UT Extension building outdoor classroom for 4-H youth development students

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – The 4-H Youth Development program in Greene County works to teach students hands-on learning through activities and community engagement.

“A lot of our lessons are very versatile; they can be anything from STEM and science all the way over into crops, livestock, and other agricultural practices,” said Christian Dalton, 4-H Agent at the University of Tennessee Extension Office in Greene County. “Being a place that can be conducive to having outside things and inside things can come to be kind of a problem for us.”

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture awarded the Greene County Extension Office 150,000 in grant money to build an outdoor classroom pavilion.

“It is built in the way a traditional pavilion would be,” said Dalton. “It’s just one big structure with a roof and the walls or the openings would be built with garage doors to where we can close in the wintertime, maybe still get some use out of it.”

Dalton told News Channel 11 that they have seen an increase in students participating in the 4-H Program but have limited space for them.

“Our numbers have kind of skyrocketed, and we were tickled to have all those kids joining us,” said Dalton. “We’re always looking for new teaching opportunities and new places to have those versatile lessons.”

Dalton said they will start constructing the pavilion in the next few weeks and finish it by December 2024.

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