Join me as I sit down with Kayla Boerboom (West Virginia Univerity 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent) and Katie Buckley (Univerisity of Illinois 4-H Youth Development Educator) who were members of the National 4-H STEM Challenge Design Team as we discuss this year's National 4-H STEM Challenge: Power Protectors.

Developed by 4-H educators from Cornell University, University of Illinois, Utah State University, and West Virginia University, Power Protectors is a collection of three activities that teach kids how to address real-world issues and explore careers in energy. The STEM Challenge kit is perfect for youth ages 8-14.

During the episode, we will discuss how the challenge was designed, the target audience, training and support materials, and reasons why 4-H Educators and Volunteers should implement this challenge with youth across the United States.

To learn more about the Challenge please visit: https://4-h.org/programs/stem-challenge/

Welcome to season two of the 4-H Conversations and Coffee podcast!! Today I'm sitting down with Andrea Rice, the Marketing Strategy Specialist for the Penn State College of Agriculture, who works exclusively with the Penn State Extension 4-H Program. We discuss Starbucks Coffee visits during the pandemic, the importance of website design and functionality, lead generation concepts, and A/B testing (split testing) strategies in marketing. Each topic, except Starbucks, applies premier marketing concepts to the 4-H Youth Development world.

What marketing strategies are you using to gain new members, volunteers, and supporters for the 4-H program?

Grab your favorite beverage of choice, and let's have a conversation.

On today's episode, I am joined by Phil Hoy, the Risk and Volunteer Management Coordinator for Penn State University Extension. We discuss Phil's role within Extension, what risk management is and some of the components that the 4-H program needs to ensure are evaluated, the steps required to become a 4-H volunteer, and we also discuss Phil's hobby of woodworking.

Thanks again for listening. If you join us on Spotify, please consider participating in our poll question. If you have any comments, questions, or topics you would like to discuss in future episodes, please email us at pa4H@psu.edu.

For more information about Pennsylvania 4-H visit: https://extension.psu.edu/programs/4-H