Browsing by Author "Bowen, Jennifer"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    2022-2023 Innovative Leadership Academy
    Bowen, Jennifer (2022-10-24)
    Series of workshops for 10 high school students focusing on citizenship, leadership, and decision making skills.
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    2023 Junior 4-H Camp Teen Leader Training Series
    Bowen, Jennifer (2023-03-13)
    Series of 5 1.5 hour training sessions for teen leaders covering all core content topics from the camping manual
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    2024-2025 Innovative Leadership Academy
    Bowen, Jennifer (2024-10-15)
    7 participants registered; monthly leadership and civic engagement training for teens
  • Game Changineer: A Unique Approach to Coding
    Bowen, Jennifer; Hsiao, Michael S. (2019-11-05)
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    Virginia 4-H and Virginia Tech Use Video Game Design Platform to Engage Teens as Teachers
    Bowen, Jennifer; Bonnett, Erika; Hsiao, Michael; Kashyap, Shikhar (2022-01-31)
    The 4-H Thriving model of positive youth development provides a framework for high quality programs that enable youth to meet developmental and long-term goals by first encouraging them to find their spark. For many youth that spark is technology. In the summer of 2021, Virginia 4-H developed a multifaceted program allowing teens with an interest in technology to explore video game design and develop leadership and teaching skills. Adequately trained teens are effective and innovative teachers. Youth respond well to teen teachers, and teens gain self-confidence and a sense of achievement. Utilizing a network of 4-H agents across the state, teens were recruited to participate in a series of virtual workshops. Virginia Tech professor Dr. Michael Hsiao led two sessions teaching teens to use his Game Changineer video game design platform. A third session, led by 4-H agent Jennifer Bowen and 4-H specialist Dr. Erika Bonnett, taught youth how to design and implement an impactful workshop in their community. Nine teens from six localities (both rural and urban) participated in the Teens as Teachers series. Of these, five went on to lead Game Changineer workshops of their own. A total of 50 youth participated in the teen-led programs. The final component of the program was the implementation of a statewide 4-H video game design contest for workshop participants that garnered 19 entries from across the state. The teens reported positive experiences for both themselves and their workshop participants. One wrote, “This workshop brought kids from all different backgrounds in our community to work together collaboratively.” Another explained, “Instructing the students in the workshop helped build my teaching skills. It allowed me the opportunity to explain to students in a clear and concise way how to create games…”
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    What Does Citizenship Really Mean Anyway? Extension Leadership Programs that Connect Youth to their Communities
    Bowen, Jennifer; Wallace, Ruth (2023-09-26)
    Citizen leadership enables individuals to advance their communities in positive, meaningful ways. NIFA and National 4-H Council identified citizenship as a 4-H mission mandate area. It is essential for youth to have a sense of connection to their communities and an understanding of their current and future roles in the decision making process. National 4-H Council identifies four core areas of citizenship: civic engagement, service, civic education, and leadership. In a partnership between Community Viability and 4-H, several localities have created innovative youth cohort programs using research based curricula through which young people identify and grow their leadership strengths. Although these programs were tailored for a youth audience, the materials are easily adapted to fit any group interested in learning about citizen leadership. This need for responsible citizenship and all that it encompasses spans all segments of every community.