Positive Youth Development

Extension Eau Claire County

July 2021 Report

An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and

programming, including Title VI, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

requirements.

Positive Youth Development “Thank you so much for running the 4H camp for Cloverbuds. Hudson had a blast and as soon as he

got in the car, my husband said he told him he wanted to sign up again for next year.” Thank you so much!

Cassie

Developing a series of project learning programs in partnership with the Eau Claire Area School District

where young people will work toward mastery and independence in baking, model rockets, and fiber arts.

These programs will also raise the visibility of the 4-H program in Eau Claire.

A Baking class for 5th-7th graders where young people practiced basic baking and kitchen skills. The goal

of this program is to promote the 4-H program as well as allow young people the opportunity to grow in

their confidence in the kitchen.

An Aerospace and Model Rocket Program for 5th-7th graders that allowed them the opportunity to

practice fine motor skills while building two model rockets. This program partnership with the Eau Claire

Area School District broadened the visibility of the 4-H program as well as allowed an opportunity for

young people to learn about, build, and launch model rockets.

An educational experience for youth and their families at Farm Technology Days that promoted

agricultural careers and the 4-H program to the over 6,000 attendees to the Youth and Career

Development Zone from across the state.

Planning for Blue Ribbon Kid's Day Tent activities, where young people can experience hands-on

project learning with the 4-H Educator, Agriculture Educator, Human Development and Relationships

Educator, and Master Gardener Volunteers. This effort is designed to promote the 4-H and Extension

programs to the Eau Claire County Fair attendees.

Horticulture

Master Gardener Volunteer Mentorship Program for new volunteers where established volunteers help

familiarize them with local volunteer service projects and help acclimate them as they begin their

volunteer service. This effort is designed to increase volunteer retention and their involvement with

community horticulture projects.

Planning and redeveloping an online course about Wisconsin horticulture for consumer audiences

(home gardeners) and those interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer. This effort is


July 2021 Report



requirements.

designed to increase learners’ decision-making and problem-solving

skills to improve the productivity and health of gardens and landscapes, while also expanding

access to new underserved audience members.

Agriculture Creating the Planning for Emergency Livestock

Transportation Response (PELTR) Canvas Course to

increase economic sustainability of a local area’s

emergency plan for roadside incidents involving livestock

trailers.

Presentation of Agriculture Institute educational displays for

the 2021 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days. The goal of this

effort was to increase producers' knowledge of Crops and Soils, Dairy and Livestock, Master Gardener, and

Farm Management program educational initiatives. Educational displays for the Dairy and Livestock

education stations at Farm Technology Days were designed to increase producers' knowledge in

mitigating heat stress, and to improve beef / dairy calf care, farm biosecurity, and meat animal yields.

Two educational events for youth exhibitors at the Eau Claire County Fair to increase knowledge of what

ingredients go into their animal’s ration.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Development/revisions of the bilingual Dairy Workers Training Skills modules for dairy employees where

they will learn principles of and how to do each task on the farm. This effort is designed to support them

in

doing their daily tasks more confidently and efficiently while maintaining employee safety and animal

welfare.

A newsletter for farmers, ag professionals, and local media where they're provided timely articles and

information on Extension resources.

Planning and redeveloping an online course about Wisconsin horticulture for consumer audiences (home

gardeners) and those interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer. This effort is designed to

increase learners’ decision-making and problem-solving skills to improve the productivity and health of

gardens and landscapes, while also expanding access to new underserved audience members.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Health & Well-Being Planning nutrition education lessons for a women's addiction treatment program to support participants

in food resource management including making healthy choices, meal planning, shopping, and food

preparation on a budget.

Planning a nutrition education series with families to inspire them to make healthy, affordable food

choices while meal planning, shopping, and cooking at home.

Implemented the Chippewa Valley Summer Activity Passport program with support of three local

coalitions encouraging families to get out and enjoy multiple local resources. This effort supports physical

activity, stress reduction, and increased fresh fruit and vegetables intake as action steps towards better

health in chronic disease prevention.

Summer nutrition education series in community gardens to teach youth nutrition, food safety, and have

the experience of tasting their harvest. This will encourage youth to try more vegetables and decrease the

risk of food-borne illness.

A 12-week virtual strength training series for older adults where participants improved strength, balance,

and flexibility. This effort was designed to help individuals stay healthy and socially connected during a

difficult time of isolation.

Working with multiple local and state agencies to inform FoodShare participants about the token

program at the local farmers market by mailing a flyer to all eligible households in the county. This flyer

will include a survey to help us understand the barriers that residents have in getting to market to utilize

this program.

Human Development & Relationships A consultation session with county social workers and professionals discussing a new parenting program,

ways to collaborate and access support, and ideas of embedding the program strategies and process into

the county system. The goal of this effort was to empower participants to facilitate the program

successfully and teach positive parenting skills to clients.

A series of peer-assisted supervision sessions for Triple P practitioners to support and offer feedback on

challenges with implementing interventions. This effort is designed to support coordination between local

Triple P practitioners and provide ongoing professional development.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Planning and development of parenting and early literacy programming (in English, Spanish, and HMoob)

in partnership with the library and local grocery stores. This effort is designed to create playful, literacy-

rich spaces for families and offer resources around positive parenting.

Planning and development of Positive & Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs) initiative to provide

education and resources for community members in collaboration with the child poverty coalition. The

goal of this effort is to prepare the coalition to support and lead efforts in reducing adverse childhood

experiences and promoting positive childhood experiences through capacity-building.

A program (incorporating Money Matters) for Department of Workforce Development

clients where they gained financial skills and earned a voucher they could redeem when

opening a savings account at a local credit union. The purpose of the effort is to improve

financial wellbeing and stability of participants.

Planning and development of grant applications for resources to create laundromat

libraries for families in collaboration with the library. This effort is designed to collaborate

around funding opportunities to provide books, crates, and parenting resources in

laundromats.

Planning and development of a new initiative for families in collaboration with the

Children's Museum of Eau Claire and the BRAIN team. This effort is designed to further the knowledge of

how early childhood experiences impact lifelong learning and health.

Catherine Emmanuelle

Area Extension

Director

Rachel Hart-Brinson

4-H Program

Educator

Margaret Murphy

Horticulture Outreach

Specialist

Lyssa Seefeldt

Agriculture

Educator

Yia Lor

Human Development & Relationships

Educator

Pamela Warren-Armstrong

FoodWIse Nutrition

Educator

Joy Weisner

FoodWIse Nutrition

Educator

Sandy Tarter

FoodWIse Nutrition

Coordinator


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Staff Highlights

Margaret Murphy | Horticulture Outreach Specialist

Margaret worked with Master Gardener Volunteers throughout her

service area to put together educational materials and display

containers for Farm Technology Days, July 20-22, 2021. The Ask a

Master Gardener table was a great success! We had an abundance of

visitors asking lots of questions, helping themselves to our educational

materials and enjoying the display containers. Volunteers put together

a display of common yard and garden weeds to teach weed

identification. This was a big hit! We also had containers that

demonstrated growing vegetables in pots, a very popular display of

succulents and a great demo of how to upcycle wine bottles to keep

your pots watered.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Lyssa Seefeldt | Agriculture

Educator Wow, July was a blur!! We had this little

event called Farm Technology Days (FTD)

that was hosted at Huntsinger Farms July

20-22. A lot of my time in July has been

devoted to getting prepared for that!

There was some great attendance over the

three days with over 52,000 folks

attending!

This event doesn’t happen without the help and support of many

volunteers, over 1,500 of them. I want to thank everyone that came

and helped at FTD, whether you were there as a general volunteer, or

in an educational capacity. The agriculture and horticulture area had

a strong showing of educators from neighboring counties (and a few

further away) to help make sure that folks walking through had a

good educational experience. Thanks are due to the following

county educators for lending their expertise: Carl Duley (Buffalo),

Jerry Clark (Chippewa), Katie Wantoch (Dunn), Kaitlyn Lance

(LaCrosse), Heather Schlesser (Marathon), Ryan Sterry (St. Croix),

Sandy Stuttgen (Taylor), Steve Okonek (Trempeleau / Jackson), Kevin

Schoessow (Washburn / Sawyer / Burnett), Matt Lippert (Wood /

Clark). A special thanks is also due to Jason and Heidi Benson of

Lymett Goat Farm, Albertville, for bringing in three goats for milking

demonstrations in the Extension Education Station area.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Top left: Educators sharing farm management trivia. Top right: Crops and soils

educators demonstrating a prototype hemp fiber processing machine. Bottom

left: dairy goat display. Bottom right: one of three livestock display signs.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Yia Lor | Human Development & Relationships

Most of July, I was off taking care of a family member. Despite being

away, the projects continued to move along.

July has been a busy month for grant writing. Some projects that my

community teams hope will get funded include literacy materials in

laundromats (and eventually grocery stores) and Triple P.

For about a year, I worked with a state team to develop a curriculum

called Supporting Youth Mental Health (previously called Youth in

Crisis) to offer training to Extension volunteers in Eau Claire County

and across our state. I’m excited to share that this has been finalized

and is in the review stages!

Much of the end of summer going even into winter will focus on Triple

P. Several requests have come in from local agencies to offer this

program to their families, and I’m excited that Extension continues to

be a trusted source for the community.

Rachel Hart-Brinson | 4-H Educator As you can see from above, July has been busy!

I held two programs in the schools--baking and model rockets with

5th-7th graders.

I also helped put the finishing touches on the Youth and Career

Development Zone programming at Farm Tech Days. We had a

hugely successful event, with an estimated 10,000 people passing into

our area of the show. We had people from as far away as Hawaii.

I am currently working at the Eau Claire County Fair. While it’s not

back to normal, it is feeling a little bit more so. It’s good to see the

Expo building with projects in the display cases and the animal shows

happening throughout the week. Extension is holding educational

programming two days of the fair, with hands-on projects on Tuesday

and Sunday.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Sandy Tarter | FoodWIse Nutrition Coordinator

Joy Weisner | FoodWIse Nutrition Educator

Pamela Warren-Armstrong | FoodWIse Nutrition

Educator

FoodWIse with Boys and Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa

Valley at the Kid’s Garden. The garden is located at the North River

Fronts Park. Pamela and Joy work with 2nd-5th graders introducing

them to vegetables fresh from the garden. Students harvest the

vegetables in the garden and then Pamela and Joy prepare the

vegetables for them to taste. The Summer Interns created games and

activities that helped the students learn all the different parts of the

plant. The garden is growing and producing lots of vegetables right

now! The students will have the opportunity to take produce home

from the garden.

Working in collaboration with Boys and Girls Club staff, Extension

Horticulture Outreach Specialist, Master Gardeners, and community

gardens to plan activities in alliance with Covid19 processes so that

youth can gain knowledge in how plants grow while learning about

nutrition and tasting their harvest.

Strongbodies classes continue virtually this summer. We are offering

an 8-week series that Sandy, Joy, and Pamela are taking turns to lead

the sessions. Beth Olson, FoodWIse Nutrition Specialist, spoke to our

group on the Mediterranean Diet in July. Barb Ingham, Food Safety

Specialist, will be one of our guest speakers on August 17 & 24 giving

us tips about freezing and preserving fruits and vegetables throughout

the summer.

Chippewa Valley Summer Activity Passport continues through August.

So far, 80 families have joined this initiative by sharing a photo of their

family enjoying a trail, pool, playground, and other activities in our

community and area.


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Kristi Peterson | Office Coordinator

July has been exciting! We were very busy with inquiries around Farm

Technology Days. This was a huge success and amazing to see this

large-scale event unfold. After years of waiting and planning it ended

up being a great week for many to share the music, food, and

education available.

The Eau Claire County Fair is happening this week. Another great event

for our community to share and for our youth to display their hard

work.

We continue to be busy with summer happenings, insect inquiries, soil

samples as well as canner testing. We also received the new plat book,

and many have stopped in to purchase a copy!

Andy Heren | Administrative Specialist II

The little bit of work I do with the Eau Claire County Fair is done for the

year. As that ends the 4-Hers will start focusing on completing their

record book and prepare for interviews. Then we will be preparing for

the 4-H awards banquet in the fall.

I will be helping Lyssa get registrations going for the Beef Quality

Assurance meeting in December.

Never a dull moment!

Catherine Emmanuelle | Area Extension Director -

Chippewa, Dunn, & Eau Claire Counties

I want to highlight the incredible work of our Extension educators, here

in Chippewa, Dunn, and Eau Claire Counties who have collectively put

in hundreds of hours to bring Extension educational programming to

the local county fairs and Farm Technology Days (FTD). In fact, at Farm

Technology Days, we had Extension educators come from throughout

the state, at no additional cost to our local counties, and offer

programming with the huge FTD turnout! Our educators had activities

for youth in both agriculture and 4-H positive youth development with

science activities, tactile learning projects, and getting a Culver’s

coupon for writing a thank you note to local farmers. We also had


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Extension Master Gardener Volunteers on-site answering questions and

doing hand-on demonstrations, including my favorite the pots of weeds

(notice the s’s there :)

On another note, we successfully wrapped up our search and screen

process for our Community Development Educator. I am thrilled that

Addison will be joining our team and I look forward to introducing him

to our local Extension Committees, County Leadership, and community

members. Lastly, we are saying thank you and goodbye to our interns,

Carly, Liz, and Levi. They partnered with Extension educators in

Chippewa, Dunn, and Eau Claire Counties, providing over 840 hours of

service, with no additional cost to the counties for their salaries. Carly,

Levi, and Liz helped tremendously in the areas of Horticulture, Food

and Nutrition with FoodWIse, and Positive Youth Development with

the 4-H Program.

Addison Vang |Community Development Educator

We are pleased to announce that on August 9, 2021, Addison Vang is

the new Community Development Educator, serving Chippewa, Dunn,

and Eau Claire Counties. His position has an emphasis in Community

Food Systems.

Addison is moving back to the Chippewa Valley from St. Paul, where he

has been working for the City of St. Paul Planning and Economic

Development Department since 2019. Before then he was a Planner

and Code Enforcement Officer in Dunn County. While in Dunn County,

he was a team member responsible for strategic rural broadband

expansion, county-wide broadband assessment report, and outreach

efforts, implementing, creating, and maintaining county broadband

website and resident broadband database. Before his career in Dunn

County, he spent time with the City of Janesville as a Transportation

Planning Intern, the City of Hopkins, Minnesota as an Economic

Development Intern, and with the Hmong American Farmers

Association (St. Paul) as an Alternative Farmers Markets Program


July 2021 Report



requirements.

Intern. In his roles, he has experience diversifying local food system

markets, community outreach efforts with historically neglected ethnic

communities, experience with conservation, agriculture, and rural

planning, reporting to elected and appointed officials, citizen groups,

and the public, interpretation of local, state, and federal regulations,

and as a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

environmental review subject matter expert.

Addison earned his bachelor’s in science in Engineering Technology

with a Minor in Supply Chain Management from UW-Stout. He earned

his Master of Public Policy with a Minor in Urban Regional Planning

from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of

Minnesota. He is bilingual in both English and HMoob. We are

fortunate to have found a candidate with the skill sets needed to be

successful in this position.

Addison will start his time in Extension by learning a lot about each

county (Chippewa, Dunn, & Eau Claire), meeting with traditional and

non-traditional stakeholders, and prioritizing the highest common

needs to focus his programming in. This will include Community Food

Systems, emerging issues (in this case, broadband), and helping

counties from time-to-time on special projects relevant to their county

and aligned with Extension Community Development education and

resources.

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Positive Youth Development

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