August 15, 2018
YQCA Instructor Update
We appreciate the agents who participated in the survey and provided valuable feedback regarding Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA). Thank you for helping implement the first year of this national program in Kansas.
Many Extension agents have taken the opportunity to become certified and teach face-to-face classes to youth in their local area, using this curriculum as an educational tool. Since this was the first full year of instructor-led trainings, we anticipate continued growth and improvement as we move forward into the coming year with Kansas 4-H.
In order to streamline the program and define when new curriculum will be released and taught, YQCA has announced that the new program year will be October 1, 2018-September 1, 2019. Therefore, all current instructor-led certifications will expire on September 1, 2018. At this time, instructors will need to destroy all YQCA materials they have on file, per the instructor agreement. The LearnGrow system will also shut down for the month of September. During this time, the new modules will be loaded, IT will perform system maintenance, and the platform will be updated to launch in October.
On October 1, 2018, previous instructors may login to their instructor account and become re-certified. Then, YQCA will send certified instructors the new slide decks and activity guides so they may begin hosting trainings and educating youth for the 2018-2019 year.
Prior to August 1, 2018, approximately 2,300 Kansas 4-H youth have received YQCA training. Counties are encouraged to run the LearnGrow report through 4HOnline prior to September 1, 2018, so they have a current list of youth who have completed the training. If there are kids missing from the list, or an Extension Unit has non-4-H youth who have taken the class as an independent, please contact Lexie and she can provide additional resources to locate the YQCA number for these youth.
For questions regarding the program or how to become a certified instructor, please contact Lexie Hayes at adhayes@ksu.edu or (785)532-1264.
Kansas 4-H will continue to provide into this next 4-H Program Year, this valuable resource to counties and local Extension units for youth livestock quality assurance learning and training.