FCS Extension Programs

In partnership with Arizona Extension, the Building Financial Security for Self, Family, and Community is a five-part series of financial literacy workshops that take an in-depth look at managing money. How do your values, goals, and culture impact your spending and financial decisions?  Take control by prioritizing expenses creating a spending plan & making SMART goals.

In partnership with Arizona Cooperative Extension, these portable financial literacy lending libraries for Early Childhood Education Centers help parents of young children (ages 3 to 5) instill an understanding of money, the difference between needs and wants, and making choices, using children’s storybooks and supporting materials.

Make a pledge to yourself and create a simple savings plan that works. Complete the Pledge and America Saves will send you short email and text reminders, resources and tips to keep you on track towards your savings goal. Become part of an entire community of savers. Get started now by Taking the Pledge here!

Dr. Kate Speirs is collaborating with Hope Wilson (the Family, Consumer and Health Sciences Extension Agent in Yavapai County) to develop Seed to Read, an early literacy and healthy eating program delivered to 3-5-year-old children in child care centers. Seed to Read consists of eight lessons each of which includes ten target vocabulary words, a target fruit or vegetable, four shared book reading activities, and four extension activities (a taste test, movement, gardening, and craft activity).

Dr. Kate Speirs is leading a team of Cooperative Extension faculty and staff in developing and delivering two community-based early literacy programs for Native communities. Gowa: Teachable Moments for Apache Children is being delivered on the San Carlos Apache tribal lands and Baby College 101: Courses for Ałchíní Yázhí on part of the Navajo Nation. Research-based components are used to help parents, grandparents, and other caregivers expand their use of five early literacy practices (reading, talking, writing, singing, and playing) with 0-6-year-old children. The program content and evaluation plan have been developed in partnership with an advisory board of local stakeholders and community members.

This multi state collaboration of Cooperative Extension faculty aims to help Cooperative Extension Systems (CES) provide high-quality training and resources for early care and education (ECE) professionals by facilitating multi-state partnerships and program development within Extension and educating external stakeholders about Extension's work in this area. Dr. Kate Speirs leads a team of Extension faculty in conducting a national survey to document how CES serve ECE professionals and interact with ECE state systems.

A group of community agencies, including UA Cooperative Extension ,the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, the Cochise County Department of Health and Social Services, and the Cochise County Superintendent of Schools, are united in a collective impact project to address social determinants of health in Cochise County. CRED is the evaluator of this four-year, two-million-dollar initiative supported by the Legacy Foundation of Southeast Arizona. 

The CRED Team is working with the Arizona Cooperative Extension to develop research and evaluation infrastructure through a state-wide system of Common Measures. The goal of the Common Measures project is to build organizational capacity to support the systematic collection and use of evaluation data through developing a set of evaluation survey items and an interactive and web-based, customizable Survey Builder. The project aims to provide tools and skill-building opportunities to help Extension professionals interpret their evaluation findings to facilitate program improvement and effective stakeholder communication about the value of their work.

University of Arizona Cooperative Extension is a partner in the multistate Fit and Healthy Kids initiative. This team of Extension faculty from across the US offers online training opportunities and resources for the early care and education workforce. Visit the Fit and Healthy Kids website for monthly training opportunities for early childhood teachers and providers, educational materials that can be used in the classroom, and parent engagement resources.