February 15, 2017
Instructor Certification Training
Online registration will be available soon for the spring training at Rock Spring Center April 7-9, 2917.
Coordinators and agents are responsible for signing up the county/district trainees and will be provided a link to complete this task. As a reminder, selection of trainees for your local program is by invitation by the coordinator and agent, assuring that the attendee has the appropriate skill set for the discipline as well as skills in working with youth. Not all adults or youth that show an interest are an appropriate fit for becoming a certified 4-H instructor. It is recommended that each local program develop and follow policies on how the current instructors will mentor new instructors to provide sustainability for the local program while reaching additional youth in the community.
There are number of changes being implemented with the spring training. The following are the highlights:
• Attendees that have not completed the required volunteer screening will need to come early on Friday for the volunteer orientation. This is part of the overall risk management plan for 4-H and will enhance the information that we provide during the general sessions, attempting to have all participants with a similar understanding of 4-H and volunteerism in Kansas prior to the regular training sessions.
• Western Heritage/Cowboy Action participants will be required to arrive a day early as we have added an extra day to the discipline.
Occasionally we have inquiries about transfers from other state 4-H certifications to become Kansas 4-H Shooting Sports instructors. Kansas 4-H Shooting Sports has a long time standing policy that we will not accept certifications from other states. The issue of transferring certifications from one state to another was discussed a few years ago at a National Coordinators Meeting. At that time very few of the states accepted transfers from other states. Part of it is tied into the risk management and the liability assumed by the state program. Another is that extension service delivery of programs varies from state to state therefore it’s important to know state policies.