This is Behind the Clover: Real 4-H Talk with Real 4-H Pros. A look at 4-H from the perspectives of 4-H professionals from Illinois and beyond with your hosts, Henry Craft, Amy Henschen, and Ryan Littlejohn.
Ryan Littlejohn: 00:31Welcome back to Behind the Clover. We are continuing our conversation today with Latosha Reggans. Let's find out something new. So, Latosha, we wanna remind everyone that you're from Cook County, the most populated and urban part of the state. So we wanna know how do you think your job as an educator looks compared to educators in other parts of the states?
Ryan Littlejohn: 00:52I know you said a little bit that people don't know about 4-H . I know like down here in Wayne County, people know of 4-H. I don't think there's not a person in Wayne County that doesn't know of 4-H. But you guys obviously have a much bigger population to serve so what do you do? What does that look like?
Latosha Reggans: 01:10So good question. Yes. So we have a population of over over 5,000,000. So and we have well, we did have three educators. Now we're down to two.
Latosha Reggans: 01:20And then we have we did three coordinators. Now we're down to two. We have challenges of, like, how do you meet the needs of all these people within the community, meet parity with such a small group of people? We try to do things like our summer camp, where we can invite youth in a larger capacity, I think, to be able to participate in four h. Our coordinator, Eli, who just recently left, he started a program called home based four h where it opened up for youth to be able to come in and just get a taste of four H.
Latosha Reggans: 01:58Right? So you don't know what four H is. Hey, we're here on Saturdays. You can come and participate and learn about four H, do activities, engage, and hopefully, either be a part of a club or just be a part of the family just in general. And then one of our biggest challenges is the school system for me, especially for, like, Chicago.
Latosha Reggans: 02:18Right? You have Chicago Public School System, which is a big monster in itself, and that it's not like a traditional school where you go in. Right? You meet with maybe the school district, and they're like, hey. We want you to be a part of this thing.
Latosha Reggans: 02:32Let's come in, and we'll give you access to these schools in our neighborhoods. No. You have to have a relationship with each individual school, each individual principal in order to go into that school. There's paperwork that has to be done, and it has to be done with each individual school to be able to go in there and do programming. So you have to have a relationship with those schools.
Latosha Reggans: 02:56I feel like the system is a little bit different because, again, they don't have the history and the knowledge of what four h is and how it can really benefit the youth. So we are constantly trying to convince folks, schools, community organizations, hey, this is here. This is a program, for the most part, free, that, you know, is available to your community, and we could come in and work with your youth. Some of them say, hey. Come in.
Latosha Reggans: 03:25Do this one program. Not necessarily always interested in the club, but maybe interested in doing, like, a workshop or program. But it's it's it's pretty hard to just kinda break that barrier to get into some organizations such as, like, the Chicago Public School System.
Ryan Littlejohn: 03:41Do you have a problem trying to get kids involved because there's so many things going on? Like, here in Wayne County, I struggle with kids being able to come to meetings because they're in sports. They're in after school activities. They've got all these other things, travel ball. So four h kinda becomes a back burner type of deal.
Ryan Littlejohn: 04:02Or do you, like, do you see that? Or do you have kids that are like, I'm solely dedicated to four h. This is my thing. Like, what's kind of that dynamic up there?
Latosha Reggans: 04:11I don't think that it's really the barrier of being able to come to the programs. I think, is just being able to create the space. Right? So we don't have the number of volunteers that typical counties have. We have a hard time getting those volunteers in to even run those clubs to be able to give the youth access.
Latosha Reggans: 04:33We constantly get requests from people, get those emails from the state like, hey. This person is interested. This person is interested. But then we get them, and then it's like, hey. We can connect you to a club.
Latosha Reggans: 04:45Maybe that's not in the area because we might only have I believe we have maybe 16 clubs within the whole Cook County. It's some it's very small. So we just don't have the volunteer capacity to be able to meet the needs of the youth who do wanna participate in the clubs. I don't think it's at all the barrier of being able to come to participate. It's getting those volunteers to actually run those clubs.
Latosha Reggans: 05:12And we do, as an educator, as I go out and introduce myself to different organizations, they will say, hey. Yeah. Absolutely. Come in and do this workshop, do this series, this program, but the relationship kinda ends there. Unless they want us to kinda come back and do another one, there's just no consistent buy in to, like, hey.
Latosha Reggans: 05:32We want this club. We want four h here, and we you know, like, of the other areas.
Amy Henschen: 05:39Tasha, my brain has broken, because as you're talking, I'm Googling. How many public schools are just in CPS, Chicago Public Schools? Six thirty four is what the internet says. Six thirty four. Brain is like, oh my god.
Amy Henschen: 05:53Like, that's just comical when you think of the number of four H
Latosha Reggans: 05:57seven. Yes. Yes. And then
Amy Henschen: 05:59that's not even counting this, like, suburban Cook County. Like, that's just counting the city. Yeah. So, yeah, you you really make I mean, like, there have to be some volunteer miracles to really serve as many kids as we would love to in your county. But that's a daunting number of places.
Amy Henschen: 06:17So that's great that you're just I think it's funny that you're like, yeah. I could be busy all the time, but, like, you have to have a balance. You can only be so many places at once. You need we need more boots on the ground. Right?
Latosha Reggans: 06:29Yes. Yes. I agree. So even if we did have, you know, CPS as, you know, person like, hey. Come and do this.
Latosha Reggans: 06:36Like, they don't have the capacity to really be there all the time.
Henry Craft: 06:40It's so interesting because if you just to hear about somebody else's concerns or obstacles because think about, like I think about my counties. Like, I have two school districts in one of my counties and three more in my neighbor county, let alone six six hundred and some schools to deal with. So it's like you look at urban areas and you think, oh, man. They got access to all these youth that they could really rack up the impact and stuff. But it's like, yeah.
Henry Craft: 07:15Well, actually, you know, the reality is Mhmm. There's just different types of obstacles. And maybe we have different benefits down here as opposed to, you know, having access to a lot of people. But, yeah, it's it's just it's a good perspective to glean, and that's, again, why I love this podcast because so often, no one would have thought about those challenges. They would have said, yeah.
Henry Craft: 07:41Tasha's got it awesome up there. Chicago's got all those people. And the reality is, like, there are there are other different types of challenges. And so thank you so much for sharing and being authentic with with what you got going on up there because I think it's it's good to think about how we can support our colleagues.
Ryan Littlejohn: 07:59Henry, I'm gonna jump in on that because for me, this was like, she has the same problems I have. Like, it relates back. Like, this is across the state that we're talking about here, like, two opposite ends, and she struggles with things not having enough volunteers, not having enough clubs to reach. I have that problem here in Wayne County. And, hopefully, one of these days, we're all gonna get our brains together and fix that problem.
Ryan Littlejohn: 08:26I hope that's our goal. Maybe it'll happen here on this podcast. But, yeah, it's crazy to think about.
Henry Craft: 08:32Yeah. I appreciate you saying that because that's also, like, not only is it different, but it's also painfully the same sometimes.
Latosha Reggans: 08:42And I will add to another thing is, like, the volunteers. Right? If we do get some volunteers, then you have this system of, like, the background checks. So sometimes we lose volunteers within that whole process. And so we've been kinda trying to think through here in Cook County of, like, what what can we do to engage these volunteers through that time where they're waiting for background checks?
Latosha Reggans: 09:11Right? So that they don't necessarily, like, lose their momentum because we need to keep them and hold on to them, like, really tight if we can. And so we've kind of been trying to think through that because we do have volunteers who sign up. By the time the background check comes up, the momentum is gone. They're like you're like, hey.
Latosha Reggans: 09:29Came back. Let's get started. And they're like, it's crickets. You know? And so just trying to think through that too as well to keep those volunteers engaged and excited about what they can do and how they can help until their background check comes back.
Henry Craft: 09:47That part, real talk. When you figure it out, let us all know. Do a session. Do one in nationals. I think the nation might might appreciate those answers.
Henry Craft: 09:57Absolutely. Yeah. So alright. Let's let's transition here into another question. So you've been around to an extension in four h for a while at this point.
Henry Craft: 10:09What are some programs either in your Hort Master Gardener experience or as a four h youth development educator that you found the most either impactful or personally rewarding?
Latosha Reggans: 10:23Well, I can touch on both of those really quickly just with Hort as a coordinator. Just our really good program. Well, not necessarily a program. It was our insect petting zoo I mentioned to you guys earlier that we kind of took around and went to school. Very popular.
Latosha Reggans: 10:39We had best beetles. We had the blue death feigning beetle. We had the rosy haired tarantula, Madagascar hissing cockroach. We had a giant African millipede that one day, I should tell you guys, was wandering the halls of our office. Our coworker came in on a Saturday to drop off things, drop off some materials from her program.
Latosha Reggans: 11:00And she's like, the millipede was walking down the hallway, so the terrarium thing must have been lifted a little bit. And it was the giant African millipede, super thick and probably about a foot long, maybe a little bit shorter. But it was fun. And then we have the smaller American millipede. So the kids, like, love these things, and they were a great, like, segue into, like, beneficial bugs in the environment and how they're okay, you know, and how we shouldn't necessarily always kill the bugs or be afraid of the bugs.
Latosha Reggans: 11:34So they were a great segue into talking to kids about that and about extension as we took them to, like, different events, schools, tabling events, or we created a workshop or a program around those bugs. So that was, like, I think, ironically, the one of my funner, like, programs as a coordinator. Even though, like I said, when I first came on, I was like, what is this? And I did not sign up for
Henry Craft: 12:03this thing.
Latosha Reggans: 12:05But it turned out to be very fun. Like, we even used to go to the Chicago Flower and Garden show, and Ron Wolfer, who was the educator at the time, he they built, like, this long little wooden racer. So they would, like, race the cockroaches. People were, like, having fun with that there. So that was pretty cool.
Latosha Reggans: 12:24But as a four h educator, the BEST program, like I hinted to earlier, I think it's the summer camp. I mean, to see those evaluations and to hear those youth, like, when we ask them about, like, how they feel about the the summer camp and things like that. Like, well, this year, one one of the girls, like, this is the best camp ever. And it feels good to know that we're talking about sixth to eighth graders. We're talking about kids who don't have to come to this camp because they are old enough to babysit themselves.
Latosha Reggans: 12:56Like, they don't need a babysitter. Right? Kids who are smaller are kinda like parents are like, you're signing I'm signing you up for this. Like, I need something for you to do in the summer, and you're getting signed up for this. With our four h camp, sixth to eighth graders was a hard group.
Latosha Reggans: 13:11And it kinda scared me a little bit, like, doing that because I'm like, these kids don't have to sign up for this. Like, you know, it's gonna be a choice, and they have the autonomy to make that decision when mom or dad is signing them up. And so we opened that camp to 30 youth last year. We took on 40 youth this year because we opened it up to fifth graders, and it focuses on, like, health and wellness. So we'll have different workshops that focus on, like, building relationships.
Latosha Reggans: 13:42Our SNAP Ed team came in and did junior chef cooking workshop with the youth. We have our community health educator come in and do yoga with the youth. Like I mentioned, we did the Real Colors program, me and my colleague, who's also a community health educator. Our horticulture educators came in and did some gardening workshops with youth. So we invite our colleagues to come in and do programs and workshops with the youth, and it's really fun and engaging, and it's nice to just see that transition.
Latosha Reggans: 14:14Evaluation showing like, hey. Putting the device down, like, my social skills are a little bit better now. Like, I enjoy myself. My mental thoughts are a little bit better. I think there was a young boy last year who was kinda struggling mentally with some things in his evaluation, like, just coping better with those thoughts and those feelings because they're building, like, those friendships.
Latosha Reggans: 14:40And I think that's really one of the core things. Like, as youth get older, we kind of stop building, like, these spaces for them because they have those choices. And so this is a purposeful space for them to be together, to build relationships, to learn new skills, to deal with these things that happened, especially since COVID. And so to hear those youth talk about and seeing those evaluations, how they have been impacted for this camp and how they're excited about it and how they're bringing friends in is very rewarding, and it just makes me want to continue continue the work for that program.
Amy Henschen: 15:23This is amazing. And like, you're totally spot on about that age group. Like, it's like, that's a tough group of kids to reach and make a difference with because they wanna be disaffected. Wanna be, I don't care. I don't care at those age.
Amy Henschen: 15:37So that's amazing. I'm the other thing that's so impressive to me about this camp is you're partnering within extension. Like, do you think is that just, like, something in Cook County you guys do a lot, or do you think that came from having worked in another part of Extension in Cook? Or, like, how did that come to be that you were able to tap all your colleagues to to make this successful program?
Latosha Reggans: 15:57I have relationships within extension, like friendships kinda, so
Henry Craft: 16:03to
Latosha Reggans: 16:03speak, amongst my colleagues that I felt comfortable enough to be like, hey. I know you do this thing. Can you come and provide this workshop? I talked to my county director and let her know, like, hey. This is gonna be something that I'm gonna send out, and I'm gonna open, and I'm gonna invite to all of my colleagues.
Latosha Reggans: 16:25Right? So it's a choice whether they wanna do it or not, but I think the relationships that I had with them also was like, okay. Because, you know, like, hey. I'm okay with working with Tasha. So maybe that helped a little bit.
Latosha Reggans: 16:38But I did, like I mentioned, send an email out and invite each team to be a part of this. But I also knew in the back of my head what each person's specialty kinda was. Coming from HORT, I knew what that team kinda did in the youth activities that they had available to them. So just picking on them to say, hey. Would you mind providing this workshop?
Latosha Reggans: 17:00And they're like, hey. I'm available. Sign me up. Giving them enough notice. So I think the relationship that I have with my colleagues and then opening it up.
Latosha Reggans: 17:10Now all of them, like, have local small farms, really doesn't have a specialty with probably, like, youth. So, yeah, I think it will work with each county as long as the colleagues are willing and open to being able to, you know, help.
Henry Craft: 17:24I think that is an interesting point because so often, we're so focused on finding partners externally that we forget about our internal partners. And so, obviously, it depends on the unit, depends on the county director on what vibe they're trying to bring to their unit. But I know, like, in our our unit at interdepartmental partnerships has been or and programming is has been an intentional effort. And so, like, for all of our listeners out there, don't forget about your internal partners because there's a lot of folks that you could tap into that have expertise. And our our small farms educator, actually, him and, my hort educator came, and we did a BioBlitz program.
Henry Craft: 18:12And I'm sure you guys have heard of BioBlitz, and we brought them in to teach on the natural divisions within, Illinois. And he did a fantastic job connecting with our kiddos. Normally, works with farmers, but he really did great work with our kids. And the Hort educators are are almost all the time working with some sort of youth population at some level or their master gardeners are. So, yeah, there's a lot of opportunity internally too, so don't forget.
Latosha Reggans: 18:45Absolutely. All of our workshops were I think we had one person come on the outside. She did we did a girls workshop where she came in and she did some work with the youth. But other than that, like our other four h educator, she did some STEM work with the youth. And then Parker, who is our other educator who just got promoted to director, he did some of the welcome to the real world lessons with the youth.
Latosha Reggans: 19:12So it was all hands on deck with our team and then with our colleagues. So if you can get, like you mentioned, Henry, some colleagues to come in, You don't necessarily have to pay other peoples or provide honorariums to those other peoples to come in to provide those workshops with enough notice if you can invite your colleagues. I definitely encourage that.
Amy Henschen: 19:35That's such a great reminder, and I know especially in big unit in smaller units, you're there's not that many staff, so you're gonna run into these people and get to know them. But in bigger units, you can silo yourself into your little department, So make sure you break down those barriers between you and the other folks in your office. And it can just take one person extending that olive branch to really change the tone. I think we weren't a very collaborative office in Unit 5 when I was an educator here, and that was partly my fault because I didn't know we could be. And one person from one side reached out to another person, and now there's so much collaboration happening, and it's so awesome to see.
Amy Henschen: 20:10And I just think that's super great. So we have one more question for you. So in the spirit of transitions, if you were to see another person who's thinking about making that transition from non four H but working for Extension to four H, what kind of advice would you give them to make that transition successful?
Latosha Reggans: 20:29I would say find someone who of who you feel like coming into four H was new to me, but I still saw people at conferences that were encouraging, who I thought were inspiring. To be able to pick one and be like,
Amy Henschen: 20:48hey, Like,
Latosha Reggans: 20:49how did you maneuver this space, and how did you become successful in this space? One person I reached out to, and she's not here anymore, her name is Jamila. I think it was Jamila. I talked to Jamila, and I was asking her about, hey. Like, how did you build the relationships in the community when you became a four H educator?
Latosha Reggans: 21:09And she's like, just get out there. Like, go to different organizations, youth organizations, and see what they're doing, and introduce yourself, see where the gaps are. And so that's kinda where I started. And even with the community center where we're having the summer camp, that's kind of one of the organizations that I went to to see what they have available. And that ended up being a relationship where they allow us to have our summer camp, and we typically have, like, multiple classroom space that they allow us to have at a very affordable cost.
Latosha Reggans: 21:43And so just going out and being able to do that helped me build that relationship and have a partnership with this organization. So I would just say, yeah, go out and reach out to a couple of your colleagues to see what they're doing and how they're maneuvering being a four h educator. I will also say don't be scared to focus on just one or two things. Like, you guys' programs is like a candy bowl. Like, you just wanna be like, I wanna do this.
Latosha Reggans: 22:13I wanna do this. I wanna do that. Oh, that's fun too. I could do that. And so just take your time and focus on one or two things to perfect, you know, your facilitation skills and be an educator and kinda find your way because you'll figure out, like, hey.
Latosha Reggans: 22:31I'm kinda good at this, or maybe I need to pull back on this other thing. Or, you know, you might even go into spaces with colleagues to see how they run their programs to learn the dos and don'ts. Right? I've learned things to say, hey. Oh, I I need to try this within the program.
Latosha Reggans: 22:47And I've seen some things I'm like, I won't do that. I'll make sure I won't do that. So you can always learn from your colleagues, so definitely pull on some people. The last thing I would definitely say, and I learned this with participating in the what was it called? It was the foundations of positive youth development early career four h professionals academy.
Latosha Reggans: 23:11I had to write that down. So I participated in that, and then after that, they hit these learning circles that followed up from the sessions. And we kinda talked about how uncomfortable it is having time well, not having something on your schedule. Like, you feel wrong like, it feels wrong. So allowing yourself scheduled space and time to think and process and come up with new ideas.
Latosha Reggans: 23:42Not giving myself that space means that when I'm at home and I'm like with the kids or I'm laying down watching that movie, right, when I'm supposed be doing that, I'm like, oh, this would be a great idea. Like, oh, I should do this with the kids or this. And so I think just giving yourself that whether it's, like, thirty or forty five minutes to just really think about programs and come up with, like, just some ideas to better your programs or think about some things that you might want to do. Like, give yourself that time. It's okay.
Latosha Reggans: 24:15Like, it's not bad that you took thirty or forty five minutes to sit there and think and jot down some notes and ideas. I feel like we get so bogged down with, like, trying to fill that calendar throughout the day that doing that feels wrong, and it's not.
Amy Henschen: 24:31Those are, like mean, not just people coming from extension to four h. Every person coming here, oh my gosh. Great advice. I'm going to make everyone listen to this. That's me.
Amy Henschen: 24:43Like, this one. Real good stuff. This has been a delight. We're so happy you joined us. Thank you so much for sharing and giving us your new unique perspective from Cook County and from multiple hats and jobs in extension.
Amy Henschen: 24:57It's been super illuminating and so fun to talk to you. Join us next time for more Conversations with Real four H Pros.