Local 4H program overcomes challenging times to help kids develop their interest in science and technology – Cache Valley Daily

From cachemakers.org

LOGAN — This year’s pandemic has greatly affected educational programs and opportunities. But Cache Makers has kept busy with their programs even amid no in-person group meetings and very limited hands-on experiences.  On KVNU’s For the People program on Monday, program coordinator Jenny Kearl said they’ve actually stepped it up this year.

“It was a great opportunity, I would call it pivoting. Because we do a lot of stuff with technology and so it was a great opportunity to be able to jump in and go in that direction”

For hundreds to thousands of Cache Valley kids and their parents, Cache Makers is a direct pipeline for a lot of the youth STEM and STEAM education.  This gives them exposure to science and technology in a way that is generally reserved for college courses.

“Exactly.  The fun thing about it is we’re able to reach out to kids…a lot of underprivileged in our community and be able to help them, and help them find their spark.  Help them get excited about what it is they really want to do, so that they have many opportunities to explore and say ’I think I really want to do this’ and they start doing some of the classes that we have at Cache Makers and they say ’you know what? That’s not really what I want to do’”.

Kearl said they have some ways to get everybody together in a safe way with smaller class sizes, which means that sometimes they offer the same class twice – perhaps earlier in the evening, then later in the evening.  She said they observe physical distancing and in between classes sanitize everything.

But Kearl said they also continue to offer online courses for those who cannot come in-person, perhaps because their family is at a higher risk if they get exposed to the virus.  You can find out more about the organization by emailing Kearl at coordinator@cachemakers-dot-org or visiting the website cachemakers-dot-org.