Background

Justification for Program:

• This program is appropriate for Jaycee Community Center as Jaycee is a community center that serves the local community especially children. This will promote community involvement and education, two of Jaycee’s desired outcomes. The clientele (track out kids) have most likely never had prior experience or knowledge of the agriculture industry. This program will allow the students to experience agriculture and gain exposure to where their food comes from and how sustainable farms work.
• Jaycee Community Center strives to provide educational opportunities for the enrichment of its clientele. By taking a group of track out kids to the NC State Farms and Yates Mill Park to learn about agriculture, we are helping Jaycee Community accomplish this task.
• Jaycee Community Center’s Ultimate Desired Outcomes (that are related to this event)
  • Promote community involvement
    • By providing an educational experience outside of the classroom, it will encourage community members to participate in the programs that Jaycee Community Center has to offer. Providing free programs encourages the direct community members (low income) to get involved with their local community since it shows them that being involved doesn’t have to be costly.
  • Promote education
    • By giving students an out of classroom experience, it will broaden their education and help them learn about subjects they may have never had exposure to.

Goals and Objectives:

• Our agency is motivated to provide this event since Jaycee Community is passionate about giving children the ability to interact with their community. Jaycee Community Center already has programs for the track out children called YES days, in which the track out kids come to Jaycee Community Center whenever they are not in school and Jaycee Community Center provides activities for them to do. To enhance and enrich the reputation of the YES days, our program will provide a fun change-up of the normal YES days. The essential value and purposes of our event are to give students a chance to learn about the economy of their local community, receive hands on experience, and hopefully inspire some of the students to think about a career in agriculture.

Program Goals

• Expose students to agriculture within a fun setting

Objectives that will help you meet this goal

1. We will teach participants about sustainable farm practices
2. Students will demonstrate their knowledge on agriculture after the event through games
3. We will provide games and activities that will connect students to agriculture in a fun way
4. Presenters will provide the lesson in an interactive and exciting way
5. Give students a chance to see how agriculture takes place in their own community

Objectives that will help you meet this goal

• a. Explaining the different aspects of the site
• b. Students will learn about food they eat that comes from farms
• c. Students will learn about careers related to agriculture

40 Developmental Assets:

• Caring- We watched during activities to see how the children interacted. Activities, particularly the team relay, were geared toward promoting teamwork for group success. Students needed to work together in a caring manor in order to achieve a common goal of wining the cow milking relay.
• Responsibility- During activities, we allowed for students to lead their teams and help their peers. During the tour students needed to pay attention to the guide in order to gain the best possible experience from the field trip. Students were also able to plant their own seeds and would need to take care of the plants on their own after the field trip, so it encouraged continued responsibility.
• Interpersonal Competence- We payed attention during activities to how the students interacted. Through all of the activities students were able to adequately interact with other students in an efficient and clear way. Students needed to discuss certain activities with each other as well as work together to complete activities.