Discover what is important to you and to other people, set goals, take action and build a stronger community. Through this project, youth become active members of the community, investigating a public issue, learning about the roles of governing officials, and carrying out a plan to solve a problem.

Beginning

• Find out about active involvement in the community
• Create ground rules for your group or project area
• Learn different ways you can make decisions
• Understand the difference between public and private
• Look at the issues that face your community
  

Intermediate

• Explore your interests
• Write out your goals and pick a project in your community you might like to help or change
• Write a mission statement
• Create an action plan
  

Advanced

• Put an action plan into motion
• Record and evaluate the work you are doing
• Celebrate your accomplishments
• Share your story
• Plan for the future
  

Take Your Project Further!

• Investigate the departments in your county government and find out what they do
• Interview someone from your local Chamber of Commerce or Economic Development Agency to learn about the goals for your community
• Get to know the other people in your club and what they like to do for fun
• Interview a neighbor and identify the similarities and differences between you
• Create and carry-out a plan to help someone outside your family
• Discover the history of your school or community
• Tour city or state’s hall, Courthouse or capitol
• Apply to be a page in the State Legislature, attend National 4-H Conference or attend National 4-H Congress
• Attend Citizenship Washington Focus or Leadership Washington Focus
• Contact your county Extension office to participate in 4-H County Council or county committees
• Volunteer for a local, county, or state political campaign for a candidate you support
• Interview a county official about his/her roles and responsibilities

Applying Project Skills to Life

Enhance Your Communication Skills

• Give a presentation about the history of your school or town
• Make an appointment with your state legislator and share your thoughts on an issue
• Read newspapers or newsmagazines on a regular basis
• Research a community issue and share your ideas with appropriate board or governing body
• Give a presentation on the importance of citizenship and community involvement
• Prepare a demonstration or presentation on your activities and involvement with citizenship

Get Involved in Citizenship and Service

• Help pick up trash at the local park
• Volunteer to be a tutor or a mentor in your school Complete a community service project that includes other project areas
• Adopt and maintain a local park or road in your community
• Develop a citizenship project that will help meet the needs of your community
• Present information about your club’s service project at a countywide event.
• Plan a special “Grandparents Day” and record stories of their school days.

Learn about Leadership

• Organize friends to clean-up a neighborhood park
• Ask your local nursing home residents how they would like to celebrate the next holiday and involve others to carry-out the plan
• Get approval and then create and conduct a survey for students on a school issue; then share the results with the administration
• Serve as a Youth Delegate to either your state Democratic or Republican Party Convention

Showing What You’ve Learned

• Create a poster about the best things in your community
• Create a video about your community and what visitors should know about it
• Create a “Welcome to our School” kit to be given to new families
• Map the resources for youth and families in your community
• Create a notebook explaining the Bill of Rights and examples in your everyday life
• Give a presentation about the Checks and Balances of the 3 Branches of Government and how they’re important to you
• Report your exploration of an issue and define how each branch of government plays a role in its creation, interpretation and carry-out
• Video your group at a service project and interview members about what they did and what it meant to them
• Research candidates for the next Governor election and put a notebook together sharing their stance on different issues
• Create a notebook about the things you learned on a national 4-H trip and how they impacted you
• Illustrate in a visual display the process of how a bill becomes a law
• Create a visual representation about the different branches of government and how they work together