Thriving Forward

Promoting healthy people and communities one family at a time.

California 4-H Expands Learning for After School Youth

December 11, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez, Stepha Velednitsky, Grace Belt, Steven Worker, Marianne Bird, Nicole K Marshall-Wheeler, Ally Lemmer, Kimberly Holmes
Introduction For the past two years, the University of California Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development program has been exploring how to collaborate with after school partners to provide high quality programming for youth not in a 4-H club. As California communities continue to change and…
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Soaring To New Heights: A 4-H Drone STEM Program

September 23, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez
OverviewThe intersection of agriculture and technology is an important part of our communities. For years, drones have been used in various ways to address real-world agricultural issues. To help prepare our young people for a future college or career pathway that explores this intersection of ag and drones,…
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Understanding Mindfulness and Its Relation to Wellness

August 12, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez
Introduction Life can be stressful. From picking up the kids from school to paying the bills, life can sometimes feel like waves of to-dos that keep coming our way. And for those who volunteer in our 4-H youth development program, there can be additional sources of stress, such as helping prepare youth…
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Fostering A Sense of Gratitude

August 1, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez
Introduction As we prepare for a new 4-H program year, we have many reasons to be grateful. Recently I attended a 4-H drone camp in Santa Clara and witnessed middle- and high-school youth present their capstone STEM projects in front of their parents and 4-H staff. I was amazed at what they had learned…
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Protecting The Sleep of 4-H Youth Members

July 10, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez, Marcel Horowitz
IntroductionIn our previous post, we mentioned the importance of sleep and how it can be related to our wellbeing. We also discussed how adequate sleep routines can be a form of self-care, which can increase our quality of life. A recent study mentions that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to adolscents…
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