| Time | Description |
|---|---|
| 12:00-12:30 p.m. | Check in |
| 12:30-1:30 p.m. | Welcome and networking |
| 1:30-3:15 p.m. | Plenary session |
| 3:15-3:30 p.m. | Break |
| 3:30-4:30 p.m. | Workshop session 1 |
| 4:30-5:00 p.m. | Reflections and affirmations |
| Time | Description |
|---|---|
| 9:00-9:30 a.m. | Opening |
| 9:45-10:45 a.m. | Workshop session 2 |
| 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Panel discussion |
| 12:00-1:15 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:15-2:15 p.m. | Poster and interactive exhibit session |
| 2:15-2:30 p.m. | Break |
| 2:30-3:30 p.m. | Workshop session 3 |
| 3:45-4:45 p.m. | Workshop session 4 |
| Time | Description |
|---|---|
| 9:00-9:15 a.m. | Full group gathering Remarks from Rachel Dunifon, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology |
| 9:15-9:45 a.m. | Introduce the Committee on the Future of the American University |
| 9:45-11:00 a.m. | Facilitated small group discussion |
| 11:00-11:30 a.m. | Closing remarks from Andy Turner, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and associate dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology |
| 11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Reflection and evaluation |
| 12:00 p.m. | Adjourn |
Social Emotional Education
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Other audiences
Description
Social emotional education could be the bridge to teaching youth the skills they missed out on by not being in a classroom during quarantine, or have not yet fully developed. This session will showcase how youth-led discussions, hands-on activities, and real-world examples can teach our youth essential social-emotional skills, such as impulse control, coping skills, kindness, and perspective taking, just to name a few. These skills are beneficial, whether within a Pre-K to 12 classroom, or beyond the halls and into their future.
Stay in Dialogue: How to Be Civil and Productive
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Description
Using lessons gleaned from life experiences and study, including a degree in Conflict Transformation, participants will facilitate a conversation about what we need to stay in dialogue in polarized, litigious and trying times. This will include learnings from a recent training.
Relationship-Based Programming in the Age of Digital Overload
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Description
Across New York State, many of us are seeing declining in-person participation as families juggle competing demands and access information online. This session will focus on practical, relationship-centered strategies that move beyond simply delivering content to intentionally designing welcoming, engaging experiences that families choose to attend.
Participants will explore concrete approaches to strengthening outreach, creating warm and inclusive environments, increasing participant interaction, and building meaningful follow-up that fosters long-term connection. Through real-world examples and guided reflection, attendees will leave with tools they can immediately implement in their own communities to increase engagement and strengthen collaboration across contexts.
Wild Edible Plants: Cultural, Nutritional, and Food Security Resources
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Nutrition educators
- Other audiences
Description
Can you still harvest nutritious, wild plants from local fields, lawns, and woods? Yes, with some effort we can find many options not to far from where we live. Many of these plants have been used by generations in salads, flour, tubers, and just a tasty snack to munch along the trail. Only recently was Eva Gordon's Wild Foods, a Cornell Rural School leaflet published in March 1943, re-discovered in the archives. A second guide was included in the Heritage and Horizons curriculum in 1970s. The presenters updated and expanded the material in 2018 with color photos, recent recipes, safety guidelines, and conservation concerns. Come join us in this culinary adventure!
Supporting the Well-Being of the Early Childhood Education Workforce
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
Description
The StayWell Project aims to advance the health and well-being of the early childhood education (ECE) workforce across New York State. ECE educators play a critical role in supporting children’s development, yet many face physical, mental, and workplace stressors that affect their health and job sustainability overall. Through engagement with educators, administrators, and stakeholders, the project identified important areas where intervention could feasibly foster a more stable and supported workforce. Strategies include enhancing physical and mental health resources, strengthening classroom and workplace supports, and expanding professional training opportunities. Continued collaboration will inform and support dissemination and guide implementation efforts statewide.
Supporting Immigrants in Our Community
Intended primary audience
- Students
- Community members
- Extension professionals
Description
Migrant Advocacy and Support promotes justice, dignity, and equity by partnering with migrants to address migrant-identified health, legal, and educational needs. This workshop will discuss what motivates people to migrate, what roles immigrants play in our communities, how immigrants contribute to the economy, how families can plan to prevent family separation, and what we can do to help.
Understanding the Systems Behind Food Choices
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Description
This interactive workshop introduces the term food systems and what it includes, offering a practical foundation for those who may feel unfamiliar with the concept. Participants will explore approachable ways to teach food systems thinking and examine how food decisions are shaped not only by taste and nutrition, but also by cost, culture, marketing, access, and the realities of daily life. Through everyday examples and hands-on activities, we will explore how food gets to our homes, how packaging and advertising influence decisions, and what happens to food after meals are finished. Participants will leave with ideas, guiding questions, and teaching strategies to help youth and families better understand the food environments they navigate, build food confidence, strengthen family connections, and support healthier, more sustainable communities.
Bridging the Gap Through Family-Centered Coaching
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
Description
This interactive workshop is designed to support family educators in developing strong, effective Family-Centered Coaching (FCC) practices aligned with the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI). Participants will explore how FCC strengthens collaborative partnerships with caregivers and builds caregiver capacity by honoring family strengths, priorities, and lived experiences.
The session will emphasize the use of practice-based coaching cycles, including shared goal setting, focused observation, reflection, and feedback, as a framework for supporting families in promoting children’s social-emotional development. Educators will learn practical, evidence-based coaching strategies that can be embedded into everyday interactions with families across diverse contexts.
Through guided discussion, real-world examples, and hands-on interactive exercises, participants will have opportunities to practice FCC strategies, refine their coaching language, and reflect on their role as collaborative partners. By the end of the workshop, educators will leave with concrete tools, increased confidence, and actionable strategies they can immediately apply to support caregivers in fostering children’s social-emotional competence and positive family–child relationships.
Thrive by Design: Positive Youth Development from Content to Connection
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
- Other audiences
Description
This session will explore how to use positive youth development (PYD) as an approach to working with young people in a way that is genuine and respectful of their identities and experiences. Through interactive teaching strategies pulled from the PYD curriculum, participants will explore how to engage young people in meaningful ways. The session will also include a discussion of how the content can be adapted for various audiences and community needs.
Libraries — Connecting Extension Education and Rural Families
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
- Other audiences
Description
Parent Education – re-envisioned! The Library Connection Project, a Year 2 Community Engagement project facilitated by Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County, is a ‘portable parenting’ model that has had great preliminary success. Serving primarily rural and underserved communities, the Library Connection Project partners with local libraries to attend story hours and other library events, letting families in attendance know that a parent educator is here to answer questions that they may have. Families rely on their local library as a trusted source of resources and education, a perfect partnership for Cooperative Extension. In this session, you will learn more about how we started this initiative, how it’s going now AND inspire you to collaborate with your local library!
Beyond Ready Youth: Leveraging Community Connections to Strengthen 4-H Camp Impact
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
Description
4-H camp is more than a summer program — it’s a catalyst for developing confident, capable, and connected youth. This workshop equips county educators with practical strategies to leverage community partnerships and local resources to build a new 4-H camp or expand an existing one. Participants will explore ways to grow a program from an idea to reality. Leaving with actionable approaches to grow sustainable, high-impact 4-H camp programs.
Translating Research into Practice: The Family Dinner Project as a Tool for Family Engagement
Intended primary audience
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Responding to Parenting Needs
Intended primary audience
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Description
During this workshop, we will share the results of a community-led assessment about parenting needs and engagement in Orange County. The presenters will share the process and results of the survey they conducted and engage workshop participants in a collective mini-assessment. Through reflection and dialogue, attendees will gather impressions of needs in their communities, discuss tools for engagement, and explore strategic partners. Following the workshop, the presenters will compose a white paper that reflects the needs and tools for engagement identified during the dialogue.
Connecting Youth to Campus Research
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
Description
The team from the Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE) is looking for your help to design opportunities that connect young people to research happening on Cornell's campus that is relevant to their lives. Undergraduates in PRYDE are working on four design projects this semester, each of which is a possible pathway to link youth (particularly in 4-H) to research. At this workshop, the PRYDE team will present on the benefits of meaningful youth participation in research. Then, undergraduate PRYDE Scholars will share their designs for different approaches to connecting youth to research, which include: youth-engaged evaluation, “Youth University” (public lectures for children and parents), youth advisory boards, and youth-led research with PRYDE mentors. Attendees will help us determine the feasibility of implementing these approaches with young people and provide guidance on which ideas the PRYDE team should pursue. Together, we’ll shape the next iteration of PRYDE programming for researchers, students, practitioners, and youth.
Intentional Table Outreach: Boom or Bust
Intended primary audience
- Anyone doing general outreach
Description
This presentation will focus on best practices for successful table outreach. There is a sense that a one-time interaction in a public setting is not effective, thus not worth the time and effort. However, the Staten Island University Hospital CAPP program has several examples of truly impactful interactions in such a setting. This workshop will discuss how to identify your target audience, develop key messages and choose timing, location and materials to maximize your effectiveness. The workshop will ask participants to think of potential barriers to success and how they might overcome them. Finally, specific cases will be shared where a one-time interaction led to a positive outcome and with participants invited to do the same. Participants will also learn about outreach failures in a discussion about how not to do table outreach.
New York’s Early Childhood Education Landscape: Opportunities for Extension Collaboration
Intended primary audience
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Description
New York’s early childhood education (ECE) landscape is evolving with the expansion of universal child care and renewed attention to workforce sustainability and family support. At the same time, Head Start marks 60 years of advancing a whole-child, whole-family approach—strengthening school readiness, economic stability, and community resilience. This workshop will provide Cornell Cooperative Extension professionals with a current overview of the ECE and Head Start landscape across New York State, including funding dynamics, workforce challenges, and equity considerations. Drawing on recent research in educator wellbeing, maternal health, and digital parenting interventions, we will highlight practical, research-informed strategies for Extension–ECE collaboration. Participants will leave with actionable ideas for engaging local ECE and Head Start partners, supporting educators and families, and leveraging Extension’s community presence to expand impact statewide.
Mission Ready: Building Connection, Sparking Engagement, Creating Lasting Impact
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
- Nutrition educators
Description
The CCE Jefferson team from the Family Advocacy Program on Fort Drum serves a truly unique population—soldiers and their families. The FAP team of educators deliver purpose driven programming designed to meet the realities of military life while strengthening resilience, relationships, and leadership. Every program is built on one powerful foundation: connection fuels growth.
From professional trainings, workshops and briefings to interactive parenting classes and community events, the team transforms evidence-based content into engaging, learner-centered experiences that stick. The work goes beyond simply sharing information—environments are created where trust flourishes, collaboration deepens, and participants feel empowered to grow and create meaningful change.
In this session, you will learn practical strategies to adapt methods for the unique needs of your communities, enabling you to: energize diverse audiences with creative, interactive strategies; translate practical tools into meaningful, real-world impact; adapt flexible frameworks to serve varied learning styles and needs; and foster lasting change through intentional communication and collaboration.
Participants will leave motivated, equipped, and ready to elevate connection in their own classrooms, teams, and communities to maximize educational impact.
Understanding and Promoting Developmental Interactions in Child Service Settings
Intended primary audience
- Youth educators (e.g., 4-H)
- Parenting educators
Description
The focus of this workshop is to assist staff who work directly with children to take advantage of the everyday and ordinary moments during their daily routines to create developmentally enriching interactions that support connection to others, capability, and autonomy. The workshop will help individuals: understand how such interactions support healthy functioning, know the characteristics of these developmental interactions and develop ability to recognize opportunities to intentionally create more of these moments with children.
Empowering Caribbean Youth Through the use of Evidence-Based HIV and Sexual Health Programming
Intended primary audience
- All youth educators
Description
Caribbean youth continue to face disproportionate rates of HIV infection, early sexual debut, gender-based vulnerability, and stigma related to sexual and reproductive health. Despite ongoing prevention efforts, gaps remain in culturally responsive, evidence-based programming that meaningfully engages young people as active participants in their own health outcomes. This interactive workshop equips practitioners, educators, community leaders, and youth-serving professionals with practical tools to implement evidence-based HIV and sexual health interventions tailored to Caribbean contexts.
Grounded in global best practices from organizations such as UNAIDS and World Health Organization, the session explores how to adapt proven behavioral interventions while maintaining fidelity to core components. Participants will examine strategies for integrating culturally relevant narratives, addressing stigma and gender norms, and incorporating trauma-informed and youth-centered approaches that reflect the lived realities of Caribbean adolescents. Participants will learn how to: identify and select evidence-based HIV prevention programs suitable for Caribbean youth populations; adapt curricula to local cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic contexts without compromising effectiveness; facilitate open, developmentally appropriate conversations about sexuality, consent, relationships, and risk reduction; incorporate monitoring and evaluation strategies to measure impact and ensure continuous improvement.
Participants will leave with a practical framework for implementation, tools for community engagement, and actionable steps to strengthen HIV and sexual health outcomes among Caribbean youth. This workshop is ideal for professionals seeking to bridge research and practice while centering youth voice, equity, and culturally grounded care in HIV prevention efforts.
