Extension educators often seek new strategies for engaging minority youths in 4-H programs, especially young Black males. These strategies require programming developed in response to the context of this population. We offer insights into the social context of Black males and offer suggestions that will help educators develop identity and…

This paper is based on a three-year study that has a dual purpose: firstly, to create a program to attend to the health and wellness of Aboriginal children and youth, and secondly, to narratively inquire into the experiences of the children and youth who participate in the wellness program. In an attempt to disrupt intervention type models that…

Youth obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, especially among urban-based, minority youth. The B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) trial worked at multiple levels of the food environment, including carryouts, to increase access to and demand for healthy, affordable foods. The objective of this article is to describe…

Today's Cooperative Extension organization continues to face challenges of providing relevant, quality programming in urban communities. Challenges include the ability to build capacity in Extension's urban youth educators to assess and interpret the unique, variable needs of urban clients and to communicate effectively the identified…

This article focuses on how 4-H youth participants are building social capital, or connections among individuals and community members, through their 4-H experiences. These experiences can be seen through the lens of such 4-H delivery modes as the traditional 4-H club, after-school programs, and school enrichment programs. In addition, other…

This project explores the beliefs and perspectives of urban adults and youth regarding community violence prevention strategies and identifies points of overlap and differences of opinion that can contribute to the development of successful youth violence prevention programs. We coded transcript data from adults and 10-16-year-old youth from the…

Background and Purpose: Given the urgency to design programs to increase physical activity, especially to combat obesity in children, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions and opinions of a nature-based physical activity intervention designed for low-income urban adolescents. Methods: Four focus groups of adolescents,…

With 55 percent of the 53,400 students on free and reduced lunch programs, a 78 percent mobility rate, and a diverse population, Columbus City Schools (CCS) in Ohio faces the challenges common to other urban districts. In spite of the challenges, CCS has made a long-term commitment to engage students in high-quality physical education and physical…

This module provides a set of quantitative snapshots of the Community Science Workshops (CSWs) to complement the other reports that comprise the CSW Evaluation Portfolio--the Description of CSWs, the Benefits to Youth, and the Evaluation Brief modules--and to build a solid representation of the scope and scale of the CSW's work and…

This paper takes a descriptive look at Community Science Workshops (CSWs). This paper discusses what CSW is, how it arose and spread, how local CSWs are structured and led, and what programs and experiences they offer to youth. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

In light of their historical role in African American communities, faith-based organizations are uniquely positioned to offer substance use prevention programs to urban African American youth. This article describes the efforts of a university-based program to provide training and technical assistance to faith-based organizations in the…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…

This investigation provides a model for at-risk youth community agencies to tailor their programs to fit the specific needs of their local out-of-school youth. Using a needs-based assessment, baseline data were gathered on Cleveland African Americans (N = 187) to pinpoint academic strengths and deficits, career interests, and life-skill needs. The…