Some North Dakota youth will be able to take advantage of a new national 4-H mentoring program.

The National 4-H Council has awarded the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s Center for 4-H Youth Development an $82,000 grant to implement the 4-H Tech Wizards program. The program provides underserved and underrepresented youth with science, engineering and technology education, and after-school tutoring.

The Center for 4-H Youth Development is using the grant in partnership with the Sioux and Cass County Extension offices to offer the program in three locations: Solen-Cannon Ball, Selfridge and Fargo. The program began in March.

“4-H Tech Wizards uses high-tech tools to draw youth into the program and hold their interest,” says NDSU 4-H youth development specialist Katie Tyler.

During the school year, youth in grades seven to 12 take part in an intensive series of hands-on learning activities with lessons they can apply to the real world. In the summer, they’ll have an opportunity to participate in a learning-in-action camp and complete an intensive service learning project using technology to help their local community.

At the same time, the youths’ parents will be offered the assistance and education they need to support their children’s educational efforts.

“Research shows that a trusting relationship with a caring adult can have a life-changing effect on a young person,” Tyler says. “Data indicates that mentoring programs have reduced first-time drug use by almost 50 percent and first-time alcohol use by 33 percent. In addition, mentored youth displayed greater confidence in their schoolwork and improved their academic performance.”

In Sioux County, 4-H Tech Wizards is offered in school and as an after-school program. Cass County’s program is offered every other Saturday.

The National 4-H Council’s mentoring program is providing funding to land-grant universities such as NDSU in 47 states to initiate one of three proven Extension mentoring programs in communities with an increased risk of youth delinquency.

Extension professionals at Oregon State University created 4-H Tech Wizards. The other two options are 4-H Mentoring: Youth and Families With Promise, developed at Utah State University, and 4-H Living Interactive Family Education, produced at the University of Missouri.

The council received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to support its mentoring program.

To learn more about the program, volunteer as a mentor or sign up for the program, contact Sue Isbell in the Sioux County Extension office at (701) 854-3412, or Maxine Nordick or Monique Stelzer in the Cass County Extension office at (701) 241-5798. Cass County youth also may sign up online at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/casscountyextension/4h/. Click on ND 4-H Tech Wizards.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - April 19, 2011