Sent
Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Program Announcement
Do you have teens in your county who are looking to make a difference in their health and the health of others? If so, the HEALTHY TEXAS YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAM is the perfect opportunity for them to become trained in health, wellness, and safety while helping you grow your local program efforts!
The Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Program is a new addition to counties across the state! This effort, led by Regional Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Teams and statewide coordinator, offers youth who are passionate about health the opportunity to become involved at the local level.
The Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Program is looking for teens that are motivated, excited, and ready to make a change in their community! This program is designed for high school age youth who have a passion for health and wellness. These youth will be trained at the regional level to become youth health experts who can motivate others to make a change in their lifestyle habits to improve their health. More importantly, these ambassadors will assist local county extension agents with program efforts, project activities, and much more!
Who’s Eligible?
Youth do not have to be 4-H members. In fact, agents are encouraged to look beyond the 4-H program and recruit youth from local school health advisory committees, health science programs, high school culinary arts programs, home school associations, community and church groups, and other youth organizations. This is a great way to build not only a strong ambassador program, but encourage membership in 4-H as well. Eligibility requirements include:
- Be in at least the 9th grade at beginning of the 2018-2019 school year
- Submit completed application to the local county extension office by May 1, 2018
- Be academically eligible
- Have an interest and passion to serve others in the area of health education which includes nutrition, physical activity, passenger safety, and safe environments!
What does the program entail?
After youth are accepted to the local program, they must fulfill the following obligations:
- Complete and report 50 hours of leadership, program efforts, or community service annually.
- Attend a Regional Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Summit in a location nearest to them. All fees related to this training will be the responsibility of the Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador
- Attend face-to-face and online trainings
- Remain academically eligible.
- Must agree to the obligations and requirements outlined in the HT Youth Ambassador Handbook.
- Complete a 2 year term, unless you complete high school before your term is complete. You may re-apply at the end of your two year term, if you wish.
- To maintain a positive attitude and represent Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Healthy South Texas in a positive light at all times.
- To meet all commitments for which the Ambassador volunteers and to complete those commitments with excellence.
For a more detailed description of requirements and expectations, agents should review the attached 2018-19 Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Handbook and Agent Overview document.
What is the cost?
Currently, there is no application fee for this program; however, selected ambassadors will be required to pay the $75 registration fee for the regional Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Summit. They will also be responsible for any travel costs related to this or other trainings established by the county extension agent or regional Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador Team. Program cost will vary from county to county and be dependent on activities and trainings offered.
Interested youth will submit an application to the local office of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension no later than May 1. Ambassadors should be selected by a local committee and be notified of acceptance by June 1. Those selected will be expected to attend one of the following regional trainings. Locations and registration processes of trainings will be announced at a later date.
Central Region July 10
East Region June 26
North Region July 31
South Region July 31
Southeast Region July 31
West Region July 30
This is a great opportunity to build a youth volunteer base in your county which can help expand health, wellness, and safety programming efforts! For more information on the Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador program in your region, contact your Regional Program Leader or Julie Gardner at j-gardner@tamu.edu. You can also visit http://healthytexas.tamu.edu/youth-ambassadors for more details.
2018 HT Youth Ambassador Agent Overview_3.6.18