New projects will be kicking off this month in Bethel, Norway and

West Paris.
By Jim Smedley
Staff Writer

PARIS – Thanks to 4-H youth development programs, elementary schools from Bethel to Oxford will be able to offer enrichment programs for students.

The enrichment programs will incorporate the arts, international cultures, mathematics and more according to Susan Jennings, University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator.

“It’s really a cross discipline approach to teaching,” Jennings said.

She said about $267,000 in federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants have recently been received from the Maine Department of Education.

The Cooperative Extension, SAD 44 and Mahoosuc Kids, joined to get a $117,000 grant. The grant will be in place for three years and can be extended, depending on the program’s success, according to Jennings.

SAD 17 will benefit from a $150,000 grant written mainly by Community Concepts Inc. with help from the Cooperative Extension. It, too, is for three years and may be extended.

Jennings said Mahoosuc Kids is a school-age child-care program that the Extension helped to create with a grant two years ago. Mahoosuc Kids will be starting a project that helps at risk children, youth and families that was created in partnership with schools and the community.

Word of the grants being approved was received in May and programs are already in place in elementary schools in Bethel, Woodstock, Andover, Harrison, Waterford and Norway.

She said new projects will be kicking off this month at Telstar Middle School in Bethel, and shortly after that, projects at the Guy E. Rowe School in Norway and the Agnes Gray School in West Paris.

She said every program in the communities will offer similar values and enrichment experiences, but will differ in that each is tailored to the specific community.

“These are very much community owned programs; the community needs to be behind it in terms of enrichment,” Jennings said. “We look at a community in terms of assets and look at what families need and want in the area.

“Our focus is on literacy and math presented in fun and exciting ways for all elementary ages,” she said.

She said many people think of the clubs they see at fairs when they think about 4-H. While the agricultural side is still very dear to 4-H, its youth development segment encompasses many avenues of support for young people.

“Our bottom line is to help families, help kids succeed, set goals for the future and enhance their learning,” Jennings said. “We’re really hoping children will aspire to go on to college.”

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