MSU Extension Wexford County

Animal Science Programming
1-6 sessions ● Grades 1-12
Animal science workshops offer hands-on learning for 4-H members to deepen and expand their animal science and general science knowledge. Workshops can be tailored to meet the needs of the group. Topics include, but are not limited to, livestock judging, animal showing and fitting, low-stress animal handling, animal behavior, anatomy, physiology and nutrition.

Junior Master Gardener
1-4 sessions ● K-6
Engage children in novel, hands-on group and individual learning experiences that promote a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment and cultivate the mind. Choose from lessons in the Wildlife Gardener or Learn, Grow, Eat & Go! curricula.

Science Blast in the Class
1-6 sessions ● Grades 1-12
The Science Blast in the Class curriculum connects in-class science literacy outside the classroom. Topics include animal science, environmental science and plant science activities like owl pellet dissections, and citizen science such as monarch tagging. Support materials enrich the science learning process. 

Embryology: Life Development through Incubating Chicken Eggs
2-6 sessions ● Grades K-12
4-H embryology programs teach youth about the life cycle. Over the course of 21 days, youth observe development through hatch day. In the process, youth learn the responsibility of caring for living things, along with developmental and scientific processes.

Junk Drawer Robotics
1-6 sessions ● Grades 3-8
Junk Drawer Robotics hands-on activities encourage youth to approach science through applying the conceptual design of engineering and technology. 

National Youth Science Day: Game Changers
1-4 sessions ● Grades 3-8
This program, developed in part by Google, teaches kids how to use computer science to create games, solve problems, and engage in topics they are passionate about.

Pollinator Power and Monarch Magic
1-6 sessions ● Grades K-12
Honeybees, native bees, and flagship species like monarchs play key agricultural and economic roles. Hands-on activities illustrate pollination, insect biology & ecology, and monarch migration. Seasonal extensions include habitat plantings or tagging of migratory monarchs.

Water Quality Monitoring
1-4 hours ● Grades 2-8
Learn about the health of lakes and streams in your area. The training will cover the basics of how to test water, collect insects, assess the samples and interpret results – all of which are used to assess the health of local water bodies. Use this knowledge to conduct one-time events or a long-term project to track water quality.

Real Colors® 
1 session ● Grades 6-12; Staff professional development
This workshop uses the Real Colors® Personality Type Test, a user-friendly tool that identifies four personality types. Youth learn skills to understand human behavior and improve communication with others. There is a small fee for books associated with this program.

Michigan 4-H Children’s China Art Project
1-4 sessions ● Grades K-5
Conducted in cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, the Michigan 4-H China Project is a global education program that allows youth to explore another culture while communicating with their peers across the globe through visual letters.

Backpack to Adventure: Youth Leaders in a Global World
2 – 4 sessions ● Grades 3-8
This program is designed to help develop the knowledge and skills needed to become leaders in a global environment. The curriculum focuses on developing five competencies considered important in an interconnected world and include character, citizenship, communication, creativity and culture.

Building Youth and Our Community
1-2 sessions ● Grades 9-12
This workshop engages participants in learning about the value of youth and adults working together in community change efforts. The workshop provides practical tips for helping youth and adults work together in successful partnerships and demonstrates how this process builds social capital for individuals and communities.

Citizenship Academy
3 sessions ● Grades 9-12
This workshop provides high school students with education on all aspects of county or tribal government by connecting young people with their elected officials, department heads, courts and other services. Participants will go through an issues identification process and present recommendations to county commissioners or tribal council members.

Communication
1-3 sessions ● Grades 3-12
The training looks at participants’ various styles of communication. Through hands-on activities, participants will explore how different styles of communication affect their relationships and outcomes. This training can be combined with the Conflict Resolution workshop.

Conflict Resolution
1-3 sessions ● Grades 3-12
Participants in this training learn various styles of conflict resolution. Through hands-on activities, youth explore how participants handle different conflicts and how it affects the outcome. Training is best when combined with the Communication workshop.

Fill Your Toolbox for Successful Leadership
1 session ● Grades 6-12
Youth can improve their leadership skills through this session, which tackles tough issues including how to get the most out of discussions at meetings; how to help groups make decisions; how to include all group members, including quieter or younger kids; how to keep strong personalities from dominating the decision-making process and more.

The Future We Want: Youth Leadership and Global Citizenship Workshop
1-2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
The Future We Want workshop is a thought-provoking educational experience for middle and high school-aged youth. The workshop includes an interactive multimedia-based presentation and group discussions that engage youth in understanding and taking action to address some of our world’s most significant challenges.

Generating Ideas and Teen Facilitation
1-2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
This interactive, fun program is aimed at increasing leadership competency among teens. Teen participants will increase their understanding of facilitative leadership, gain skills in using effective brainstorming techniques, practice using decision-making and consensus-building tools, and gain confidence leading and speaking in front of others.

Ice Breakers and Facilitating Meetings
1-5 sessions ● Grades 6-12

Icebreakers and mixers can create a safe atmosphere among colleagues, friends and any group. They help a group relax, build an environment of trust and safety, and best of all, energize a group. Icebreakers are just one step to creating a positive meeting or activity. The workshop will guide the audience on how to create an effective meeting environment. Join in to discover how to jazz up meetings and gain many new ideas.

goLEAD Institute
Multiple 1.5 hour sessions – 5-day training ● Grades 9-12
The goLEAD (generationOn Leadership, Education and Development) curriculum enables participants to become strong leaders aware of their potential as well as their communication and leadership styles. They are prepared to lead and change the world around them using service learning. After completing the goLEAD program, youth should feel ready to lead future service projects on their own and may even begin to explore the underlying causes of community problems to develop meaningful projects.

Leadership Through Effective Meetings: Advanced Parliamentary Procedures
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 9-12
This session will help you understand parliamentary procedure\. The workshop will cover making amendments to motions, using proper voting procedures, calling the question and more. Participants will learn how to use parliamentary procedure to help move meetings along, deal with difficult situations or to keep order in a meeting.

Officer Roles and Responsibilities
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
Participants in this training will learn the basics of officer roles and responsibilities. The workshop includes hands-on activities that allow participants to experience specific club officer roles with an emphasis on the concept that everyone needs to know the basics of everyone else’s role for the entire team to be at their best.

Pack Your Suitcase: Opportunities Beyond the County 4-H Program
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
Being a leader often opens the door to many exciting opportunities. This session introduces youth to amazing 4-H educational experiences at the state and national levels. Session participants will learn what 4-H has to offer and how to get involved.

PhotoVoice
4 – 8 hours (series of at least five meetings at one hour each) ● Grades 6-12
This is a series of workshops that facilitates participants through a participatory photography project. The goal of the project is to provide tools and a space for historically unheard populations to share their “voice” (ideas, concerns and perspective). The workshop includes basic training on the participatory photography process, photography composition, visual literacy, reflective writing and the organization of a community showcase. 

Public Speaking
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
This training helps participants learn the best practices of public speaking. Participants practice getting over nerves, learn what not to do, and hone basic public speaking skills through hands-on activities and example videos. Upon request, this session can also include business handshakes and elevator speeches.

Reflection and Failure Resiliency
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
This training looks at the benefits of regular, critical reflection and creates a space for participants to try-on three different modes of reflection. The program outlines additional examples of how to make reflection a part of daily activities and emphasizes the importance of reflection in failure resiliency.

Service Learning
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
Learn the difference between community service and service learning with this session: service learning is intentional learning as the primary goal and service as the secondary. As a result, the group being helped will actually get more service – not less! While there are benefits to both forms of service, service learning provides tangible results that please stakeholders while helping program sustainability and future funding. In this workshop, youth will learn to generate ideas to come up with a plan, put together and provide a service, and then reflect back on the event.

Youth Voice
1 – 2 sessions ● Grades 6-12
Participants learn about ways youth have ignited positive change throughout history, highlighting science and invention, social media and local youth leaders in Michigan. Participants take part in a hands-on activity to identify the skills, strengths and assets they bring to the group and share ideas to make their group more inclusive of youth voice. 

Babysitting SPIN Club
6-8 sessions ● Grades 5-9
Learn about caring for children and being a great babysitter! Through activities and games, youth will learn about child development, safety and skills you need to be a great babysitter.  Typically meets after school for 1.5-2 hours once a week for six-eight weeks. Fee based program; scholarships available.

Budgeting for the 4-H Market Animal Project
1 session ● Grades 2-12
These lessons, whether used on their own or together, show youth the importance of creating a budget for their 4-H market animal project and the ways their choices can affect their earning potential. These lessons are part of the MSU Extension curriculum Youth Business Guide to Success – Make the Most of Your 4-H Market Animal Project and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Build Your Future Through Portfolios
1 session ● Grades 9-12
The ability to showcase your skills to employers can increase your chance of landing the job of your dreams. In this program, youth explore the various types of portfolios. They’ll learn what they are used for and what to include in creating their own portfolios. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Career FUNds
1 session  ● Grades 9-12
In this program, youth explore various types of postsecondary education, identify the training needed for their career choices and learn different methods to pay for their education including scholarships, grants, loans and other options. The program helps youth start creating a plan now to fund their future training. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Careers in the Field of Agriculture
1 session  ● Grades 7-12
This workshop includes a PowerPoint presentation and interactive activity around the career options within the agriculture field in Michigan. Youth will learn the range of opportunities available within the field of agriculture and leave with an appreciation for one of Michigan’s strongest industries. This presentation is a great fit for Career Days or similar events.

Education Pay$
1 session  ● Grades 7-12
Explore how education and training affect employment opportunities, earning potential and lifetime earnings. Identify how youth can move up the career ladder and advance in their areas of interest while discovering how employee benefits add value to the money they earn. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Entrepreneurship
1-6 sessions  ● Grades 7-12

Discover how to turn your ideas and creativity into a business and future career! This training can be customized to include topics such as entrepreneurial traits, turning passions into profits, types of businesses, business ideas, the language of business, competition analysis, customer needs, demographics and service, pricing, marketing, sales, business budgets and business plan development.

Financial Literacy
1-6 sessions ● Grades 9-12
Youth learn money management skills -- including budgeting, saving, investing, learning about credit and debt, selecting financial institutions, writing checks and working with checking accounts, setting goals, identifying needs versus wants, and exploring earning potential.

Home Alone
1 session ● Grades 3-6
Youth learn basic skills to stay home by themselves after school and at other times. Presented in partnership with local police and fire departments.

Interviews for Success
1 ‒ 4 sessions ● Grades 9-12
This workshop covers interview basics including giving the perfect business handshake, preparing personal sales pitches, dressing for the interview, writing thank-you letters and preparing for a successful interview experience. Youth may also participate in mock interviews to practice their skills.

Mad City Money
3 ‒ 5 sessions ● Grades 9-12
Teens get a taste of the adult world with this hands-on simulation, complete with jobs, income, family and debt. During this financial education experience, youth visit merchants to select housing, transportation, food, household necessities, clothing, daycare and other wants and needs while building a budget for their simulated family. Mad City Money allows participants to make mistakes – and suffer the consequences of their decisions – in a realistic, but safe, environment. Please note: This program requires 10 volunteers to be recruited by the host. Volunteers will receive instructions.

Making Career Connections
1 session ● Grades 7-12
In this program, youth will learn how to research careers of interest. Other topics explored are conducting an informational interview, job shadowing, internships and volunteering. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Money Around The World
1 session ● Grades 1-6 
Money Around the World includes a variety of short activities to help youth understand money in a hands-on way. Participants can see money from different countries, learn about conversion rates, find out about the symbols on our own dollar bill and think about how they would design a coin or bill. These activities can be used individually at a station at an open house or other type event, or used together at an in-depth educational meeting.

Pathways to Success
1 session ● Grades 7 -12th 
In this program, youth will analyze real-life scenarios to understand how actions on the job can affect their careers and advancement. As a result, they will learn about important skills new employees need to succeed in the workplace. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Peak Performance
1-6 sessions ● Grades 7 -12th
Athletes need to eat properly to be at peak performance.  These nutrition lessons help athletes learn what and when to fuel their body to perform the best.  Lessons are 15 to 20 minutes.

Pounding the Pavement
1-4 sessions ● Grades 9 -12th

This program helps youth take the necessary steps before the job search; helping to reduce time spent looking for work and opening up the potential for more job opportunities. Youth will explore the hidden job market and learn how to network, complete job applications, and write and critique a resume and interview. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Putting the Pieces Together: Goals for the Future
1 session ● Grades 7 -12th

This program helps youth determine their career goals and identify steps they can take now to explore the path that interests them. Youth will create a plan that includes short, intermediate and long-term career goals to help ensure they reach their dreams. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Raising Money Smart Children
2 hours ● Grades 3-7

This interactive program will demonstrate ways parents and guardians can talk to their children about being financially healthy. Adults and children will engage in activities designed to explore wants versus needs, allowance, spending plans and saving tips. The program is filled with hands-on activities for both children and adults to work together and practice managing their money as a family unit.

Reading Makes Cents
1 session ● Grades 3-5

These lessons from the 4-H curriculum, Reading Makes Cents, cover seven different themes: history of money, budgeting, saving, spending, sharing, earning, borrowing and lending. The lessons involve the use of children’s literature to teach concepts about money. The activities appeal to children in grades 3 to 5 but can be adjusted slightly for different age groups.

Show Me Nutrition
6 sessions ● Grades PreK-8
Discover healthy eating, positive body image, physical activity and food safety. Participants engage in age-appropriate, interactive activities. Through each interesting and fun nutrition class, students gain the skills necessary to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Resumes That Rock
1-2 sessions ● Grades 9-12
This presentation includes the basic do’s and don’ts of resume writing, including how to use action verbs. Attendees will receive an overview of four types of resumes and the opportunity to draft a personal resume. Peer feedback may be included, depending on the length of time chosen.

Skills… Choices… Careers
1-2 sessions ● Grades 9-12
Identifying your skills is an important step in making career choices. This workshop will help youth connect their experiences, personal interests, skills, values and personality to the six career pathways, related occupations and college majors. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Spartan Dollars and Cents
1-2 sessions ● Grades 9-12
This budgeting game teaches participants to prepare a usable budget. Participants receive an occupation with a salary and are challenged to try to complete a lifestyle questionnaire while staying within their income. Unanticipated life occurrences are also incorporated into the game.

Turn Your Passion into Profits
1-2 sessions ● Grades 9-12

In this training, youth discover the advantages and disadvantages of becoming an entrepreneur, learn about types of businesses as well as what to include in a business plan. In this simulated business activity, youth also learn to problem solve, make decisions and use their resources wisely. This activity is part of the National 4-H curriculum Build Your Future: Choices… Connections… Careers, written by MSU Extension staff members, and can be done individually or in combination with other lessons from the curriculum.

Your Thoughts Matter
6-8 sessions ● Grades 6-8
Your Thoughts Matter is for youth interested in learning more about mental health, why it is important to well-being, and steps to promote positive understanding and action.   There is small free for books associated with this program.

Stress Less with Mindfulness
1-6 sessions ● Grades 9-12
Stress Less with Mindfulness is a multi-part series for teens and adults that introduces mindfulness concepts and practices to reduce stress and related symptoms. The program teaches and encourages the use of mindfulness and self-care skills in order to feel better and enjoy life more.

RELAX: Alternatives to Anger
1-6 sessions ● Grades 9-12
In the RELAX program, participants learn what anger is, what triggers anger, methods for calming down and de-stressing, principles of problem solving, effective communication and forgiveness.