{"id":19887,"date":"2020-10-20T14:20:24","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T18:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/?page_id=19887"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T17:37:11","slug":"understanding-the-why","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the &#8220;WHY?&#8221; Behind Maine 4-H Project Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Co-designed with Maine 4-H volunteers, youth and staff; these project records have been designed to best serve the needs of Maine youth. Aligning critical life skills including workforce and college and career readiness within the 4-H Youth Development framework.<\/p>\n<p>4-H members are encouraged to keep records as part of their leadership experience. 4-H records present a picture of growth and development as a 4-H member. It is a requirement for all Maine 4-H members ages 9-18 to complete a 4-H project record annually.<\/p>\n<p>These records have youth:<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Identify and nurture their spark.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Embedded within the project record are opportunities for 4-H members to identify and share their spark- what they are passionate about, something that they lose track of time when they are engaged in the activity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Learn and practice goal management skills.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Annually youth describe their project goals and reflect on the successes and challenges. Youth do not just set a goal they describe how they will apply it to current and future situations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Develop a growth mindset.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Youth can have challenges and reflect upon those challenges within their project record. This low-risk exercise is a great way to practice learning new things- sometimes you will be successful and sometimes it may just not go as planned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Develop self-reflection skills.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The PURPOSE of project records is to document not just what you have experienced, but how you will take what you have learned and grow; as a person, as a leader, as a Maine 4-H member. This record is a guide to reflect upon your own personal journey.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Demonstrate skills.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The optional project record forms will prepare you with documentation needed for applying for scholarships, national trips and maybe even your first job or college course. Over your 4-H career, using these forms as a method of documentation and organization will better prepare you to create a resume or portfolio of skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Co-designed with Maine 4-H volunteers, youth and staff; these project records have been designed to best serve the needs of Maine youth. Aligning critical life skills including workforce and college and career readiness within the 4-H Youth Development framework. 4-H members are encouraged to keep records as part of their leadership experience. 4-H records present [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"parent":10826,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19887","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Understanding the &quot;WHY?&quot; Behind Maine 4-H Project Records - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding the &quot;WHY?&quot; Behind Maine 4-H Project Records - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Co-designed with Maine 4-H volunteers, youth and staff; these project records have been designed to best serve the needs of Maine youth. Aligning critical life skills including workforce and college and career readiness within the 4-H Youth Development framework. 4-H members are encouraged to keep records as part of their leadership experience. 4-H records present [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: 4-H\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T17:37:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/\",\"name\":\"Understanding the \\\"WHY?\\\" Behind Maine 4-H Project Records - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-20T18:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-24T17:37:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Volunteers\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Maine 4-H Project Records\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Understanding the &#8220;WHY?&#8221; Behind Maine 4-H Project Records\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: 4-H\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Understanding the \"WHY?\" Behind Maine 4-H Project Records - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Understanding the \"WHY?\" Behind Maine 4-H Project Records - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Co-designed with Maine 4-H volunteers, youth and staff; these project records have been designed to best serve the needs of Maine youth. Aligning critical life skills including workforce and college and career readiness within the 4-H Youth Development framework. 4-H members are encouraged to keep records as part of their leadership experience. 4-H records present [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: 4-H","article_modified_time":"2025-11-24T17:37:11+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/","name":"Understanding the \"WHY?\" Behind Maine 4-H Project Records - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-20T18:20:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-24T17:37:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/understanding-the-why\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Volunteers","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Maine 4-H Project Records","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/volunteers\/project-records\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Understanding the &#8220;WHY?&#8221; Behind Maine 4-H Project Records"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/","name":"Cooperative Extension: 4-H","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"bjpendleton","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/author\/bjpendleton\/"},"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19887"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29980,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19887\/revisions\/29980"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}