Commissioners receive County Extension update

HARTINGTON – The Cedar County Board of Commissioners received an information-filled annual update on Jan. 24 from local Nebraska Extension sta members.

Cedar County Extension Lead Educator Jackie Steen, Extension Educator Ben Beckman and Engagement Zone Coordinator Amy Topp presented to the board members during their meeting.

The packet of information they provided to the commissioners included a sum- mary of Cedar County Extension's 2021-22 budget expenditures, the 2022-23 fiscal year budget and a county impact report.

Steen noted she, Beckman and Megan Hanefeldt, Cedar County Extension's 4-H educator, work together annually to put together the Extension oce's county impact report.

“This is just a piece that you’re able to use if someone says, ‘What’s going in the Extension oce?' or 'What have they been doing?'" Steen said. "This is just a little snapshot.”

She noted the latest county impact report features early childhood, specifically a program called Math at Home that has participation from several families from Hartington, Randolph and Wynot.

"It's part of a research project," Steen said. "It was a text-based app that parents were able to use with their young children to help incorporate math strategies into their ordinary routines at home.”

The county impact report also included information about some of the main programs Cedar County Extension put on in 2022, including Beckman’s Forage Field Day and Communities for Kids that started about a year ago.

"4-H continues to grow in Cedar County," Steen said. "We were up 11 percent for registered 4-H members.”

Hanefeldt put on programs about STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – education for second-graders across Cedar County this past year.

“We have great participation with after-school and in-school programming,” Steen said.

She told the commissioners that every county Extension oce across the state has its own “Impact At-A-Glance” report.

“This is what we have as our highlights that you could share with other people, particularly for Cedar County," Steen said.

She noted the Extension oce sta members also create annual activity insight reports.

The packet of information presented to the commissioners included summary statements from Extension sta members that paint a picture of the programs they are providing.

Steen's Extension program area is early childhood, which she handles for not only Cedar County, but also for Antelope, Boone, Knox and Nance counties.

“A lot of times, I am teaching trainings to childcare providers so that they can continue to maintain their license certificates," Steen said.

She recalled that during the past year, she was able to present, co-present or host more than 59 early childhood programs.

“I was able to reach 1,420 professionals and they were able to earn over 26 hours of continuing education credit," Steen said.

She explained one way she reaches that many professionals is through the Child Development Associate national credential.

"I actually go to Wakefield monthly and I teach a cohort there so that they can earn their CDA," Steen said.

“A CDA is a step then to earning your associate degree in early childhood, which then would lead to your bachelor’s and wherever you’d want to go from there,” she said.

She noted she was a part of several research projects – such as Math at Home – this past year that focused on families and parents.

“There’s a Read for Resilience one that’s all about comparing family engagement with these storybook guides that we have," Steen said.

She explained why she is involved in several Extension research projects.

“I feel like it’s a great way to get that information up to northeast Nebraska,” Steen said. "There's a lot of benefits to having our families and our providers also participating in them.”