This is behind the clover, real four h talk with real four h pros. A look at four h from the perspectives of four h professionals from Illinois and beyond with your host, Henry Kraft, Amy Henshin, and me, Ryan Littlejohn.
Henry Craft: 00:37Alright. Y'all welcome back to behind the clover real talk with four h pros with Amy, Ryan, and Henry. Y'all heard from us in episode one, and if you missed that, please go back and check it out. We are your hosts for Behind the Clover, where we have real conversations with real people just like you, folks who work in four h. We're back today as we begin our journey through getting to know Illinois four h and learning about each of the various positions among our ranks.
Henry Craft: 01:05Our focus today is all about extension program coordinators, or as we like to call them, EPCs. And to highlight that position, we have the wonderful Megan Pearson joining us today. We'll do a full intro on Megan later, but we're gonna invite her to be a part of our spitball roundup with the gang. So, folks, as usual, what's going on in your life this week? Amy, you wanna go first?
Amy Henschen: 01:30I do. I'm moving, guys. I, like, moved from I've lived in rentals my whole life, and I moved into my own place this past weekend. But as you know, moving is not like a you're done. It's gonna be weeks of unpacking boxes and finding where things go and getting to know my new space.
Amy Henschen: 01:50I'm struggling to also try to focus on work while that's all going on in my life. So it's been, I'm I'm a little on the struggle bus with work stuff lately, but I have a lot of balls in the air. On that end, we have a lot of staff meetings coming up, and we're having some fun stuff to plan some upcoming staff events. So I'm I'm getting ready to do that, but it's hard to not be like, I wanna look at furniture for my new place on my So that's been a little hard for me. But that's what's going on with me.
Amy Henschen: 02:17Ryan, what about you?
Ryan Littlejohn: 02:18Well, I am just doing fair stuff. I mean, it's that time of the season to get fair books out. My fair board wants to know how many goats we're gonna have at the fair this year. I don't know why it matters in January, how many goats we have at the fair, but that's a big that's a big controversy right now. How many goats will we have?
Amy Henschen: 02:38Do you have a crystal ball? Are you, like, a fortune teller now? You can predict the future?
Ryan Littlejohn: 02:42Guess. I I told them, like, a 50. I don't I mean, we averaged one twenty two last year. So, I mean, that's a pretty good guess. But, yeah, it's all about big controversy.
Ryan Littlejohn: 02:53It's all about goats. You got some
Henry Craft: 02:55serious CSP going on. That's crazy.
Megan Pierson: 02:58Maybe they're thinking about building you a new goat barn.
Ryan Littlejohn: 03:01Well, we are we are talking about getting new pins. I don't know why the number of goats matters to how many pins we have. I don't know. I don't think they're gonna buy a 50 pins, one pin for each goat, but they might.
Megan Pierson: 03:13Think positive, Ryan.
Ryan Littlejohn: 03:14I was I'll try. I'll try.
Henry Craft: 03:16Okay. Things you don't have in regular conversation. I mean, how many goats you gotta have this year at the fair? I don't know.
Ryan Littlejohn: 03:24What about you, Henry?
Henry Craft: 03:25I wanna go I want Megan to go. Megan, what are you up to these days?
Megan Pierson: 03:29Well, I took some much needed time off at Christmas, which means that I feel like I'm very behind. So lots of, like, getting things ready for the rest of this month in February, getting lessons together for the classroom, planning workshops because definitely feel like I'm slacking on that. So I really just been playing the catch up game. And then I'm on, like, 50,000,000 committees that I commit myself to. So I also have this whole list of things that I'm supposed to be reporting on in teams and you know what?
Megan Pierson: 03:59It's not happening. So I probably need to catch up on that. You need more time off just
Ryan Littlejohn: 04:03to do that. That's what it
Amy Henschen: 04:04needs. But right now,
Megan Pierson: 04:04if I had time off, I would be spending it outside bundled up, breaking more ice off of the waters. So I think I'll take the office work this week.
Henry Craft: 04:13Okay. So what am I doing? Let's see. I got a new office chair, folks. I'm feeling really slick with this.
Henry Craft: 04:22It's the small things in life. I'll be really honest. Planning some food challenge, so that's exciting. Carissa would be super proud of me because I used AI to do some of the pairings. So would've been a huge chore if I hadn't done it with AI, and it gave me some great pairings, complimentary pantry items.
Henry Craft: 04:48It was cake. What would have taken two days? Took me two hours. I kid you not. I
Amy Henschen: 04:55That's crazy. And for anyone who doesn't know, Chris is our wonderful state marketing person. That's awesome.
Henry Craft: 05:02Yeah. So I am clearly a adherent to the AI cult, and I will probably submit my life to them. They they make things way too easy. So, anyway, well, thank you all so much. I, am excited for another, meeting here to talk about EPCs.
Henry Craft: 05:26And so as promised, we're gonna introduce the lovely Megan Pearson. For that intro, I just wanna share a little bit about what we we learned about her in our preparation for today's episode. So we are incredibly excited to have Megan Pearson with us today for Behind the Clover episode two, all about EPCs or extension program coordinators if you weren't into the alphabet soup quite yet. Megan is from Lewisville in Clay County. I got that one right, folks.
Henry Craft: 05:57I got another one wrong earlier. In Clay County where she is currently extension program coordinator. So we've got a TrueBlue four h member here, folks, just to hear about her background. Her four h thread goes way, way back. She was a four h member from the day she was eligible and was in for eleven years of eligibility.
Henry Craft: 06:18How cool is that? That is some dedication, but it didn't stop there. She continued to volunteer during college and even completed an internship with extension unit twenty one in 2019. She says she got her first, quote, big girl, unquote, job just out of college and started as an EPC in Wabash County in 2020, and then transferred back to her home county in November 22 where she currently serves as the Megan, thank you so much for being with us today. It's great to have you.
Megan Pierson: 06:51Thanks so much for inviting me to talk with you guys today.
Henry Craft: 06:54Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Megan Pierson: 06:56So I am the oldest child of three. I have two younger sisters. I grew up on a livestock and row crop farm. So it's pretty much all I've known my entire life is the livestock industry. We kinda were able to explore the farm and figure out where our place was.
Megan Pierson: 07:12It wasn't really anything that was forced upon us, and the livestock side was definitely my jam. I started four h, like I said, at the age of eight. I actually started as a clover bud. And for those of you who don't know four h very well, clover buds are the ages five to seven before September 1 of the the start of the four h year. So I started as a clover bud and then did four h for eleven years, and I chose to do cattle my first year.
Megan Pierson: 07:39Nobody in my family had ever shown cattle. And if you know much about livestock, it's probably the biggest task you could take on is showing cattle. And let's just say my first couple of years were very eventful. We definitely tied the cow behind the tractor, behind the four wheeler, the whole nines to figure out how to get this thing broke. We've learned a lot over the years and no such practices are used anymore on the Pearson farm, but we, have raised cattle ever since I started four h.
Megan Pierson: 08:07My dad actually had some cattle on the farm, prior to my start in four h. And so that's kinda what I started with is just crossbred cattle that we had on the farm. And we quickly realized he's he decided that I was gonna stick with this, and he could invest some money into it. So we started raising some purebred Hereford cattle, and I just kind of invested. We the auction money from the steers that I had sold the previous couple of years, invested that into my project, and we were able to kinda start our purebred Hereford operation from that.
Megan Pierson: 08:40And so that's kinda my start. After high school, I went to Lakeland College where I received my associate's degree and then transferred to Illinois State. Go red birds. And I received my bachelor's degree in animal industry management. Through my extension journey, I've been able to take some online classes and obtain my master's degree now in agriculture education, leadership, communications, the whole mouthful called Alec.
Megan Pierson: 09:09Outside of working on the farm, we I still raise purebred Herbert cattle with my family. I'm also a super crazy dog mom to both Tucker and Dexter, and that's kind of my life. Farm work and my dogs. So
Henry Craft: 09:24Nice. Very good. Wow. You've and you started when you were tiny.
Megan Pierson: 09:30Yes. Yeah. When we started, we would take one cow, one steer to sell at the auction, and that was it. That's all I could give, but that's all of the commitment we had.
Henry Craft: 09:39So how did you show this massive cow as a tiny human?
Megan Pierson: 09:44You know, I wish we could kinda, like, showcase some photos on here because these this is, one of those memory lanes. And I remember my first year I mean, I'm not a very tall person. I'm, like, fully grown five four. Like, I was a little bit of kid. They wouldn't let me in the show ring by myself with this cow, which it probably was a good idea.
Megan Pierson: 10:04But I there's pictures of my very first year of my dad and I showing this calf together in the show arena.
Henry Craft: 10:10What about now? Like, so you're a dog mom. That's awesome. How do you what are your hobbies? What do you do to decompress from all of your schoolwork, your dog momming, and work?
Megan Pierson: 10:23That's a good question because I feel like I have, like, this huge transition in my life right now. I commit a lot of time to my work way more than the thirty seven and a half hours we're supposed to.
Henry Craft: 10:34I can't help a raise, people. No. Give her a raise.
Amy Henschen: 10:37Staff. Whatever. That happens.
Megan Pierson: 10:40I know. What? I know. I can't help it. I just I love my job, and I commit too much time to it.
Megan Pierson: 10:45But in all seriousness, when I'm not at work, yeah, my dogs. And I spend pretty much every single minute that I'm not at work out of my parents, which is what we call the farm. And that's where all of my cattle that I own with the family is, and there's always work to be done on the farm. There's always something to do out there. So that's where a lot of my time is.
Megan Pierson: 11:08And, actually, it sounds crazy, but working outside of the cattle is actually a a big decompressor for me. You know? A lot of times, you can go do tasks by yourself, and it just gives you time to kinda think about things while you're out there working. So, outside of that, I do love to hang out with friends and go out and have a good time. It's always good to have extension friends, and that's always a good place to kind of vent and decompress about things that are happening in the workplace.
Henry Craft: 11:34Indeed. Community is good.
Megan Pierson: 11:36But, also, I've had some really great mentors over the years that I've been able to kind of dig deep into. I've got to observe what they're doing, and that has helped me a lot in my job.
Ryan Littlejohn: 11:46So I I have follow-up question. When you say you had, like, mentors, was that something that was assigned to you, or, like, did you just find someone that you connected with? Because I know it's not it's not easy starting out in this job because there's you don't know what to do. I mean, there's no really onboarding, which I know our state office is doing a great job of working on that. But there truly is no one week, two week training that you go and sit at.
Megan Pierson: 12:12Yeah. That's a really good question. So I guess part of what I it fails to mention in my intro is I started with extension in 2020, which means that we were fully remote from home. No going to the office. That was hard.
Megan Pierson: 12:26It left me, like, bored all the time. And I was like, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing with my life in this job. Like, nobody gives you any directions like you said. I started by, just connecting with some of the girls that worked within our unit. They were good about helping me get started, and that's kind of where I started with finding my own mentors.
Megan Pierson: 12:44But then from there, like, you really have to have a personality to wanna reach out and build friendships within the workplace and ask questions. Asking questions is a big deal. Like, you can't just assume that you know everything. I still to this day ask questions to my fellow people or I'm like, okay. I kind of have this idea, but I need you to help me kinda brainstorm how to make this work.
Megan Pierson: 13:07And so, yeah, you have to kinda reach out and find your own people.
Ryan Littlejohn: 13:10I totally get that because they're, there's some days I think I know what I'm talking about, and then I have to message Megan, and I'll be like, okay. Am I right on this, or am I completely wrong? Because it's hard. You don't do these things every single day. It's, like, fair.
Ryan Littlejohn: 13:23We only do that one time a year. I don't do that every single month like I do a workshop or programming. So it's hard to remember some of those things sometimes.
Amy Henschen: 13:32Impossible. Right? Like, it's we're none of us can know everything. Even if we've been here years and years and years and years, even though a lot of you guys haven't been here very long, but you seem like you're old souls and extension with your knowledge and your because you you you're outgoing and you got and you find people who have the answers, which is awesome. But if you're if you're you're an introvert like me, it could be a little bit of a struggle to identify those those, people who might be able to help you.
Amy Henschen: 13:56So I think I know it's a struggle. Sometimes I know Megan's done this, and maybe she said she's overcommitted. Sometimes you wanna, like, commit to some stuff that gets you out of your unit or out of your your county so that you can meet some fresh peeps and, like, identify, like, who might be able to help you and you might connect with so you can kind of get some, the inside scoop. Right?
Megan Pierson: 14:17Yeah. That brings up a good point too that, like, every unit really does have a different environment. So I think where I started was very good for me. Tara was the best county director, and I really I I told her this today that I moved units. I said, I wouldn't be the person I am today, and I wouldn't have this opportunity to move on if it wasn't for all the things that she instilled in me as I started my career in extension and the faith that she had in me as she hired me.
Megan Pierson: 14:42But, yeah, your the unit environments are very different.
Henry Craft: 14:45Shout out, Tara. Way to go. Awesome. Listen, Megan, it was it's awesome to get to know you a little better, and I hope that we will continue to get to know you quite a bit better for this next segment of our of our episode here where we talk about just the pressing issues in life that just need answers. Okay?
Henry Craft: 15:07I hope you're prepared because we have some very serious topics to consider today. Alright. So in review, folks, last week was, sweatpants versus work pants, or dress pants. Excuse me. And we had a little bit crumple versus fold action.
Henry Craft: 15:29But, also, what brought that conversation up was the toilet paper over or under. Okay. So that's where we've been. This is highlighting the journey. And now to continue said journey, first up, pineapple on pizza?
Henry Craft: 15:46Yay or nay? What is your stance on this controversial, and I will say it is controversial, pineapple as a pizza topping debate? Megan, as you are our guest, I would love to hear from you first. What is the verdict?
Megan Pierson: 16:04I love pineapple on my pizza. And if I'm gonna order my own personal pizza, you better believe it's gonna have pineapple on it. Actually, my real go to is, like, pineapple, pepperoni, and onion. That's my favorite pizza.
Amy Henschen: 16:18I love it. I am cheering from my desk. My hands are in the air because the pineapple is such a great contrast to so many other pizza flavorings. Onion I'm vegetarian, so I think it pairs best with meat, I will agree, from when I was a meatatarian. But, like, you got you got those contrasting flavors, the sweetness with the spiciness or the sourness and the and tartness, and it just, like, brings it all together.
Amy Henschen: 16:44If there's pizza and, again, if it's a personal pizza, it's deaf there's pineapple on that pizza. And if it's with someone else, I'll try to fight for it. I know sometimes it's a losing battle, and, also, it's just you. Let's put half the pizza. I can have pineapple, but love it.
Amy Henschen: 16:57I want it on every pizza I ever eat forever.
Megan Pierson: 17:01Yeah. My house is very
Ryan Littlejohn: 17:02He's like he's like the wicked witch when they when they pour water on her in the wizard of Oz. He's just, like, melting at the disgust. Wounded We wounded you.
Henry Craft: 17:14Okay. So personally and I'm gonna keep this super short. Fruit and meat have absolutely no business being any closer to each other than on the image of a food pyramid. Absolutely not. It will not happen.
Henry Craft: 17:28Not on my watch. Okay. I just did yuck your yum, but that's a whole lot of yuck for me. Right? Well, I'm just gonna pass them off, dude.
Henry Craft: 17:38So no charcuterie board? Yes. But you don't have to like, it's not an accidental. You don't pick up a grape, a piece of salami, and stick them in your mouth together. Yes.
Henry Craft: 17:49You do. That's the whole point.
Megan Pierson: 17:51I just
Amy Henschen: 17:51said that. It's delicious. Flavor
Megan Pierson: 17:53the grape and salami.
Ryan Littlejohn: 17:55The flavor profile.
Henry Craft: 17:57Well, I feel unresolved and, like, a extreme minority right now in my choice of pizza toppings. But I think for the sake of time, we'll move on to our very, very important follow-up question. And, Megan, you will answer this one first as well. Preferred superpower, ability to speak to squirrels, or the power of extreme ticklishness. And to clarify, this is tickling other people.
Megan Pierson: 18:27You know, I don't think either of these would be my all time superpower that I would just choose in the world. But if I have to choose between the two, I'm gonna choose the ability to speak to squirrels because I actually really hate tickling. So I'll take the ability to speak to squirrels.
Ryan Littlejohn: 18:43I agree. I hate being tickled, so I'm gonna go with the squirrel too. Definitely. Like, if if you've ever been on a college campus, you know that squirrels are more friendlier on college campuses, and they are willing to trust you. So I definitely think being able to sit down on the quad at U of I and talk to the squirrels.
Ryan Littlejohn: 19:03You know how much tea you would pick up? They see everything.
Amy Henschen: 19:07You could get so much dirt on your neighbors. It'd be great.
Ryan Littlejohn: 19:10That's true.
Amy Henschen: 19:11It'd be so good. And then the one that terrorizes my office mate every time she comes in outside our front door, I could talk to him and be like, why? Why do you do that to her? You scare her every day. I love it.
Amy Henschen: 19:21I'm all about talking to squirrels. I wanna visit all is it Olney? Is that the White Squirrel Town? Yep.
Ryan Littlejohn: 19:26I'm gonna go to White
Amy Henschen: 19:27Town and talk to all those lovely white squirrels and see what's going on with their lives. I love this. I wanna talk to squirrels. I'm in.
Henry Craft: 19:34Alright. Well, I'm sure prying minds really were excited to hear that. And, hopefully, dear listener, you have your own opinions on that. And, hopefully, you will have a way to share with us your opinion in the future on all these very serious topics. But back to on Megan here.
Henry Craft: 19:56It's kind of become a feature of our podcast where we want to hear what your absolute best four h story is. This can be funny, incriminating as some of our hosts might might have alluded to in the past, Silly, inspiring, or just downright dumb. It doesn't matter. The door is open for you to regale us and all interested parties on what your best four h story is. No pressure.
Henry Craft: 20:32This is a safe space. Incriminating is at your own risk.
Megan Pierson: 20:37You know, you never know what's gonna be thrown at you as an extension program coordinator. Fair time came around, fair week, and I get a text message that the person that's supposed to help me with my tractor driving contest can no longer come. And this girl don't know how to set up a tractor driving contest. I did have to call Ryan, and I'm like, please come save me because I don't know how to do this. I had to go find a ball to put on the tractor that was given to us to use, and I had to find a trailer because I don't know where the trailer in the past was ever.
Amy Henschen: 21:06As someone who's never seen a tractor driving kind, is it just, like, skill of navigating a tractor with the trailer through a course? Is that what the
Megan Pierson: 21:13The younger kids use a lawn mower, and they have to go through this maze with golf balls and try not to knock them off. And then the older kids do the tractor. Yeah. So I'm like, Ryan, you take the tractor? Yeah.
Megan Pierson: 21:26I'm gonna have to have another lesson before fair this year because I'm not be better prepared.
Amy Henschen: 21:32Your example, though, like, I think the things I will forever to my grave say about extension and especially for each staff, we get thrown into so many situations where, like, the plan goes awry because weather, a person can't come, whatever whatever you can think of, and we just figure we're we get real good at figuring something stuff out, oftentimes, last minute, oftentimes with, like, you know, whatever materials we can MacGyver y. We're very MacGyver y. So, like, if I'm on a desert island, I'm in emergency situation, I'm gonna start if I can pick my team, it's all gonna be four h peeps because we're gonna we get we're gonna make it work with whatever we end up with.
Henry Craft: 22:12Hashtag, it's gonna be fine. That's that's that's what I've heard every almost every week. I mean, if not every day since I started at extension, which is it'll be fine. And I feel like that summarizes very clearly our our MO is And you learn yeah.
Ryan Littlejohn: 22:31And you learn very fast in a backup plan and then have a backup plan to your backup plan. And it's weird because you don't like you're like, wow. Do I have to have a backup plan? Like, this is fair. Like, what could go wrong?
Ryan Littlejohn: 22:44Let's see. You can have a thunderstorm. The tornado sirens are going off. How many times the tornado sirens go off at the Cane County Fair last year?
Amy Henschen: 22:51Like At least twice.
Henry Craft: 22:53Yeah. Awesome. So extension program coordinators. And this is not this is all extension program coordinators, which is a tough one to summarize, Megan. So when I ask you to do this, I understand that it's hard for you to speak for each and every EPC in every county because y'all have very different expectations, different situations.
Henry Craft: 23:21But if you could summarize, ideally, what is the job of an EPC or an extension program coordinator?
Megan Pierson: 23:33That's a great question. Because when I got started, I'm gonna be honest, I had no idea what they really did other than four h. That's all I knew. But I always say that the job is what you make it, and I cannot stand to be sitting in an office all day long. And so I choose not to make my job look like that.
Megan Pierson: 23:51So, yes, the majority of your time is spent with four h, duties and fair. And when I say four h duties, like finding workshop opportunities, different ways for the kids to explore the different four H projects that the State of Illinois has to offer. Making sure that the kids are hitting deadlines, making sure they're getting re enrolled in our four H enrollment system, taking those random phone calls and emails that you get from families on on the regular. Those types of things are the normal four h things that I kinda do on a regular basis. And then on top of that, as you get closer for pretty much January to July, July is when my county fair is held.
Megan Pierson: 24:34So that kinda can be different depending on when your fair is. It's full on fair prep mode. And so a lot of these things you think are pretty silly. Why does it take that long to get things ready for the fair? But a lot of it has to do with all the prep work that goes into it.
Megan Pierson: 24:47So, like, right now, the beginning stages prior to fair, we're working on our handbook. The handbook is what displays the Illinois four h rules for general projects along with whatever your livestock and county rules are that you need the kids to follow for the year. It also includes you figuring out your fair schedule, communicating this this isn't just something that I create in my office. This has a lot of communication that goes into it with our livestock, committee. We're talking with the fair board.
Megan Pierson: 25:16So our county fair again, this can look different for a lot of counties as well, but our county fair happens at the same our four h fair happens at the exact same time as our county fair. We run the two fairs together and run separate shows throughout the week. Whereas, I know there are some counties in Illinois that their county fair is a separate week from their four h fair. But, again, it's all prepper prepping for that. You gotta figure out, like, what judges you're gonna need to book for the year.
Megan Pierson: 25:46You need to put out your, deadlines for, like, ownership papers. The state of Illinois requires us to do steer weigh ins. And so right now, we're prepping, like, what you have the last weekend in January to the last weekend in February. What weekend are we gonna plan this beef weigh in? I gotta get all the supplies for it, make sure that our facilities and everything is all lined up for that.
Megan Pierson: 26:10Making sure that the kids are following the rest of my ownership deadlines, which many of those fall in the May 1 category. We require instead of doing, like, sheep goat weigh ins, we require them to just tag and put in ownership forms. It saves us a little bit of work in our county, and it seems to have worked pretty effectively over the years. And so setting those die deadlines, making sure kids are completing those. Outside of the four h, element of my job, I do a lot of school programming.
Megan Pierson: 26:41This is done with communication with my educator, and our educate our unit that I'm currently in is four counties. And we are pretty big counties. We're we're spread out. There is no way that my educator for my unit can do educational programs in every single school in every county. And so we communicate with each other on what programs I'm gonna take into the school, what the plan for those look like.
Megan Pierson: 27:05And so we, kinda communicate, and I'm been taking programming into the schools. And so that's kind of filling the time of when I'm not being creative and working with our four h program.
Ryan Littlejohn: 27:17And, Megan, I have a follow-up question on that. I know you mentioned workshops, and it seems like a lot of counties do workshops. But what is kind of like your planning process for workshops? Because I know you like to be creative and come up with new things, but how do you know what your county wants?
Megan Pierson: 27:35That's a good question too. So last year, I was kinda just so let me back up just a little bit. So Clay County has never seen workshops before, very rarely. In my eleven years, I stay I was a Clay County Forager for eleven years. I cannot even recall going to one single workshop.
Megan Pierson: 27:53And if it wasn't for my, motive my self motivation to wanna be active, I wouldn't have been on all these state clubs that I chose to be a part of. One of those was, I forgot to mention in my intro, was I was one of the very first members to be a part of the Illinois, livestock ambassador team. And so, like, if it wasn't for my own motivation to be a part of those, it wouldn't have happened. So it's been a new lens for the county, I would say, to see these things happening. So last year, I kinda just tackled it with here are some fun of like, let me come up with some fun ideas and present them and kinda see what goes over.
Megan Pierson: 28:32There's usually some kind of project that stands out and has better numbers than others, and you have to kinda figure that out for your county. From there, I've also started a federation team, which has not I was never a federation member. So it was kinda before my time. Clay used to have one, but it's been a really long time. And so they have really taken on with that well.
Megan Pierson: 28:55I will say to get it started, I definitely have some awesome parents that forced their kids to do it. But after the after the second meeting and they got to see that I was letting them be creative in this space, it definitely allowed them to open up, and every single one of them rejoined. Like, they'll tell you it's their favorite thing. So I do look into them a lot about what do you guys want to see. Because if you guys wanna see it, it means that others in our county probably have the same interest.
Megan Pierson: 29:24I also put out a survey at the end of last fair, and within that, it kinda had some questions about, like, what kind of programming you would like. I will say, as I tackle this new year, my main focus and goal was to try to find workshops that the kids could take a project from the workshop and they can enroll it in the general project show. Because I realized that we don't have a ton of kids doing the general project show anymore.
Henry Craft: 29:51So just to clarify, when you say workshop, you're you're talking about a short program where they're creating a project of some kind. It's it's a like a one off program specifically geared towards yeah. Define workshop for us, if you don't mind.
Megan Pierson: 30:11Yeah. Workshop is just, like you said, a one time event of something that we do. A lot of times, it's either in the evenings or on a weekend.
Amy Henschen: 30:21So, Megan, this workshop sounds super fun. How do you, like, find do you start from scratch when you're finding the materials to teach, or do you, like, have a go to resource where you go to get ideas of what to teach at the workshop?
Megan Pierson: 30:35I don't. I really wish I had some source that I could share with everybody. A lot of it's just my own creativity that I use. A lot of times, I'll kinda just start with looking through the book of, like, what are some simple projects that we don't have a lot of enrollment in, but I know the kids are very capable of doing. And I know that some of them have an interest in this, and I've that's kind of where I've started now.
Megan Pierson: 30:58Our February workshop is going to be about leather, like stamping and tooling. Kids are super excited about that. We kind of had a pool with a local girl, and she's gonna come and teach it. She did as their CEO project, and they're gonna actually take something home with them that's leather stamping that they can either finish on their own or I'm not really sure what the end product is gonna look like, but at least give them a start to a project there. My March workshop that I have planned is gonna be floriculture.
Megan Pierson: 31:29So I've talked to the local, yeah, floral shop, and she's going to put something together. And so I'm assuming they're gonna put some kind of flower arrangement together, and she'll talk about all the ins and outs of what that takes. That's not my expertise. So, again, you have to kinda think about if it's not something you could tackle on your own, outsource to other people in your community that have the interest to do those most of the time. If you reach out to them, they're willing to help.
Henry Craft: 31:56I don't know if this is I I've come to realize that possibly some resources that are out there, maybe not everybody knows about, but, you know, like, that seems like a daunting task, Megan. It would take, like, a really special person. So props to you to have all of that knowledge in your brain and have the initiative to go out and find it. One thing that I have found myself utilizing and then kind of sharing and spreading the word, not necessarily as a, hey. Steal all these programs from other sources, but as, like, a a a jump start for your brain in the ideation process.
Henry Craft: 32:40Our counterparts and including the state office in Illinois have put together programs and projects ideas. So, like, Spark Sheets on the state office or the like, Utah has Utah State has their discover curriculum. I don't know if I I was having conversations about that maybe at annual conference and and just around. And some people just were like, oh, I didn't know. I have thought I had to write all this on my own.
Henry Craft: 33:11But there are other other programs like Texas A and M, their program, as well as Ohio State. I've gotten stuff from Oregon and Mississippi. But because we're also you know, we're silly, but we're also about learning and and trying to do your jobs just a little bit easier. Those could be places that, that other EPCs or even educators could go and, find a a starting place because AI can only do so much. Right?
Megan Pierson: 33:41I do use those resources that you've mentioned on and off. I know. Sometimes it's hard, and sometimes I go through these funks where I'm like, I have no idea. I have no creativity in me right now. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do.
Megan Pierson: 33:54The SparkSheet that you referred to on the Illinois website, I don't use those for workshops, but I have started using them in the classroom, and we call it Spark Your Imagination. I have some classrooms. That's primarily where our school programming happens. But some of the schools are like, I can allow you in once a month. That's all the time we got got.
Megan Pierson: 34:15And I'm like, got it. I will find something to to come in once a month with. And those work really well because it's not a set program that you have to finish with an evaluation necessarily at the end, but it still allows four h to be in the classroom so the kids are knowing about your program. My hope, because nobody's really programmed in the Clay County Schools before, is that I will eventually see an increase in our numbers enrollment from it. I can't say I've seen a huge difference yet, but this is the first year we've been in the classroom.
Megan Pierson: 34:45So I I'm trying to give myself some grace and say I need to watch it and continue educating in the classroom, And, hopefully, we'll eventually see some growth from it. But those are awesome resources I can take them, and they're a thirty minute lesson to pop into the classroom with.
Henry Craft: 35:00Well and you're totally right. Right? I mean, Spark Sheets are are really just that. They're just a a quick a quick lesson or a quick example. So, yeah, they're not not all of them fit all scenarios.
Henry Craft: 35:14They're not one size fit all fits all. But I just was like, man, I've oh, I bet people not that Megan doesn't know about them. I don't mean to say that. But, like, I bet there are people out there who are listening to this podcast on what it's like to be an EPC, and they might not have been given those resources. So that's the only reason to bring that up.
Henry Craft: 35:33Megan, thank you so much for sharing with us a little bit about how you experienced the EPC position. It's I mean, it's interesting because as I was trying to understand just the whole extension dynamic, just looking at the job description for an EPC is, like, what? Mind boggling, honestly, because it's, like, and if no one's seen it, it's it's like 5% of this and 5% of this and 10% of this. And you're the position in theory even is just a lot. And so I appreciate you kinda breaking it down into almost like a year timeline.
Henry Craft: 36:20Right? So, like, semester is really heavy into fair. And it sounds like fair preparation and programming in whatever facet that looks like really is that seems like if we distilled the EPC position down to its its very basic. And really, again, realizing that everybody has a different experience because we all have different supervisors and expectations and things like that. The EPC experience is varied.
Henry Craft: 36:52Right? But just to see it on paper is is daunting. So I applaud all of our EPCs because just waiting through what it is to do your position, And and I find that to be a theme within all of the positions, but just that in particular. I I I would see that as as as a challenge and and awesome for you guys to be able to find your way in that and and do a great job. Right?
Henry Craft: 37:23Because our EPC staff is amazing, and we appreciate you all. So yeah. Very much so.
Ryan Littlejohn: 37:30And something she didn't even mention was the volunteer management part of her role that we do as EPCs. Also, the club management spot, making sure that our four h clubs are providing the information to the kids, that our leaders are staying on top of it, and we're giving our leaders the best information to form these kids. Because it's not just us as EPCs in this role. Like, if if I didn't have volunteers, I think Megan, would feel the same way. If if we didn't have volunteers, we couldn't do this job because we can't create those relationships with kids that we want from the positive youth development.
Henry Craft: 38:10Awesome. Thank you all so much for for sharing all those pieces. Yes. Round of applause from Ryan there. And I just appreciate you guys so much, and thank you for for doing, the yeoman's work of of extension, honestly.
Henry Craft: 38:27I mean, working with all of these details and, with all the volunteers and and really just taking it by the horns. I love it. As we continue on in this somewhat serious vein and we kind of wind down in our episode, I wanna ask you a few more pointed questions. Next up, what is the legacy that you want to be remembered for as Megan, the four h professional? Like, what is it that you like, we're taking it super meta here and super epic, but, what is it?
Amy Henschen: 39:08And, obviously, Megan, we mean in, like, forty years when you retire from Illinois Extension because you're staying here forever, obviously. Right?
Megan Pierson: 39:17Right. Yeah. I mean, I we talk about this quite often, like, especially since I just finished my master's degree. They're like, what are you gonna do next? I don't know.
Megan Pierson: 39:27Like, I'm happy where I am. I'll probably stay here until something in extension comes open and it seems like the right fit for me. I just want others to be able to feel the same passion for the four h program as I did growing up and as I feel in my current work. I just wanna be able to share that passion of the four h program. I know how much looking back in the moment, absolutely not.
Megan Pierson: 39:50But looking back, I know how much the four h program has shaped me into the person I am today, how much it allowed me to succeed in all these different organizations throughout college, how it had allowed me to succeed in job interviews. Because believe it or not, I had job interviews before Illinois Extension where I got my first job. Actually, I had a couple. I mean, you have to explore your options when you first. But I think deep down, I knew that this one was the right fit for me.
Megan Pierson: 40:18I actually had a couple job options on the table that I could accept at the time that I accepted my job as an extension program coordinator. But deep down, you have to think about what makes you happy and what do you wanna do every single day of your life. Okay? I wanna come to I wanna come to work and be happy that I'm working. I don't wanna dread coming to the office every day.
Megan Pierson: 40:39And I like that each day in extension is different. You know, I might have had on my calendar today that we are gonna podcast this afternoon, but who knows what was gonna happen this morning. You know, you never know what's gonna walk in your office or what emails or messages you're gonna get that kind of shapes what your day is gonna look like. I like that aspect of the job. But when I think about the legacy that I wanna be remembered for yeah.
Megan Pierson: 41:01I just wanna be remembered for, like, having bubbly personality, being somebody that's open for others to talk to. You know, I encourage my four h kids. I want them to come to me when they have something they wanna say. I want them to be able to have a voice for themselves. And so I just wanna be known for that open door spreading the four h love.
Henry Craft: 41:23Awesome. Megan, wise words. I think we are we're really lucky to have you on for our second episode behind the Clover real talk with four h pros. Because I think you summarized it very well, which is the EPC position has a lot that goes into it, and there's a lot expected, but there's a lot of fun in it. There's a lot of gratification in what you do.
Henry Craft: 41:53And I think it's really cool to see your passion. Thank you so much for being with us today to share about the extension program coordinator position, honestly. I mean, it's really awesome to hear someone with so much perspective and experience from being in it. Before it was even a true four h in the clover bud age all the way up to I mean, you never broke that thread. And that's really awesome just to see your experience.
Henry Craft: 42:21And we value you coming and sharing with us. Because one thing that we really hope that this podcast can do is provide an element of that onboarding. Right? So people that have are coming in, they haven't seen four h before. I mean, because we have a lot of stuff that that have no four h background.
Henry Craft: 42:44And that's fine. They give they give a different perspective, and they bring really good things to the table. Right? Because like we've highlighted in this episode alone, sometimes you just need a fresh look, a fresh cut on it. And one thing that I found that has been somewhat of of a need is really showing people kind of, like, the context.
Henry Craft: 43:07And I really appreciate the fact that you bring that history to the table. And that's what really we really hope to personify with this podcast is really presenting a perspective so that people can come to the table and say, okay. Well, what is this? Let me try and put my puzzle together of what is four h. So thank you again.
Henry Craft: 43:31This has been all about the, extension program coordinator position. Megan, you've done a great job, and we appreciate your time.
Megan Pierson: 43:39I just wanna say thank you for inviting me to be a part of your podcast. I've had the best time. If you're listening to this and you're an EPC or have the idea that you might wanna apply to be an EPC in Illinois, I am an open book as you can tell, and I would love to chat or throw some ideas around. And I can't wait to see what other awesome topics you guys come up with, and I will be sure to tune in.
Henry Craft: 44:05Awesome. This has been Behind the Clover Real Talk with four h Pros, with your hosts, Amy, Ryan, and Henry, and featuring the wonderful Megan Pearson from Clay County. Thank you so much, y'all, and have a great rest of your day.