March 12, 2010
   Peggy Berrier Boyd, 4-H and youth development agent for Wyandotte County, is enthusiastic after returning from a national conference on Building Partnerships for Youth Development.
    She was part of a seven-member team representing Kansas at the conference in Washington, D.C., which kicked off a national youth development program.  Each team makes a plan to achieve positive youth development, she said.
    In her work at the Wyandotte County Extension office, Boyd works with established 4-H clubs in Wyandotte County, with expanded 4-H programs and with the Boys and Girls Club providing programming for youth. She also works with the K-State Gear Up program and a variety of other programs.
    Boyd’s Kansas team included a professor, a school organization official, a member of the Kansas mentors program, a school health consultant, and two college youth representatives.
    The team was one of six selected from across the United States to participate in a workshop held by the Building Partnerships for Youth project, National 4-H Council and the University of Arizona’s Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families Cooperative Extension. Funding was provided by CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health.
    Boyd said the team members came back with new friendships in six states, a common vision to promote positive youth development and a commitment to share what the team learns through this 18-month professional program and policy development effort. 
Youth development concentrates on understanding the ages and stages children go through and how they learn using different methods. The group will be focusing on how it can make known what youth development means and how it can train the public.