2007 Quick Facts About Florida 4-H

Quick Facts About Florida 4-H 2007

Florida 4-H includes over 234,098 young people, each one learning leadership, citizenship and lifeskills.

There is equal representation from both boys (49%) and girls (51%).

Our volunteer distribution is primarily female (80%).

Florida 4-H increased its rural participation rate by a full 1%, standing now at 3.7%. Over 25% of 4-H’ers live in central cities over 50,000 in population.

Total % participation by ethnic (Hispanic only) is 15.92%, over 35,000 Hispanic youth. Total % participation by racial minorities is 23.48%. Total racial and ethnic minorities participation in Florida 4-H is 39.85%.

High impact delivery systems are organized clubs and overnight camping. 4-H faculty reported 1,316 clubs and 116 overnight or residential camping experiences. Across Florida the range of clubs is from zero clubs in a specific county to 42 clubs in one county.

The average size of a community club is 17 youth. The average size of an In-School Club is 21. The average size of an Afterschool Club is 34. The average size of a club on a military installation is 27.

Each club averaged at least 6 officers for 7,896 youth in officer roles at the club level. If each of these clubs met a minimum of six times that would be 7,896 meetings. Most clubs meet 10- 15 times per year.

Over 89% (10,016) of Florida 4-H Volunteers work directly with youth. If each volunteer gave the national 4-H average of 50 hours, that is 500,800 hours devoted to individual and group mentoring.

There is a general downward trend in the number of 4-H volunteers in the program from a high of 18,145 in 1990 to 10,925 in 2007. Each volunteer was screened in a county, state, or national background check during the application process. There were 909 teen volunteers registered in the counties.

Over 8,780 classroom experiences (average class size of 25) were led by trained teachers, volunteers, or staff with 221,701 youth in Extension 4-H curriculum. Across Florida, the range of 4-H in the classroom experiences (a minimum of six hours) is from zero classrooms to 1,470 classrooms in one county.

Twelve counties report a minimum of 80 youth participating in summer residential camping experiences. Almost 9,000 youth were involved in 320 multi-day camp experiences. In 4-H, youth are expected to sign up for at least one area of study called a project; the total number of projects studied in 2007 totaled 297,564. According to data provided by County Extension Offices, the average 4-H club members takes 2-3 projects each year for self-study.

Over 5,130 youth were engaged in Citizenship and Civic Education. In addition, most of the 26,000 youth in 4-H clubs completed at least one community service activity.

Almost 113,300 youth participated in communications and expressive arts. The 4-H Tropicana Public Speaking Program engaged 109,000 youth in a classroom experience of planning, researching, practicing, and giving a speech to 25 other youth. Over 1,000 youth are engaged in photography or videography.

Consumer Education and Family Sciences were studied by 8,415 youth.

Environmental Education and Earth Sciences were studied by 33,0275. The study of water and water resources was conducted by 5,222 youth. Wildlife and Fisheries were topics of interest for 7,622 youth.

Healthy Lifestyle Educational topics engaged 39,338 youth with foods and nutrition being the most popular with 18,558 youth. Personal or automotive safety were topics for over 8,000 youth.

Personal development and leadership topics were studied by 5,101 youth.

Plant and Animal Sciences studies engaged well over 59,600 youth. This was up over 8,800 from 2006. The most popular included:

 Ag in the Classroom – 19,094  Beef – 2,689  Dairy Cattle – 987  Dogs - 784  Fruit/Vegetable Gardens – 6,850  Goats (all types) – 482  Horse/Pony – 3,288  Plants – 8,442  Poultry – 1,361  Rabbits/Cavies – 1,535  Small Animals (not cats/dogs)- 5,420  Swine – 3,405

A total of 33,646 projects were taken in the area of science and technology with the most popular including Entomology (5382), Marine Science (9618), and Embryology (15,117).

In addition to projects taken in various career areas, youth participate in a wide variety of shorter duration activities such as judging clinics, educational seminars, leadership workshops, and recognition activities.