Youth & Family News

Monday, June 20, 2022, 9 a.m.  

Happy West Virginia Day! Join us for the very first episode of season three of West Virginia University Extension’s Energy Express on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.  

Monday, July 26, 2021, 9 a.m. 

Join us for our last week of season two of Energy Express on WVPB!

Monday, July 19, 2021, 9 a.m.

We are starting the week off with a story about art and community told by Jennifer Ours Williams, associate dean for programs and partnerships for WVU Extension. She will read us the book “Hey Wall.” 

We are starting the week off with Ellen Rossi, president of the EQT Foundation. She will read us the book “How to Feed Your Parents.”

Next, WVU Extension Service Family and Community Development Agent Ami Cook teaches us about kitchen safety. She will take us on a tour of her kitchen to learn what objects could be dangerous or potentially cause us harm.

Let’s kick off week 3 by learning about friends! Cindy Fitch, retired associate dean of research for WVU Extension, will begin the episode by reading us “Bear, Squirrel and Friends.” You don’t want to miss the surprise ending of this book!

Grab your pencils and paper! We’ll join 4-H Youth Development Agent J.R. Davis to learn about the 4-H pen pal program. He’ll teach us about letter writing etiquette and explain how we can become involved in the pen pal program. 

Monday, June 28, 2021, 9 a.m.

Join us for our Monday episode of Energy Express as we kickoff with a reading of “The Sloth That Slowed Us Down” with Chris Matlick, administrative director at the Mylan Charitable Foundation.

Join us for an egg-citing episode of Energy Express! Mark Swiger, director of WVU Extension Service’s Energy Express program, will kick off the episode by reading us “The Good Egg.”

Next, we will “peep” over to Tasha Harris, agriculture and natural resources agent in Upshur County, and Jesica Streets, agriculture and natural resources agent in Tucker County, to learn all about eggs.

Monday, August 3, 2020, 9:30 a.m.

Make it fly! Join Jennifer Robertson-Honecker, WVU Extension Service STEM Specialist, and her son, Ben, to learn how to make your own helicopter that you can fly at your home. ( For this activity, you will creative items from around your house to build your simple machine.) Want to enter the competition? Visit extension.wvu.edu/stemcare to learn more!

Monday, July 27, 2020, 9:30 a.m.

Do you know what a simple machine is? It’s a machine that uses a chain of events to get to an end result, in this case, watering a plant. Join Jennifer Robertson-Honecker, WVU Extension Service STEM Specialist, and her son, Ben, as they read a fun book and relate the book to what tools we need to build our own simple machine. And, you won’t want to miss an opportunity to join the friendly competition in our Rube Goldberg “Water a Plant Video Challenge.” (For this activity, you will use creative items from around your house to build your simple machine.) Want to enter the competition? Visit extension.wvu.edu/stemcare to learn more! An extended version of this episode also will be available on our YouTube channel.

Emma Gardner, our WVU Extension Service 4-H agent in Roane County, is going to talk to us about the stars. There are many constellations in the night sky. Today you’ll learn about them and how Greeks applied them to mythology. You’ll also have a chance to build your own star wheel/map (visit tinyurl.com/EEstarwheel to print out your star wheel and map) and marshmallow constellations. (For this activity, you will need scissors, paper, star wheel, map, tape, mini marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti/pasta or a think stick.)

Mitch Clowes, STEM Ambassador and WVU student, will read “Why Do Elephants Need the Sun” and follow up with a cool activity about ultra violet (UV) light, including making a UV bracelet. (For this activity, you will need UV beads and some string.)