4-H News

4-H Ag Innovator Experience (AIE) In Cass County

After participating in both a National, and Inter-state teen ambassador’s training, in 2021 three (3) Atlanta Middle School and two (2) Cass County 4-H teen ambassadors (Natalie Halford, Payton Gaston, Michaela Knight, Tamara Johnson, and Morgan Cooper) conducted three (3) events (virtual and face-to-face), reaching 176 contacts (including a global audience of 22 participants from the Jamaica 4-H Clubs).

Tamara Johnson and Morgan Cooper also attended the National 4-H Ag Science Summit and had the opportunity to present a Community Action Plan (CAP) to the Dolphin Tank (the 4-H version of Shark Tank). They were awarded a thousand dollars to implement a Cass County Community Outreach Garden. The overall program implementation, past, present, and future is geared toward reducing our Carbon Footprint.

This program was made possible by a statewide grant of Sixteen Thousand Dollars ($16,000) funded by BAYOR and the National 4-H Council. Our 4-H Program Leader Dr. Draw-Hood and 4-H Specialist Cynthia Pierfax of Prairie View A&M Cooperative Extension Program cofacilitated this AIE grant program. 4-H Agents Madelynne Cera (El Paso County) and John Ferguson (Cass County), and five other Land Grant Universities, namely (Langston University, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, North Carolina A&T, West Virginia State University, and Central State University) were all partners, in reaching over 1,000 participants.

Of course, this was only made possible by a state leadership team of three teen ambassadors and one Extension Agent (attending the National Ag Innovators Experience training) who then returned and trained twenty-two other teen ambassadors (to include five from Cass County). Those from Cass County are currently working on the CAP outreach project. All participants liked the program and wish that they could continue to be a part of future programs like this.