My Perspective Today

Unbelievably I am finishing up my second semester with the 4-H foundation and I do not think it would be possible for me to explain how much this organization has impacted me as a student, employee, and person. Eight months ago when I began my internship I knew it would be a great experience, but it ended up being much more than that and somewhat of a life lesson for me.

What I have learned is that 4-H is all about opportunity and growth. It allows for children, teens and even adults to experience life and learn so many valuable skills that will build them into intelligent, loving, and caring inviduals. This became very evident to me when I began interviewing 4-H staff and hearing what they had to say about their positions and duties. Each and every person I interviewed was so passionate about 4-H and their responsibilites to this organization. They all love their jobs and they are truly out to better our youth and the communities we live in. Hearing and learning from the staff was the best part of my internship and I hope that I will be this passionate about my future career! Even on busy and stressful days I still see smiles and everyone really comes together to achieve the goals of 4-H. These are the kind of people that make an organization like 4-H grow and prosper.

This summer I will be interning with Colorado 4-H in Colorado Springs, Colorado and I am really excited about it! I already have a lot of projects and events to attend so I think it will be an amazing summer. I am interested to see the similarities and differences between 4-H in the two states and hopefully I can bring some new ideas as well as learn even more about 4-H from them. I am so lucky I was given this opportunity and I believe I have really grown from this experience and will continue to do so because of 4-H and the people who have guided me a long the way.

So....What does 4-H mean to me? It means an adventure, an opportunity, and a place to learn and grow no matter what age you are!

By: Erika Pletcher

The Faces of Iowa 4-H: Annette Brown

Name: Annette Brown
Current Position Title: Region 8 4-H Youth Development Program Specialist
Hometown: Shenandoah, Iowa
Education Background: B.S. from Iowa State University in Adult and Secondary Family and Consumer Sciences Education; M.S. from Iowa State University in Family Studies
Past Work experiences: Student teaching in Nome, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher in Forest City and Lake Mills Iowa
Hobbies/Interests: spending time with daughters’ and their activities, supporting Iowa 4-H Camp
Your Ultimate Goal in working with 4-H: My ultimate goal is to help youth have many opportunities to learn and experience the variety of what 4-H has to offer so they will develop leadership, citizenship, communication, and personal life management skills as well as gain knowledge in the areas they choose to explore.

Annette was a 6 year 4-H’er in the Tarkio Blue Belles 4-H Club in Page County, Iowa (where 4-H originated), and enjoyed project areas like Dairy Cattle, Clothing, Home Improvement, Food & Nutrition, Leadership, and Child Development. She worked at the Montgomery County Extension office for 4 summers while a student at Iowa State University which gave her a basis for wanting a career in Extension.

When discussing Annette’s favorite part of her job she told me that she loves the variety and flexibility that Extension offers. There are so many youth development opportunities to encourage youth to be involved in, and she loves teaching in the non-formal learning environment that 4-H Extension programs are based upon. She said, “I enjoy facilitating Challenge and leadership building activities. I also have a passion for the Iowa 4-H Camping Center and try to get youth and families to experience what the camp offers. I have had many opportunities to grow personally and professionally because Extension is about education. The greatest rewards are seeing young people become involved and to see them grow through their 4-H experiences. Equally rewarding is the value of the volunteers that dedicate their time and talents to guide youth through 4-H.”

Annette enjoys the 4-H Camping center because it is nearby in Boone County where she tries to get as many people to go to the camp as she can through leading a junior 4-H Camp for the counties she serves. “My daughters have grown to love the camp as well, we enjoy going to family camps and they enjoy attending camps every summer”, Annette told me.

What does 4-H mean to Annette? It means a life building and changing experience for youth that helps them develop skills they will use in the present as well as into the future.

The Faces of Iowa 4-H: Gail Castillo

Name: Gail Castillo
Current Position Title: Regional Program Specialist / 4-H Youth Development
Hometown: Latimer, Iowa
Education Background: BS – Social Work; MS – Agricultural Education
Past Work experiences: I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Equatorial Guinea in west central Africa. That is where I was immersed in the Spanish language and a bit of French.
Hobbies/Interests: Reading, watching ISU football and men’s basketball

Ultimate Goal in working with 4-H: My ultimate goal is that 4-H continue to be a place for all youth and adults to learn together and make a positive difference in the communities around them.

When Gail returned home from Africa, there was a county paid position open for 4-H in Franklin County. She was hired and worked part time while commuting for her Master’s degree at Iowa State. Gail thought once her degree was complete, she would move and work in extension in another part of the country, but as she was finishing her studies she had her first child and realized that her home county was perfect for raising a family.

“No two days are ever identical and I think that’s one of my favorite things about working with ISU Extension” Gail told me. A “regular” day would be in an office in her region working on upcoming meetings, trainings, or materials that will support the growth of Iowa 4-H through members and volunteers. Gail might be at the computer, meeting with staff, or attending a meeting with a partner organization. When asking her what her favorite part of her job was she replied, “I appreciate the variety of my position ~ the many things I get to continue learning about as I work with our 4-H families. LEGO® MINDSTORMS®, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, and community service learning are some of the most recent topics I’ve learned about!”

Gail gets excited about most things in 4-H! County and state fair season is a favorite of hers though. She says, “It is amazing to watch members light up when they explain what they’ve been working on and have an item to show you just what they’ve learned. Watching the “light bulbs” as kids are learning new ideas and mastering new skills is pretty cool.”

What does 4-H mean to Gail? It means a place for kids and adults who want to learn together…where possibilities are endless. It’s where you get to have fun with friends, learn new skills, and experiment with things you have never tried before (building a robot, planting a garden, or speaking in front of a group). 4-H is an instant connect with people of all ages.

The faces of Iowa 4-H: Lisa Berkland

Name: Lisa Berkland

Current Position: Regional 4-H Youth Development Specialist

Hometown: Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin

Education: B.S. Home Economics Education and M.S. Education both from UW-Stout

Past Work experiences: 4-H Agent, Dunn County Extension

Hobbies/Interests: reading, biking

Your Ultimate Goal in working with 4-H: Her ultimate goal is to be able to provide opportunities for youth where they can positively meet their needs for belonging, mastery, independence and generosity. More simply put, when she was young, she noticed that 4-H was a program that offered success to youth that wasn’t dependent on academic or athletic ability. Her goal is to be able to continue providing those opportunities and help our system be flexible enough to be relevant within our current culture.

Lisa was a nine year 4-H member in Wisconsin. Her projects included Food & Nutrition, Clothing, Photography and Knitting. She was a member of the Hebron 4-H club and she absolutely loved it! Lisa enjoys her job because she never has a regular day. She says, "I am in the unique position that I really do have a virtual office. When I’m not in one of the counties I serve or at a meeting somewhere else, I work from my home. My day includes responding to e-mails, meeting with staff, working with leaders and youth, and thinking strategically about how we can meet our goals."

Some things Lisa gets really excited about is trying new things and tweaking them to make them work. She also loves to see young people who are passionate and engaged in 4-H. After interviewing with Lisa I could tell that she really loves the challenge of taking abstract concepts and figuring out how to communicate them in a way that can be easily understood and applied by the general public. She told me, "When you see that people “get” what you’re trying to teach, it’s incredibly rewarding!"

What does 4-H mean to Lisa? 4-H means so many things to me. It’s hard to wrap it all up in one nice, neat sentence without it sounding like a company line. I once did a series of articles where I described 4-H as a mansion with at least 4 floors and tons of rooms. The cool thing is, all youth and their families have an opportunity to come and explore that mansion. They might go in one room and decide they don’t want to stay there very long, but they are bound to find lots of rooms they don’t want to leave.

The Faces of Iowa 4-H: Janet Toering

Name: Janet Toering

Current Position: Youth Program Specialist and Connecting, Learning, and Living Program Director for 4-H

Hometown: Waukee, Iowa

Education: Family and Consumer Science Education and Family Environment/Human Relations from ISU. Masters in Family and Consumer Science Education with an emphasis in Communication and Curriculum development from ISU.

Past Work Experiences: High school teacher in Erlum, Iowa. 4-H Communications and Secretarial for 4-H camp.

Hobbies: Combining living with her work, being outdoors, exploring Iowa with 13 year old son, Traveling, reading, and piano lessons.

Ultimate Goal in 4-H: Improve the quality of life in Iowa and the planet.

Janet was a member in 4-H for about four years growing and really loved it. She now works to promote the curriculum in the Connecting, Living and Learning program. More specifically she works with Growing in the Garden for Kindergarten through third grade children to develop tools used for growing curiosity about agriculture and natural resources. It focuses on life skills, critical thinking, communication, citizenship, leadership and healthy living. It is easy for the kids to relate to and a lot of after school programs use this. Other programs she develops are “Food, Land, and People” which is for K-12th grade students, and “Where We Live” for 4-8th grade students.

Janet wrote the curriculum herself along with help from a few others. The project book was amazing and there was so many great activities in it for children to learn. The lessons were very hands on as well making it much easier to use! I loved talking with Janet because she was so unbelievably passionate about her job and the opportunities she has had. She works very hard and it is clear that she truly loves every second of her career.

What does 4-H mean to Janet? It means youth and caring adults working together to improve quality of life for themselves, their families, communities and beyond.

Name: Jay Staker

Current Position: Extension Youth Development Specialist - 10 years.

Hometown: Woodward, Iowa

Education: Undergraduate degree in Zoology with an emphasis in Fresh Water from Buena Vista. Masters degree in Science Education from Iowa State University.

Past Work Experiences: Worked on the Meat Processing Team for Oscar Meyer. Taught high school science in Ballard for 25 years.

Hobbies: Fishing, reading, writing, biking, and woodworking.

Ultimate Goal in 4-H: To assist in making 4-H viable in the 21st century and better serve our youth.

Jay works in the Extension office here at Iowa State and is the title director for E-SET and the associate director for Education for the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. His roles support science education for children in Iowa, developing partnerships for science outreach and funding development. He also tries to stay current with technology while working with the Iowa Youth Technology Team.

When asking Jay about his job he told me that new challenges are fantastic and that he loves being pushed to learn new things and new skills while working with amazing people! He loves working with the Technology Team because it is an opportunity for teens to gain communication leadership and social skills. Jay thinks more kids should take advantage of these opportunities because it builds life skills!

What does 4-H mean to Jay? It means opportunity!

The Faces of Iowa 4-H: Mitch Hoyer

Name: Mitch Hoyer

Current Position: 4-H Youth Development Program Specialist

Major Responsibilities: Policy and Risk Management and Educational Design and Delivery.

Hometown: Latimer, Iowa. 4-H Member for 9 years.

Education: Two B.S. degrees from Iowa State University in Animal Science and Agricultural Education. Completing Masters Degree at Iowa State in Agricultural Education and Studies in 2011.

Past Work Experiences: High School agriculture teacher/FFA advisor in Sac City, Iowa (1981-1986). Seed Sales Specialist in Cenex/Land ‘O Lakes (1986-1989). Iowa State Extension (1989 – Current).

Hobbies: Attending ISU sports and cultural events, golf, reading, gardening. Trying to become a better cook, have lots to learn, enjoy experimenting with new “rubs” for meat cuts. But compared to the people on the TV show “America’s Worst Cooks, I could be the next Emeril.

Ultimate Goal in 4-H: To do whatever I can to promote Program Policy.

When I first started talking with Mitch he told me that his first job was working on the farm walking rows of soybeans pulling and cutting the weeds. This is when I realized that Mitch has grown up around agriculture his whole life and has made a living out of showing and teaching people about what he knows and has learned as well.

Mitch primarily works in planning and preparing for the state fair in the summer. There are a lot of people involved in working to make the state fair exhibits building ready to go and Mitch even hires two interns to help him make sure everything gets done and runs smoothly. One big responsibility he has is to select judges for the competitions and to get about 200 volunteers to help. Volunteers are key to making the 4-H events at the state fair happen. Mitch says, “The Ultimate goal at the state fair is to give young people another opportunity to showcase their talents and what they are doing in the 4-H program. It’s really a great thing!”

Another duty Mitch has is to run the Risk Management program. Risk management is not about risk avoidance but about assessing potential hazards. He educates staff and leaders to ensure all the right steps will be taken in case of an emergency. The goal here is to implement safe programs for young people and create a safe and healthy environment.

What does 4-H mean to Mitch? It means opportunity for young people to learn, discover, and grow into productive citizens.