The Issue
How well are youth engaged in their community? If we think about engagement in terms of volunteering, research shows that 64% of California teens are actively volunteering. However, if we look at all areas of civic activity the number is much lower. Key barriers include lack of opportunity, cost or lack of invitation/engagement from community organizations. Additional data shows that only one in three teens has high civic efficacy- caring about issues, feeling connected to others, and believing they can make a difference.
How UC Delivers
Through a pilot program of the My Home Town is Cool! curriculum developed by West Virginia Extension, Modoc’s UC 4-H Youth Development Program saw an opportunity to increase engagement with 96 high school freshman students in a school setting to learn about community development, mapping community assets, and learning how to develop new projects that build upon the existing assets of their hometown. The capstone lesson aimed at developing presentation skills and helping students prepare for the final presentation and pitching their ideas to improve their community. Youth created presentations that answered questions of why a project was important to the community, how many people the project would impact, and what the project budget and timeline is for completion.
“It was hard to create a budget that included all aspects of our project. I had never done any budgeting of this type before.” - Student Participant, Modoc High School
The Impact
Matched pre/post surveys by students showed statistically significant improvements in indicators relating to knowledge/skill development, active engaged citizenship, problem solving, volunteerism, perseverance, and sense of community. Youth felt more confident in participating in community meetings (3.18/3.45) and defending a position about a community issue or problem (3.11/3.5). They felt more confident expressing their views in front of other people (2.92/3.39) and had increased feelings that adults in their town listened to what they had to say (2.93/3.12).
Through the lessons and development of the proposed project presentations, youth engaged with community organizations, learned about projects that were happening in their community and were able to truly share their voices in developing impactful projects. Seventeen projects were pitched to a panel of community organizations and UCCE staff in an effort to obtain funding to bring their projects to fruition. Originally, only one project was funded. However, local organizations donated an additional $2000 to the program to fund a total of three youth projects. Partner organizations included the Modoc High School, Alturas Sunrise Rotary, Modoc Elks Lodge, Modoc Historical Society and Modoc Community Theatre.
“This curriculum brought together high school freshman, teachers, community leaders and 4-H to showcase how cool our hometown is and how youth can get more involved in civic engagement. It was a real community effort that taught life skills these youth will be able to build from their entire high school careers and beyond.” - Laura Snell, UC ANR County Director, Modoc County.
Project 1: “Revival night” at our local theater. Students recognized the lack of places to hang out and meet with friends during the weekdays in the winter in our rural community. This team partnered with our local community theater board to open an additional evening during the week to bring back “throwback” movies. This opened the opportunity for teens and the community to have a new option for a safe location to enjoy during the weekday.
Project 2: Developing an American Flag Depository box at our local Veterans Hall. This team had several community collaborators which included funds from our local Elks Lodge, support from Modoc High School’s wood and metal shop and a location at our local Veteran’s hall in collaboration with the city of Alturas. Youth saw a need for a fixed location for community members to dispose of their worn and tattered flags. They contacted our local Veterans lodge to see if a flag box could be placed at that location and spoke with them to see if our local veterans’ groups would support ensuring flags deposited would be properly and respectfully disposed of. The youth’s plan is to have this box up and running by 4th of July 2026.
Project 3: A local Historical Walk. Youth wanted to share our town’s history by creating a “historical walk” and focus on the wonderful historical buildings in Alturas. Youth have developed flyers with a map and location information to be placed at our local Museum, coffee shops and hotels. Partnering with our local Historical Society, 18 different locations within walking distance of each other were recognized to be highlighted. This is also an ongoing project where metal plaques are being made to be placed on buildings of interest. The flyer will have information about each building, and youth are working on making this an accessible walk with an audio tour. Location information is still being gathered and permissions to add a historical plaque to buildings are being secured. This team hopes to have this project done by the end of summer 2026.
These projects demonstrate how youth participants of My Hometown is Cool have become more engaged, sharing their voice and leading community development projects to improve their hometown.