The New York Life Insurance and the National 4-H Council Foundation has awarded the Orange County 4-H Program a grant totaling $100,000 to fund the JUNTOS 4-H program. Juntos (pronounced “Who-n-toes”) means “Together” in Spanish and the program works to unite community partners to provide Latino 8-12th grade students and their parents with knowledge, skills, and resources that support high school graduation and promote higher education. With this grant, we will be helping eighth graders from a local middle school gain the knowledge and skills needed to bridge the gap between high school and higher education.

Providing bilingual programs emphasizing family involvement, clubs focused on academics, life skills and community service, one-on-one success coaching as well as various summer programs will help more Latino youth benefit from 4-H programming, build better community relationships and empower Latino families with resources to achieve educational goals. UF/IFAS Extension Orange County 4-H Agents are very excited about the Orange County JUNTOS 4-H program expansion!

By Elver Pardo, Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development

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