Introduction
In our previous post, we discussed the importance of assessing staff capacity. Assessing the after school staff’s capacity is an important consideration when discussing a partnership. Also, understanding your 4-H staff’s capacity can also help ensure that your partnership will have the resources needed to be successful.
In this blog post, we will look at the importance of considering logistics when forming a new partnership. Logistics can include components, such as program schedule, facilities, number of students, age range of students, adult facilitator(s), curriculum, lesson planning , train-the-trainers, safety, communications, marketing, after program evaluation, and start/end dates of the program. Another way to think about logistics is to ask the five Ws:
- Who
- Who is the point of contact for the school?
- Who is the point of contact for 4-H?
- Who will lead the youth program sessions? (What is “plan B” if there is staff turnover?)
- Who will the program target (e.g. youth age range, number of students)?
- What
- What 4-H program will be used?
- What supplies will be needed?
- Where
- Where will the program take place?
- When
- When will the program start/end?
- When do the curriculum kits need to be ready for pick up/drop off?
- Why
- Why does the school want to implement the program?
- Why does 4-H want to implement the program?
The reason why we consider logistics when planning a partnership is because we want to ensure that both parties (e.g. the school and 4-H) have a crystal clear expectation of each other’s roles and responsibilities. Assumptions can lead to ambiguity, which can result in unmet expectations, confusion, and lack of program impact.
Our CA 4-H study outlined four emergent themes to consider when planning logistics:
- Verify facility essentials (sink, power, tables, kitchen, quiet space) for curriculum before committing.
- Be flexible on the amount of time needed for delivery, without losing core outcomes.
- Adult coverage matters: Name who handles behavior and transitions during sessions.
- Adaptation toolkit: Reach out to 4-H Advisors/Agents to provide ideas for swaps for materials, timing, and cultural relevance
Checklist
Here’s a checklist of important items to consider when planning the logistics of an after school 4-H program:
- Conduct a quick site scan (space, storage, water/power, safety rules).
- Agree on session length, total weeks, and start/end times in writing.
- Confirm adult coverage and a backup plan for absences/turnover.
- Share a one-page “adaptations menu” (materials, timing, extensions).
An Applied Example
Suppose your 4-H program has identified a partner and is ready to start planning the logistics of a 4-H Junior Master Gardener program implementation. The school principal has shared that there is a school garden but she does not know if it is “working.” She asks 4-H to check it out.
The 4-H educator schedules a date to visit the school and brings along their local Cooperative Extension Master Gardener to perform a site scan of the school garden. Upon arrival, the Master Gardener sees there is no water source and that a big tree is casting shade over the entire garden, preventing plants from having adequate sunlight.
Afterwards, the 4-H educator meets with the after school site director and learns their program facilitator will be on maternity leave for six months. They also mention they would like the garden education program to serve 200 youth for the entire school year. The director shares there has been some staff turnover recently and the after school classroom needs to be shared with another youth program concurrently.
The 4-H educator takes detailed notes during this initial after school site visit and debriefs with their 4-H team back at the Cooperative Extension office. The 4-H team then discusses each challenge one-at-a-time to determine the next steps. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) document is created that outlines the logistical details for the garden education program along with specifics for the roles and responsibilities for each partner. Included is an adaptations one-pager for different scenarios. This MOU is shared with the principal and after school site director for feedback and then approval.
This example illustrates how planning for logistics is an essential step when creating a new 4-H afterschool program partnership.