Iowa 4-H Alumni & Friends

Name: Marc Peterson Current Position: Urban Program Specialist Birthplace: Ames, Iowa Education: Undergraduate degree in Child and Family Services from Iowa State University. Masters in Public Administration from Iowa State University. Hobbies/Interests: sports, church, running, being outside. Ultimate Goal in 4-H? To help 4-H grow and adapt to develop new ways to bring the experience to families that have never heard of 4-H. Marc Peterson works as a 4-H Urban Program Specialist for ISU in Des Moines. He doesn’t work for the traditional side of 4-H, but with the special programs. Marc helps with service learning projects like “Reach Out Iowa”. He also works with 4-H and other organizations to promote community volunteering! The main focus is on middle school and high school kids to get them more involved and helping in their communities. One of the areas that Marc is working on that really interested me is called “Project Life”. This is a new service learning ...

Name: Mike Anderson Current Position: Campus 4-H Livestock Program Specialist Hometown: Family Farm in Garner, Iowa Education: Undergraduate degree in Animal Science from Iowa State University. Master’s in Animal Science from Iowa State University. Past Work Experiences: Biotronics – Ames, Iowa as a Beef Ultrasound Lab Manager Purdue Extension – West Lafayette, Indiana as a 4-H Youth Educator, Decatur County Hobbies/Interests: Spending time with his wife and daughter, visiting home and helping with cattle shows, and playing sports such as basketball and golf. Ultimate Goal in 4-H: To make things simpler for families and kids to get involved and join 4-H. Also, to provide more opportunities for kids in urban areas to be more involved with animals. When I interviewed Mike it was pretty evident to me that he had been involved with 4-H his whole life. He grew up on a farm with three older siblings and was very involved with his family’s cattle operation. He was in...

This past Sunday afternoon, I volunteered at Cloverland which was held in Nevada, Iowa. It was great to see all of the parent’s and their kids come out and have some fun! I helped at a table making bubble wands using colorful pipe cleaners. The kids loved making different shapes and getting to test their wands. Even Cy had fun blowing bubbles! There were many activities including: - Face Painting - Balloon Animals - Decorating Cookies - Coloring Pet Rocks - Games There was also: - Food - Blow-up slide - Fire Truck - and much more! This was such a great event for families to attend and spend time together! It was a beautiful day and everyone had so much fun! Erika Pletcher