Lastrapes joins Louisiana 4-H Team

Southern University Ag Center area agent Edna Lastrapes joins the six-member team representing the Louisiana 4-H Youth Development program.

The team was selected to participate in the Building Partnerships for Youth’s Spotlighting Positive Youth Development program offered through a partnership between National 4-H Council and the University of Arizona. According to the Louisiana 4-H Club, the selection for the conference was very competitive with fewer than 15% of applicants being accepted.

“I expect to develop greater knowledge of how positive youth development can address the many issues facing youth in Louisiana with a focus on the issues faced by youth in the Southwest Center's service region,” said Lastrapes.

The effort will provide the team with an opportunity to learn ways to coordinate efforts of deliberate incorporation of positive youth development into programs and policies. According to Louisiana 4-H, the overall goal of the program is to produce a systems-level impact that supports youth throughout the state.

“With this knowledge, our team will design a plan to build greater capacity by forming a coalition and offering a youth development conference for youth and adult teams throughout the state, which will include students and adults who I am currently working with,” said Lastrapes who organizes the youth programs of the Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives’ 10-parish region.

“By creating a coalition and facilitating collaboration, the goal will be to engage youth in positive youth development experiences with caring adults yielding a better informed, healthy, and supported youth,” she said.

Members of Louisiana’s team are:

•        Eve Franchebois, Collegiate 4-H
•        David Free, Collegiate 4-H and Pastor, Memorial Baptist Church
•        Lanette Hebert, Regional 4-H Coordinator, Louisiana 4-H, LSU AgCenter
•        Edna Lastrapes, Area Agent, Youth Development, Southern University
•        Trey Williams, Department of Social Services, State of Louisiana
•        John Wyble, Louisiana CASA Association

The team will participate in a three-day kickoff conference held in Chevy Chase, Md., in February. The conference will be followed with monthly, Web-based conferences throughout the year.

The Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives is a satellite entity of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Its mission is to promote socioeconomic development within a 10-parish region. For more information, please contact Lastrapes at (337) 943-2410.

For more information http://cals-cf.calsnet.arizona.edu/fcs/bpy/index.cfm.

Charting career flight plans

By Chante Warren

(c) The Advocate

When Keenon Batiste, 12, made his first visit to the air traffic control tower at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Friday, he watched the movements of a plane on a radar screen.

Moments later, Batiste grabbed a pair of binoculars to get a closer view of the airplane. “I see it. Cool,” said Batiste, who pointed at a private plane, followed minutes later by a commercial airliner.

Batiste joined 29 other students, ages 12 through 17, who were participants in, “Do You Believe You Can Fly” Aviation Youth Clinic, which is part of a three-day Southern University Ag Center Family and Youth Expo program which ends today, said Edna Lastrapes, youth agent for the center. The clinic introduces students to the world of aviation, she said.

Read the entire article at http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/48648337.html

Youth aviation clinic opens registration to 30 Expo participants

Thirty youth participants of the Southern University Ag Center's Family and Youth Expo will have an opportunity to take simulated wings and fly during a special session next Friday, June 19, 9 am.

The "Do You Believe You Can Fly? Aviation Clinic" will introduce pre-teens and teenagers to the world of aviation as part of the two-day expo activities.

Louisiana aviator Al Rutherford will share insight on aviation and provide a tour of the Baton Rouge control towers, airport hangers, and Coast Guard helicopter. Participating youth will learn about career opportunities in aviation and how to become certified pilots. They will also simulate an actual flight thanks to the state department of transportation and development.

This clinic is limited to the first 30 Youth Expo participants who calls the Southwest Center for rural Initiatives at (337) 943-2410 or emails edna_lastrapes@suagcenter.com to register.  

The 2009 Family and Youth Expo, is the Ag Center's culminating youth development activity for youth throughout the state. The youth will participate in competitions, seminars, and workshops, June 19-20 in Baton Rouge. Southern University chancellor Kofi Lomotey will be the keynote speaker, and youth will display a parade of parishes and the lessons they've learned from Ag Center agents. 

For more information on the expo, visit http://www.suagcenter.com/youthexpo/YouthExpo2009/youthexpo09.html