Kjer leads 4-H efforts to expand offerings

OTTUMWA — Ginny Kjer knows what people think of when they hear 4-H.

"A lot of people don't know the wide varieties of 4-H, because they think 'fair,'" Kjer said. "That's what gets the most exposure, which is great. But we also know that's not interesting to some students, and that's fine."

As a result, Kjer, who grew up in Ottumwa, has led efforts for 4-H to offer more inclusive and diverse programs. In her first year on the job working as the Southeast Region Program Assistant for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Kjer has accomplished plenty since starting her role.

Kjer was never in 4-H, but her bilingual background and social aspect from teaching in Paraguay have helped her create programs not only for younger students, such as a summer soccer camp for kids in grades 3-5, but also a pair of career-readiness programs, one for middle school students and the other four high school students.

One of those programs, Salir Adelante — which means "get ahead" in Spanish — is a bilingual program for middle school students that will be starting this fall. It's a statewide outreach program geared toward Hispanic families, in which families meet for six sessions that are 2 1/2 hours each, and offer ways to succeed academically and pursue educational opportunities beyond high school.

"The program is through the human sciences branch of ISU Extension. The curriculum is vetted and research-based. It's been in existence for a few years and been used in other communities," Kjer said. "Before I came, it was a program called Juntos. It was similar, but there were adjustments made to make it most applicable to people who live in Iowa."

The curriculum is in both English and Spanish, but is different from the 4-H Career Pathways Academy, which is geared toward students in grades 7-12. The program will be started its third year locally.

"I think the next iteration of it is going to look different than what we did last year. We're always trying to improve it," Kjer said. "But the whole idea is these specific, high-needs career fields, giving them job shadows, even if they're like kind of site visits, and then working with them on a resume, interview skills, things like that."

One of the more popular programs was a four-day summer soccer camp in June that used curriculum from the U.S. Soccer Foundation's "Soccer for Success," designed to use the sport's basics as a way to improve the physical and mental health of underserved areas, according to the soccer foundation's website.

"We had 30 sign up and we had about 26 that made it," Kjer said. "The Ottumwa Community School District was really generous, and told us we could use Schafer (Stadium) if we wanted. It was four days, four hours per day. I had students who said they met new people and new friends.

"That's really cool to see. It's not a competitive program. It really is meant to be accessible."

Also this fall, Oct. 18-20, will be the Iowa 4-H Connect retreat near Boone, where underserved youth in grades 7-10 continues exploration of educational career opportunities and resources.

Though Kjer was never in 4-H, she has gravitated to the opportunities its provides. She also hopes someday the expansion will continue to the other nationalities that exist in the area.

"I would say starting with Hispanic Latinos is dipping the toe in the water," she said. "We would absolutely love to truly reach all youth because that's what Iowa 4-H is. It provides opportunities and development for all youth, and it's just a matter of time in getting the right connections and having the capacity.

"I think I've been subconsciously interested in positive youth development. Even in high school I volunteered with younger kids," Kjer said. "This job could be done without me, and somebody else could do this job, but I'm just grateful to be a part of it."

Kjer said 4-H is always looking for volunteers. For more information on any of the program offerings, contact Kjer at [email protected], or call (641) 682-5491