University of Florida

Success Stories

IFAS Extension: 2011 South District

Video Transcript

Featured Story: 4-H Area-F Horse Show

Tracy Tesdall, 4-H Regional Specialist, South District:

"This is the Area-F Horse Show of the Florida 4-H program, which includes the counties in the south part of the state--all the way over from Collier and Lee County over to Miami-Dade."

"Most of these participants have qualified at a county show in order to participate. And the winners from this show qualify for the state horse show that will be at the state fairgrounds this summer in Tampa."

"Well, our mission is to develop youth and develop life skills and make competent, contributing citizens for the future. And so this is just one program to develop those life skills."

"The horse project area is a little unique compared to other 4-H projects because they're truly passionate about this project. Most of the 4-H members, they love their horses, they love their project."

"Some people may love science and not realize there's other ways to get into science. There's food science, and there's agriculture science and things. And you don't have to be in a rural area and work with row crops or something to get into something like that. And through 4-H we exposed the youth to all sorts of opportunities that they may not know about in an urban area."

"We also want what youth learn in their project work--for them to take it home, take what they've learned into their own family environments so that through 4-H we have not just youth development, but we have family development."

"It's great to see a kid succeed. To seem them work through a goal and then make progress through a goal, and then achieve them at the end--and to see their family see how they have developed and learned--it's just a nice warm, fuzzy feeling."

Short Stories

Narrator:

Throughout the South District education is the focus this year.

In Miami-Dade County, Agent Lisa Krimsky is teaming up with agents from around the state to educate Floridians about the economic importance of seafood. The Seafood Safety program is a series of half-hour webinars that are scheduled during the lunch. And the goal is to give residents a better understanding of the management, harvest methods, and nutrition available through local seafood.

In Highlands County, citrus farmers are learning about alternative bio-energy crops. The goal is to help growers diversity and teach them how to grow and manage biomass crops. The program also includes a field test site where agents can collect information on planting dates and variety selection.

And for ten years, Cesar Asuaje’s program in Palm Beach County has taught Spanish speakers about Farm Safety in their native language. The program combines lectures and hands-on learning to teach workers how to safely handle pesticides and other hazards they will encounter on a farm.  In total, the program has educated more than 15-thousand people.