Human Sciences

• The four-hour Your Money, Your Goals training helps professionals to increase their capacity to help individuals and families build their financial security and stability. The training was offered in partnership with the Iowa Department of Human Rights. The 94 participants in 46 counties included professionals with the FaDSS program and additional participants from several community action agencies. After the program, 97% of participants agreed the training was effective, 93% found the content relevant, and 99% felt prepared to use the materials afterward.
• At the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children Fall Institute, the early literacy team presented information about Human Sciences programs offered in Spanish, including Small Talk and Our Bookshelf. The presentation was offered in Spanish and 18 Spanish-speaking childcare providers attended and were engaged in the session. Another presentation featured Building Resilience with Storybooks with 60 participants. They were encouraged to seek out the training locally.
• Five members of the EFNEP and SNAP-Ed team participated in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

4-H Youth Development

• Youth in grades 8-12 from across Iowa have been participating in the year-long 4-H Career Pathways Academy program. They are exploring opportunities for higher education and careers in education, healthcare, agriculture, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math), skilled trades and entrepreneurship. The academy kicked off in June at the Iowa 4-H Youth Conference on the Iowa State University campus. Since then, 40 youth participants from across Iowa have been engaging each month in the college and career exploration program.
• Fifty-eight caring adults (18 Iowa 4-H and extension staff and partners plus 40 others from 15 states) participated in the virtual mindfulness facilitator training. This brings the total of trained, caring adults to over 300 in the last few years.
• Several Iowa 4-H professionals were recognized by the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals for their impactful contributions to Iowa youth.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

• The ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic has welcomed two new diagnosticians who will help diagnose plant and insect issues found in Iowa. Zach Schumm is an insect diagnostician and Chelsea Harbach is a plant disease diagnostician. Learn more about the Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic and the services it provides.
• “Together We Lead” is the theme of the sixth annual Women in Ag Leadership Conference November 29-30 in Ames. Farmland management, discovering your leadership strengths, and gaining and sharing wisdom through mentoring are a few of the topics to be covered.
• The ISU Extension and Outreach dairy team will host its annual Dairy Discussions Seminar on Thursday, December 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the ISU Extension and Outreach Sioux County Office in Orange City. This year’s focus is on cybersecurity issues for food producers including farmers, manufacturers and processors.

Community and Economic Development

• The Rural Housing Readiness Assessment helps communities self-assess their housing needs and guides them in the decision-making process when addressing those needs. CED continues its collaboration with the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Community Development Block Grant technical assistance fund, and in November is conducting RHRA workshops for Fairfield, Albia, and Waukon.
• Iowa League of Cities Budget Workshops review important factors that affect city budgets while helping attendees understand the state requirements for completing and filing the budget. The workshops are designed for city administrators, city clerks, and finance officers, but are open to all city officials. CED specialist Erin Mullenix will be an advanced track speaker for workshops in Harlan, North Liberty, Humboldt, Charles City, West Des Moines, and virtually.
• The Iowa’s Living Roadways annual celebration was November 3 in Ames. Community concept designs for the 2022 Community Visioning Program were on display, while the recently selected 2023 visioning communities participated in a local geography mapping session.