Updates from the ISU Extension and Outreach leadership team
4-H Youth Development
- Once a month, Cerro Gordo County 4-H news and photos are featured in one full page in the Globe Gazette. Ads from area businesses, arranged by the Globe Gazette, pay for the page. This innovative, new partnership has begun thanks to Kelsey Spotts, Cerro Gordo County youth coordinator, and it is working. For the first time in many years, spring break camps were full.
- Norma Dorado-Robles, youth program specialist, developed a new partnership with the Marshalltown High School Mathematics’ Department. She engaged 50 freshman youth throughout the school day in sampling a 4-H STEM Lit-to-Go activity at the Math Center. At least 80% of the youth that day had little to no prior knowledge about 4-H. Many of these students were very interested in a follow-up session that will be part of the 4-H youth needs assessment facilitated by Norma and Ani Das, 4-H youth stakeholder and partnership coordinator.
- 4-H Healthy Living and the SWITCH program were featured at the Iowa Department of Education’s School Wellness Conference on March 28. School staff in attendance learned about “Engaging Youth to Enhance School Wellness Initiatives.” 4-H SWITCH Ambassadors from Earlham Middle School co-presented about their involvement in boosting wellness opportunities for their peers. They taught the audience a brain break and led a taste test to demonstrate the Cafeteria Coaching program. Many schools were intrigued by SWITCH and the ISU Extension and Outreach partnership with schools; 4-H hopes this will help grow recruitment for the upcoming year.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
- The ISU Extension and Outreach Master Conservationist program will be offered in four locations across Iowa in 2019. The program will take place in Region 7 (Humboldt, Wright, Webster and Hamilton counties), Region 14 (Jasper, Poweshiek, Marion and Mahaska counties), Story County and West Pottawattamie County. The program is designed to create a community of passionate conservationists and is led by local conservation professionals, state specialists and Iowa State experts.
- The inaugural Iowa Equine Day will be held May 4 at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center in Ames. The event will feature presentations related to horse and rider care, safety and horse nutrition. A ranch riding and showmanship clinic presented by Doug Bogart also will be held.
Community and Economic Development
- The 2019 Community Visioning Program completed community assessment work on April 6 and local steering committees are reviewing the assessment data provided by the ISU research team. In May, assessment reviews will be conducted in Walcott, Coggon and Durant. Following the assessment reviews, steering committees will conduct performance objectives meetings in Walcott (May 15) and Durant (May 22).
- CED is working with Human Sciences on Early Childhood Iowa, a federal grant that focuses on identifying challenges and issues regarding childcare in Iowa for children ranging from infant to preschool age. During May, CED specialists will be conducting focus groups with parents, preschool providers, and daycare providers in Storm Lake, Creston, Marshalltown, Waterloo, Mount Pleasant, West Des Moines and Fort Dodge.
- The Introduction to Planning and Zoning for Local Officials workshop is a three-hour session designed to introduce the basic principles of land use planning and development management to elected officials, planning and zoning officials, and board of adjustment members without formal training in the subjects. In May, workshops will be conducted in Dubuque, Fairfield and Davenport.
- CED is now offering data literacy workshops to help Iowans learn the skills needed to understand, visualize, interpret and practice with data relevant to communities, organizations and counties. The data literacy workshops can include a wide variety of topics, reviews of the data included in the Data for Decision Makers profiles, or an in-depth look at selected measures, indicators and trends. The workshops also can provide participants with knowledge and skills to discuss data and bridge to applications and decision making with the data. Sandra Burke will be conducting health data literacy workshops in Boone, Davenport and Adel during May.
Human Sciences
- Boone County will become the first Kids in the Kitchen rural site with a current staff member trained to deliver Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) curricula for youth as a regular aspect of programming. Boone County will begin service this summer. This approach should help expand youth EFNEP programming to rural areas in a way that is cost-effective and sustainable.
- Nine human sciences specialists are trained to deliver “Growing Up Wild.” The four-hour workshop requires two facilitators – an outdoor educator and an early childhood specialist. Human sciences specialists have worked with 38 naturalists in the last five years at 35 training locations, reaching 560 participants representing 58 counties. Barb Gigar, Project WILD state coordinator from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is the lead state partner for this effort. Human Sciences Extension and Outreach also is sharing the program beyond Iowa. On April 10, Kim Brantner, Cindy Thompson and Joy Rouse presented a national webinar for the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, reaching 22 participants representing 21 states. Their presentation helped participants understand the benefits of nature in early education, learn about Growing Up Wild and explore collaboration options for outdoor education.