Becky Settlage is an Associate Extension Agent in the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, currently working at the Komohana Research and Extension Center in Hilo.
Drawing from her work in the 4-H Junior Master Gardener Program during Covid, Becky published an outstanding Impact Statement, “Growing Great Kids in Times of Adversity.”
As Becky explains, this annual program has run since 2012, but Covid stay-at-home orders forced families and schools to come up with ways to engage their kids/students while at home. This project was meant to be educational, connected with school studies, and done from safety of the home.
In Becky’s words, “Because many youths were at home a greater portion of the day due to the pandemic, they were well-positioned to manage and take better care of their plants, which resulted in more contest entries at the conclusion of the program. In 2019, there were 22 entries for our contest. In 2020, we had 76 — an increase of 245%!”
Seven state records were broken by the outstanding plants. In addition, Becky found that 50% of participants were first-time gardeners, with “highly significant positive changes” in the participants’ knowledge and ability to grow “giant” vegetables and plants.
Moving forward, responses indicate that families and schools want to see the annual seminar, monthly ‘Talk Story’ sessions, and annual tour continue.
“100% of the 2020 participants stated they ALL had fun participating and would participate again in 2021,” she said.
Read Becky’s Impact Statement, “Growing Great Kids in Times of Adversity.”
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The 2021 CTAHR Dean’s Award for Excellence in Extension is based on an evaluation of Extension Impact Statements submitted by individuals or teams during 2020. Read more.