What is the Auglaize County Program?
The Auglaize County Carteens program began in March 2000. This Ohio 4-H coordinated program is a traffic safety education program for first time juvenile traffic offenders. The mission is to decrease the number of repeat traffic offenses among juveniles in Auglaize County and to increase awareness of vehicular safety among teens. The juveniles ate sentenced through Judge Mark Spees, Juvenile Court Judge.

The Car in Carteens stands for Caring and Responsible Teens. Each session includes some of the following: driving skills, drinking & driving, safe driving tips, seat belt usage and much more. Visual aids, group activities, videos, and evaluation tools are all a part of the program.

What do Carteens do during the program?
The unique quality of the Carteens program is that teens, 15-19, serve as the instructors and curriculum planners along with the Advisor Don Baumer. During each session, Carteens are needed to register participants, introduce the program, utilize pre-written stories (personal stories are best) and evaluate each session. Usually only 3-4 Carteen members are needed to be present for each session. If more individuals become Carteens then sessions can be rotated in teams of three to four members for each program.  Click Here for Application

Who else benefits from the program?
A part of the monies collected from participation will be donated to local scholarships. These scholarships are named in memory of teens that lost their lives in auto accidents.

How often are the Carteens programs?
Currently Carteens has one program a month, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. ( Check in at 6:45p.m.) at the Nazarene Church in St Marys, Ohio
For more information on becoming a Carteen or about the program contact:

Don Baumer, Advisor 419-733-7533
or
Beth Miller, Extension Educator
4-H Youth Development 419-910-6050

4-H CARTEENS is a traffic safety program conducted by 4-H teen leaders and their program partners for juvenile traffic offenders. 4-H CARTEENS goals include:

  • reducing the number of repeat juvenile traffic offenders,
  • decreasing the number of teen traffic offenders, and
  • increasing teen awareness of traffic/vehicular safety.

4-H CARTEENS Background
Ohio State University faculty and staff located in county Extension offices recruit and engage adult volunteers and teen leaders who provide leadership to educational programs for youth in local communities. Over the years, county needs assessments conducted by OSU Extension have repeatedly identified teen vehicular safety as a priority need in Ohio’s communities.

The 4-H CARTEENS vehicular safety initiative was developed in response to this need. The original CARTEENS Program began in Brown County, Ohio in 1987. The local 4-H educator, volunteer teen leaders, the juvenile probate court, and the Ohio Highway Patrol all collaborated to develop the program. Since 1987, the 4-H CARTEENS program has expanded throughout Ohio and to several other states across the nation.

For more information about 4-H CARTEENS, visit www.ohio4h.org/4-h-youth/teens/carteens.