While the Minnesota 4-H Club program has grown over 29% in the last six years, annually over 25% of youth do not re-enroll. The Minnesota 4-H Retention Study asked youth who left the program why they decided to join, stay and ultimately leave 4-H. Data from 220 youth were examined to better understand the reasons for and relationship between youth joining and staying in 4-H and their reasons for leaving 4-H. Youth joined 4-H because they wanted to have fun, try new things, and participate in projects and fairs. Top reasons they stayed in 4-H were they liked being with other kids, had fun, and learned new things. Primary reasons youth left were they lost interest in 4-H or became involved in other activities. Examining the relationships revealed that paying particular attention to youth experiences in project learning and teaching, relationships with adults, and youth having fun will increase retention.
University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development (CYD) initiated a learning cohort for their local youth development professionals, 4-H Extension educators (EEs) to fulfill a need to better support staff beyond onboarding. The Youth Development Learn and Lead (YDLL) cohort is grounded in integrative leadership that influences professional relationship building through the sharing of applicable skills and theory across hierarchical boundaries while providing a community of practice to discuss ideas and share resources. The cohort has positively impacted employee engagement and has shown impressive results around networking, relationship building, and learning objectives. The YDLL cohort has been deemed an essential training by CYD, and has been replicated internally to encompass a larger audience with unique staff development needs.
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