Doyle and Warner to help with 4-H program this summer

WORLAND – There are two extra helpers at the University of Wyoming Extension Office this summer. AmeriCorps volunteer Landen Doyle and intern Dani Warner will be helping with 4-H activities, with the intent to broaden community outreach and offer mentorship to younger 4-H members.

University Extension 4-H Educator Amber Armajo noted that the summer internship has been around for 10 years, but this is the first time 4-H has had an AmeriCorps volunteer.

"Landen has really been helping us with marketing and our social media presence," Armajo said. "We are hoping to do some community outreach, so at Culturefest we will have our annual petting zoo, but we want to make it more educational and hands-on so that people can see more than animals. He is going to do some project-of-the-hour activities that aren't as animal-related like cake decorating and making butter, just a few fun hands-on things."

The plan is for Doyle to continue these types of community impact projects, such as offering a kids corner and guided tours at the County Fair. "It is just another set of hands to help us do our job better and get the 4-H program out to the community and to our kids," Armajo said. "We need to show people what else goes into 4-H besides animals. People go to fair and they think 'well I have to have an animal to be a part of this,' and you don't."

Doyle is a medical student at the American University of Antigua with the hopes of becoming a pediatrician. Before taking the AmeriCorps position, he was an 11-year 4-H member and three-year intern with the Extension Office. "4-H has put a lot into me and my education, so being able to turn around and give a little bit of that back is nice. I am a lifelong Worland resident, so being able to come back and help even in some small way is rewarding for me," Doyle said.

Armajo explained that Dani Warner's internship is a mentoring program for students to learn what 4-H is all about. Warner will be helping with 4-H camp, Showcase Showdown, County and State Fair, and has been coaching the Livestock Judging Team.

"I have been in 4-H for 11 years and I wasn't quite ready to give it up. This is my way of still staying involved," said Warner.

Warner is attending Casper College on a pre-vet track and is a member of the Livestock Judging Team. She credited her parents for getting her involved in 4-H young, starting out with fabrics, fashion and cooking, then showing cattle for 10 years and pigs for 11.

"I enjoy just helping the younger kids, getting them more involved and giving them some basic knowledge behind their projects," Warner said.

"Landen and Dani are great help, I ask for their thoughts all of the time," Armajo said. "I've known both of them for a very long time and worked with both of them at different capacities, so we are super excited to have them. Hopefully it will be a good summer, and we'll get some more kids involved in 4-H."