The North Dakota State University Extension Service has been awarded a $99,856 federal grant for a program to expose youth in rural areas to science, engineering and technology.

The Children, Youth and Families at Risk Sustainable Community Program award is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

North Dakota’s 4-H SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) for the Future Sustainable Community Project was one of 52 submitted to the CSREES for funding.

“NDSU Extension is thrilled to receive this award,” says Sharon Query, NDSU 4-H youth development specialist. “It will greatly enhance our efforts to reach rural youth with state-of-the-art technology curriculum.”

Query, NDSU 4-H youth development specialist Linda Hauge and Brent Young, an assistant professor in NDSU’s School of Education, are the project’s principal investigators.

The SET program is designed to help North Dakota youth, particularly those in isolated rural school districts, keep pace with the rapid advancements in science, engineering and technology.

“Introducing youth to science, engineering and technology and getting them interested in these fields is important because they will need skills in these areas to compete in the work force of the future,” Hauge says.

The target audience for this program is youth in grades three to six. The program will include mobile technology labs and a mentoring program. Extension staff, volunteers and local professionals will be trained in the use of the labs and science, engineering and technology curriculum.

Sessions will be held twice a month at each community site. These sessions will be after school, on weekends or during summer day camps.

“In McKenzie County, we will work with the newly established McKenzie County Mentor Program to recruit mentors and mentees,” Query says.

At Fort Berthold and southwestern North Dakota sites, each SET program will work with a mentor who is established in a science, engineering and technology career in the state.

The program also will include a service learning component at each site.

NDSU Agriculture Communication