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The Faces of Iowa 4-H: Marc Peterson

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 program that gets college and high school students working with older adults to teach them how to use the Nintendo Wii for exercise! I thought this was a great idea and would be very fun and beneficial. While interviewing Marc it was obvious that he was very passionate about the work he does with 4-H and that he loves helping people!


What does 4-H mean to Marc? It means a community of people that are excited about learning and growing!


Erika Pletcher


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