Welcome to the 4-H Thriving Model blog!

Thanks for finding your way here. I hope that as the months unfold this blog will be a place for all of us to share our ideas, resources, reflections, and inspirations as we put the 4-H Thriving Model into practice.

As we get going, I want to share a little about what the blog is, and what it is not. First of all, as the title implies, the blog is intended to be about real world practice. As such, you won’t find a great deal about the academic side of the 4-H Thriving Model here. For that we have the vast world of academic literature related to youth development. As needed, we will refer you to some of this work, especially if something new is published related to the 4-H Thriving Model.  We also have the 4-H Thriving Model website that contains the academic information supporting the development and testing of the model. If there are materials or resources that would help you in your work that we could add to the website, please let me know!

But let’s let this blog be a place where we cross the threshold from research models of youth development to real lives, real youth, and real practice. Doing so will open up the fullness of the work we do together and the ways in which we contribute to the development of youth and the volunteers and program staff that work with them. I envisage this blog to be a collaborative space, where together we all share the stories and experiences of helping youth thrive.

If you are a youth development professional, I welcome your contributions to the blog! Proposed blog entries can be sent to me at mary.arnold@oregonstate.edu. Entries should be 400 words or less (about the length of this post) and focused on real life practice with the 4-H Thriving Model. I hope you will share the things you are learning as you implement the model, the ways you are training others to implement it, how you are using it in your own practice, and the difference it is making in the lives of youth. If you are willing, include a photo of yourself as the author, as well as any other images to illustrate your post. Please just be sure you have appropriate consent for publishing what you submit.

I’m looking forward to this collaborative learning adventure! I hope you will join in and share your experiences!

Thriving on,

Mary Arnold