To start off the conference, Cathann Kress, Director of 4-H Youth Development, introduced the Second Annual 4-H Family Strengthening Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation which was presented by Cynthia “Mil” Duncan, University of New Hampshire. Following the lecture, Donald Floyd, President and CEO, National 4-H Council awarded the 2006 4-H Family Strengthening winners from Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, and Utah.

Speakers during the conference included, Marc Prensky, author of “Don’t Bother Me Mom—I’m Learning,” Lateefah Simon, Director of Re-entry Services, San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, and Linda Burton of Duke University.

Over 135 peer-reviewed workshops, computer labs, and poster sessions were presented by land grant faculty, community partners, and collaborators on a broad range of children, youth, family, and community issues.

A new feature this year, the Learning Games Arcade, allowed CYFAR participants to explore the best of educational gaming and interactive technologies – to see how young people are learning. And it gave adults a safe friendly place to try Dance Dance Revolution, Nintento Wii, Second Life, and other popular educational or participatory games.

Again this year, CYFAR, 4-H, Cook County, University of Illinois Extension, and KABOOM!, collaborated to build a playground. In a high-energy, high-impact, one-day building blitz, about 250 volunteers transformed an empty lot into a safe and healthy play space for children on the grounds of Posen-Robins School District outside of Chicago.

Sherri Wright presented CSREES Certificates of Appreciation to Project Directors in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin for successfully completing their five-year CYFAR New Communities Projects. Wright announced that CYFAR 2008 will be held May 6-9 at the Hyatt Regency, San Antonio, Texas.

Visit CYFERnet for the CYFAR 2007 Conference Proceedings.