Program Director, Jamestown 4-H Educational Center

Jamestown 4H Educational Center, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to youth development through innovative 4-H camping, environmental education, and leadership training. In 1928, Jamestown 4-H Educational was the first, fully dedicated 4-H Camp built in the commonwealth. The first six-acre camping site stood on the shores of the James River one mile north of Jamestown Island. The site, with its rustic wooden structures, was dedicated to the 4-H organization by the C&O Railroad for the benefit of 4-H clubs and kindred organizations of the Commonwealth teaching better farming methods and domestic science. 4-H summer camps took place every summer between 1928 and 1946 with the exception being the World World II years. The original Jamestown 4-H Camp property was later acquired by the National Park Service for its National Monumental Highway (Colonial National Historic Park) that connects Historic Jamestown Island NPS to Yorktown National Battlefield Park NPS. In 1942, the Jamestown 4-H Camp organization purchased a 16-acre parcel of land ½ mile up-river from the original site on land previously owned by the C&O Railroad. Between 1948 and 1950 structures were built and renovated to meet the needs of modern campers. In 1976, Jamestown 4-H Camp incorporated as Jamestown 4-H Educational Center with a governing body called the Corporate Membership. In 1982, the Corporate Membership made the decision to renovate and expand the existing facility. The improvements and expansions of the 1980s gave the Center extensive recreational, meeting, and lodging facilities. Today we provide both recreational and educational opportunities for children and adults. We host nine weeks of 4-H Junior Summer Camp, ten weeks of Day Camp and year-round programs for schools, families, and businesses in our local community and from around the country.

The mission of the Center is to: be of service to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia; further promote the purposes of 4-H and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service; enhance quality programming in the creative and performing arts, agriculture, home economics, leadership, environmental science, community resource development, health and safety, and other fields; serve as a unique resource for business, industry, civic, and community organizations; and foster a development of the educational, recreational, and fellowship aspects of life for both youth and adult.

The Program Director’s primary responsibility is to oversee 4-H Center programming— to plan, conduct, supervise and evaluate educational programs for youth and adults. All youth programs will be conducted in accordance with the Virginia 4-H Program guidelines, the Virginia Department of Education’s Standards of Learning guidelines, and the American Camp Association’s standards for camps and conference centers.

The Program Director is responsible for taking the initiative to promote the use of the 4-H Center in cooperation with Cooperative Extension for programs to serve, in this priority: (1) 4-H youth, (2) other youth, and (3) adults (e.g., Road Scholars, individuals, organizations, professional groups, businesses, churches, schools, and other groups which can benefit from programs offered by and through the 4-H Center).

The Program Director is accountable and responsible to the State 4-H Program Leader (Virginia Cooperative Extension), the 4-H Center’s Board of Directors and directly supervised by and reports to the Center Director. The Program Director will be evaluated by the State 4-H Program Leader and Center Director with input from the 4-H Center’s Board of Directors.