clearly articulated goals relating to the academic, social, personal development, or career-related needs of youth;

Overall Goal: To provide youth with up-to-date skills related to marine resource protection that will benefit them, project collaborators, and the community.  Youth will be empowered by serving in productive and valuable roles that meet real community needs.

Specific Objectives

• Students will develop specific scientific skills in the area of field research, data collection, and data analysis. 
• Students will develop technology skills in data base development, GIS/GPS, data mapping, digital photography, internet and e-mail technology, word processing, website development.
• Students will develop social and personal skills in working with other teens and adults collaboratively.  Skills in communication, cooperation, team building, negotiating, decision-making and problem solving will all be integral in the program experience for teens. 
• Students will have the opportunities to explore career paths in field research, research technology, computers, teaching, writing, photography, communications, environmental planning, policy making and protection, and management.  

Academic skills will be reinforced by timely application to real needs in the community.  Youth will develop personal skills of conflict management, group planning and decision-making, and measuring the outcomes of their efforts. 

Career related competencies will come from the application of the academic skills in a well developed community project that benefits the community while providing individual experiences for youth working with professionals.  This will happen by job shadowing professionals during their workday and working alongside of them as a team member.

2.) Planned opportunity for youth to reflect on their experiences in the project and actively tie experiences to their academic schoolwork;

Trained youth will be able to easily connect their practical experiences working in a community setting to classroom projects and learning goals.  Their experiences will give them “hands-on” exposure in sciences (biology and earth sciences), mathematics, and civics.  After application of their academic skills, students will be given the opportunity to ‘de-brief.’  These reflective exercises will be planned into their activities at regular intervals.  Their experiences will be compared to their planned goals and academic schoolwork to see what connectedness (if any) there was.  Notes from these reflections will be kept by students as an on going record of their experiences.

3.) Planned opportunity for youth to make important decisions regarding their own roles and responsibilities in the activities sponsored by the project;

Youth will have the opportunity to engage in a process that prioritizes the most important needs for their project.  They will work as a team to convince and “defend” their choices to an advisory group.  These choices will be (but not limited to):

• Site Selection for monitoring or outreach activities
• Biological and/or physical elements to document at these sites
• Involvement and recruitment of more youth and volunteer adults who will help sustain the project
• Best methods to provide public outreach education.

4.) Planned opportunity for youth to be actively involved in making decisions about the development and continuing execution of the project. 

Describe the proposed outcomes for students and how the outcomes will be measured.

4-H is based on the experiential learning model and philosophy.  The program will include training and skill development, field experience and evaluation.  This model will be used at all levels of the student’s academic and community experience. An advisory group would be established that would include high school youth educators, local scientists, marine resource specialists, and organizations that would be benefit from the students’ research data.  Participating teens will take responsibility and ownership at each stage of the program development, implementation and evaluation, with the assistance of their advisory team.  As a result, teens would develop ownership of the program and thus gain the greatest depth to their skills and understanding of shoreline monitoring, a deep sense of empowerment, and a real sense of stewardship of their shoreline communities. 

A process of reflection on experience will be integral in the program.  Students will have opportunities for field journaling, team debriefing discussions, evaluation with research and education advisors, sharing findings at community meetings, conducting public tours where feedback would be received, and website development where the public could respond. 

The education element of the program would have skilled teens training new teens coming into the program as well as community adults and seniors wanting to become volunteer monitors.  Teens would be involved in public education through such modes as  website development and maintenance, public field workshop, presentation using power point technology, and local newspaper publicity through the distribution of their articles and digital photography.

Describe the proposed outcomes for students and how the outcomes will be measured.

Students will:

• Develop a foundational knowledge of the flora and fauna of our shoreline marine ecosystems and the interdependencies of these organisms.
• Understand the issues of our local community concerning the protection and preservation of our shoreline environments.
• Develop a system of shoreline monitoring including the use of Global Information Systems.
• Develop and maintain a database of shoreline field data collected in a form usable to local organizations in need of research on the subject.
• Develop and maintain a public education website.
• Provide the public with updated shoreline information by reporting the project’s findings through local newspapers.
• Train other youth entering into the monitoring program so they continue and sustain the program autonomously.
• Train adult and senior volunteers interested in assisting with field monitoring or data management efforts.
• Develop skills in communication, writing and/or public speaking to formally represent the community at pertinent meetings where shoreline ecosystem data is needed (i.e. for environmental policy and/or planning decisions).

II. b. Describe the organization that would receive the funding to manage and/or act as the lead agency of the community project.

Washington State University Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development is a tax-exempt, public agency that has a long successful history of community involvement and youth education in informal settings.  WSU Cooperative Extension is a partnership between the State and local communities (counties).  Some federal funding helps support the program.  Most of the operating budget comes from the communities that are served through annual county budgets, grants, and endowments.  WSU Cooperative Extension’s mission is to build capacity in a community by helping people develop leadership skills and use research-based knowledge to improve their economic status and quality of life.  This results in finding solutions to local problems faced by individuals, businesses, organizations, and communities.  Cooperative Extension develops local partnerships to create a culture of life-long learning in community settings.

Give a brief history of the organization and describe the organization’s existing programs.

WSU Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development is a publicly and privately funded program that has a 100-year history helping Washington youth develop to their fullest potential.  4-H has developed close partnerships with county governments and most importantly, adult and youth volunteers in each community that it serves.  In 2001, more than 9,474 adult 4-H volunteers contributed over 2.3 million hours of volunteer service to youth in our state.  The dollar value of that service is nearly 40 million dollars.  Of immeasurable value is the positive impact these adults have had on our youth.

Adult volunteers that are supported through WSU in San Juan County Extension Programs offer positive role models and adult connections for island youth.  Research documents that the single most important factor for successful transition from adolescence to productive adulthood is the connection of a youth with a caring, mentoring adult.  The 4-H program, through the leadership of its trained volunteer leaders, offers safe, educational experiences through which youth develop life skills. These adult volunteers care enough to give their free time to support the growth and development of their community’s children.

4-H is one of the largest youth organizations in San Juan County.  Countywide, 4-H enrolled over 681 youth during 2001/2002 school year with more than 97 volunteer adults leading them through projects and activities.  Presently, over 35% of the school-aged youth in San Juan County are enrolled in 4-H.  Volunteer leaders are trained to use the “experiential learning” method for all program delivery modes.  Traditional modes of delivery (i.e. clubs) make up about 18% of the enrollment, while special interest and school enrichment programs make up the rest.  Self-determined projects, short-term projects, after school and school enrichment programs in science, art and technology are becoming popular modes for non-farm youth.  San Juan County 4-H has recently expanded and diversified it’s 4-H program curricula to offer a wide range of healthy opportunities for youth to experience their fullest potential, including technology, natural resource, and leadership-based experiences.  The project we are proposing to the Gates foundation meets our long-term goals for diversifying the 4-H Program.

Identify key staff that would work on implementation of the project, providing their background and experience in leading such projects.

Two WSU faculty members and one paraprofessional oversee and manage the 4-H program locally (see vitae attached).  They are:

·        Tom Schultz, Ph.D., WSU Cooperative Extension Faculty and Chair.  Project and Grant Administration Experience for over 13 years.  Has lead and significantly expanded WSU Extension outreach in San Juan County for the past 10 years including 4-H and other natural resource programs at the local and state level.  Has developed strong relationships with other agencies at the county, state, and federal level for delivery of programs. 

·        Alice Hibberd, M.Ed. WSU 4-H Faculty: Environmental Educator, eight years of coordinating, developing, training volunteers/staff for, and managing environmental education programs.

·        Sue Carnes, M. Sci. San Juan County 4-H Program Coordinator, five years of program coordinating, volunteer training and program management for 4-H.  Eight years of experience teaching and counseling high school aged youth.

State the organization’s total paid staff FTE, and, give the amount of the organization’s most recent year’s operating budget.

Our total paid staff equals 3.5 FTE’s.  This includes four part-time and one full-time staff (two faculty, two paraprofessionals, and one support staff).  The total county Cooperative Extension Budget for 2001 was $138,000.  State (WSU) and federal contributions for faculty salaries, benefits, and other miscellaneous items was $71,914.  This brings our total operational budget to $209,914.

II. c. Based on the project budget detailed in Section IV. b., describe your plans for sustaining the project beyond the grant period.

As a permanent community agency, our commitment for building the program to be as sustainable as possible is very high.  This goal will be integrated into development of the program at its earliest stages.  The specific “paths” that are taken to do this will be in large part determined by the youth themselves.  Options for developing a sustainable program would include but not be limited to: Generating public support through educational outreach events where participants would pay for an educational experience provided by these youth, celebratory events that rally around a marine theme e.g. “Sound Waters”, water festivals and other similar events.

Identify other committed or potential funding sources, levels of community support, and identified partnerships.

Recently, a proposal to develop a volunteer shoreline monitoring program was submitted by WSU for three counties in northwest Washington including San Juan.  This proposal was submitted to Senator Patty Murray’s Office for funding through the Northwest Straits Commission.  The amount requested by WSU-San Juan County for this project is $163,020 over four years.  A letter of support from the Northwest Straits Commission is included in this proposal. 

Another funding source is the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) that currently funds projects that identify and quantify habitat and associated organisms that support healthy salmon populations.  The lead entity for this funding in our community is the San Juan County Conservation District (letters of support included). Amounts of funding from the SRFB have been up to $167, 000 in recent years.

The National Park Service has two historical parks on San Juan Island and manages miles of shoreline.  Recently, they have requested assistance to develop a similar shoreline inventory project involving youth.  They are a potential source of support for this project.  A letter of support is included.

What is the strategy to raise funds to sustain the project?

Resiliency of the project will be strengthened by identifying community organizations and agencies that are stakeholders in the outcomes of this project.  This would include: capacity building and empowerment of youth, useful products developed by the youth (i.e. survey data, maps), and public outreach efforts conducted by these trained youth.

We experience widespread support for 4-H Youth Development in our community.  Coupled with the high level of support for protection of our natural resources, we are confident that several potential local organizations will provide continuing support for this project.  Community fundraising has been a successful endeavor in our supportive island community.  Numerous donors currently help to support other 4-H activities locally.

Potential grant sources include: United Way of San Juan County, San Juan Island Community Foundation, Kiwanis, San Juan County Marine Resources Committee, The Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and the federally funded Northwest Straits Commission. Other partnerships would include:  University of Washington Marine Labs, San Juan Nature Institute, The Whale Museum, San Juan Island Grange, Spring Street School, and the local Conservation District (see letters of support from these organizations).  We will collaborate with these organizations for training, sharing of supplies/equipment, sharing of staff, volunteers, technical expertise, marketing strategies, and developing program, research, and outreach activities.

Entrepreneurial options developed by these youth will also be considered that include the sale of products or services (listed above), and starting a for-profit, or a non-profit business or organization.

III. a. Describe how the school and organization(s) will interact to run the community project.

Below is a summary of the specific community request from our August 20^th, 2002 Forum held at the Friday Harbor High School which the Teen Beach Watcher Program will meet.

Build Community Connections and Service by:

• Promoting youth leadership in a service project on shoreline monitoring.
• Partnering students with non-profit organizations for project-based activities around shoreline ecology and protection.
• Involving students in community action meetings focused on marine issues.

Bridge Technology, Age and Economics by:

• Providing opportunity to design and maintain a website to educate the public on the data they are collecting and analyzing with Teen Beach Watchers.
• Providing technological support to community members and seniors needing skills on data base development, website development, e-mail and internet usage, etc.

Preserve Local Culture, Environment and History by:

• Developing an inquiry-based science project with local organizations such as the University of Washington Labs, the San Juan Nature Institute, the Whale Museum, San Juan County Parks, and the National Parks Service.
• Demonstrating environmental impact of island development through student research.
• Linking students with local programs, organizations, and businesses in the marine ecology field.
• Providing hands-on learning in monitoring, research, mapping and planning.

Enhance Business and Economic Development by:

• Offering student marine data collection, analysis and management for other businesses and organizations.
• Providing a marine research base and related website to educate others.
• Creating opportunities for students to provide public education and natural history tours.
• Providing teen educators for youth, adults and seniors.
• Offering student learning with local experts, naturalists, scientists, and historians.

• Encouraging teens to enter into marine related careers.

Develop Effective Civic Leadership by:

• Creating teens responsibility for development of an marine protection program.
• Involving teens in county and government meetings concerning issues around environmental planning and protection.
• Giving teens ownership of important marine ecology research used by county and government agencies.
• Creating teen roles to represent the environment at community meetings.

Please identify the people in each institution responsible for coordinating the projects?

Tom Schultz, Ph.D., WSU Cooperative Extension Chair for San Juan County

Alice Hibberd M.Ed., WSU Extension Educator, San Juan County

Sue Carnes, M.Ed., San Juan County 4-H Program Coordinator

How will success of the mutual goals and objectives be determined, and by whom?

A student-managed organization would reside in a centrally located facility near Friday Harbor High School (FHHS). This center of information, skills, and resources would be applied toward community needs. Community needs would be received and organized by FHHS. The Center (students and their advisors) would be responsible for reviewing the needs and recruiting students with necessary skills or ambitions to address these needs.

Friday Harbor High School would have the broad mission to inventory the needs of all organizations on San Juan Island, to prioritize these needs, and integrate these into the Center to create student-run projects that address the highest priority needs. WSU Cooperative Extension 4-H staff and volunteers will work with the Center's staff to help assemble student teams to work on the Teen Beach Watcher Project.

The project will be adapted and revised as community needs change.  An advisory group of stakeholders in this project will provide focus and direction for students. This on-going process will be fundamental to establishing a sustainable program that continues as a part of the community infrastructure well beyond the Gates Foundation funding period.  An annual review will be conducted to ensure that community needs are being addressed and educational goals are being achieved.

Specific evaluation of the WSU project will measure eight life skills for participating youth including:

• Decision Making

• Wise Use of Resources
• Communication
• Accepting Differences
• Leadership
• Useful/Marketable Skills
• Healthy Lifestyle Choices
• Self-responsibility

This type of evaluation makes it possible to show stakeholders additional impacts of the program and hopefully ensure continued sustainability of the project.

Washington State University

Cooperative Extension 4H Program, San Juan County

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