---

FRANKFORT — The Rosenwald Center for Families and Children has served the Frankfort community since 2013 and will continue to do so, just with a new name and purpose.

“The Rosenwald 4-H Center will serve as an innovative education and research model for after-school 4-H youth programming,” Dr. Kirk Pomper, director of land grant programs at Kentucky State University, said. “After-school programs will be designed to serve children and youth in kindergarten through grade eight.”

The 15,000 square foot facility was constructed in 2013. Rosenwald has six classrooms, three observation rooms, four offices, one multipurpose room, one conference room, one state-of-the-art kitchen and restrooms.

The purpose of the classrooms is to provide developmentally-appropriate practices for young children. Observation rooms provide Kentucky State students in the child development, nursing, and education programs the opportunity to observe practices in teaching and learning opportunities in adjacent classroom settings.

“The Rosenwald 4-H Center will serve as a model 4-H program that could be emulated in other regions,” Pomper said. “The 4-H curricula and learning products will be designed to provide the highest quality positive youth development experiences.”

The 4-H enrichment activities for after-school students will focus on the sciences, healthy living and citizenship and will be delivered via curricula purchased from the national 4-H curriculum catalog, Pomper said.

“Youth who are unsupervised are much more likely to engage in activities that place them at risk; therefore, after-school hours represent either risk or opportunity,” Pomper said.

Thus, programming at Rosenwald will occur every weekday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on occasional weekends.

“Providing programs during the out-of-school hours (including after-school hours, teacher in-service days, school holidays, and the summer months) give youth safe, supervised places to spend time, along with chances to learn new skills, develop their interests, and spend meaningful time with peers and adults,” Pomper said.

Learning opportunities for Kentucky State students are part of the new focus on 4-H education.

“This 4-H program would also allow additional opportunities for faculty and students in Extension and research to study leadership development, learning styles, and related behavior and development issues with children and family members participating at the Center,” Pomper said.

There will be no cost to children or parents participating in the after-school program, which will allow access by children in low income and disadvantaged homes, Pomper said.

For more information about the Rosenwald 4-H Center, visit kysu.edu/rosenwald-center-for-families-children.

ABOUT KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY

Kentucky State University, building on its legacy of achievement as a historically black, liberal arts, and 1890 Land Grant University affords access to and prepares a diverse population of traditional and non-traditional students through high-quality undergraduate and select graduate programs. Located in Kentucky, KSU offers associate (two-year) degrees in two disciplines, baccalaureate (four-year) degrees in 24 disciplines, master’s degrees in eight disciplines, and one advanced practice doctorate in nursing. KSU has 129 full-time instructional faculty members and more than 2,000 students.