Youth & Family News

Monday, July 24, 2023, 5:30 p.m.   

To kick off today’s episode, Jen Robertson-Honecker, WVU Extension STEM Specialist, and Ben, the flashlight wizard, lead a STEM activity, teaching us how to make our own flashlights. For this activity, you will need jumbo craft sticks, LEDs, coin cell batteries, jumbo paper clips, copper tape, masking tape, scissors. If all that science worked up an appetite, you’re in luck! Susan Lily, a nutrition instructor with the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program, walks us through how to make some delicious energy bars. For this recipe, you will need rice cereal, quick cooking oats, toasted nuts, dried cranberries, unsweetened coconut, honey, low-fat peanut butter and vanilla.  

Monday, July 17, 2023, 5:30 p.m.   

This episode is a rerun from season 3. 

Monday, July 10, 2023, 5:30 p.m.   

Get out your tiny wallets! It’s time to learn about financial literacy with Lauren Weatherford, family and community development agent in Fayette and Nicholas counties. She walks us through how to identify our wants versus our needs and how to make smart choices with our money. Next, Summers County Extension Agent Lesley Woodrum shows us how to make our own piggy banks at home using materials that are often just thrown away. For this activity, you will need a container with a lid, such as a peanut butter jar, a box or even an empty disinfectant wipes canister, markers, colorful paper or stickers for decoration, and an adult to help you cut a hole in the top of your bank. 

Monday, July 3, 2023, 5:30 p.m.   

Today we’re learning all about the creepy crawlies in the world around us. Elizabeth Rowen, a service assistant professor of entomology, guides us on a tour of WVU’s insect zoo, getting up close and personal with some tarantulas, scorpions and more. Next, 4-H youth and development agent Jocelyn Crawford teaches us all about what makes up an ecosystem and shows us how to make one in a jar! For this activity, all you need is a jar, a scoop of water from an outdoor water source, like a creek or pond, and objects around the water source, like leaves or rocks. Then we jump back to Elizabeth Rowen to go on a scavenger hunt for insects that you can find in your own backyard.  

Monday, June 26, 2023, 5:30 p.m.  

The Wild Owens kick us off today talking about bear dens and cubs. WVU Extension specialists Sheldon and Sarah Owen are joined by Colin Carpenter, black bear project leader at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources to hug some black bear cubs and learn about their habitats. Next, Alex Coffman, 4-H youth development agent, discusses keeping public parks and spaces clean with Leave No Trace. And while you’re out in these parks, you may come across some plants that could be dangerous. Bruce Loyd and Mike Shamblin, Extension agriculture and natural resource agents, walk us through the woods while showing us plants to avoid and how to identify them.  

Monday, June 19, 2023, 5:30 p.m.  

Happy Juneteenth! Join us for the very first episode of season four of WVU Extension’s Energy Express on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. 

Monday, July 25, 2022, 9 a.m.  

We’re kicking off week six with a read-aloud of “The Earth Gives More” by Sue Fleiss. Read by Lauren Seiler, Director of Development at WVU Extension, and her son Henry, this story details the beauty that Earth has to offer. Next, Meshea Poore gives some great advice on how to deal with new beginnings. Then, we head to the kitchen with Angela Lawrence, a WVU Extension family and community development agent, to get a few tips on how to pack a healthy, balanced lunch for school. Next, a group of West Virginia 4-H’ers talks about how to explore and pursue career pathways in areas related to climate change. To finish off today, Kerri Carte is back to teach us how to make homemade popcorn with flavors even better than the pre-made kind.  

Monday, July 18, 2022, 9 a.m.  

Week five starts with a read-aloud of “Say Something” by Peter H. Reynolds. Tara Curtis, director of marketing and communications at WVU Extension, kicks off this sweet story read by the WVU Extension communications team! Then we pass it over to two 4-H’ers, Megan and Vivian, to talk about climate change. They discuss how to organize and participate in meaningful activism. West Virginia State Senate representative and Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin even makes an appearance to talk about how youth can get in contact with their legislators. Next, Joe Obidzinski, program coordinator and historian at WVU Jackson’s Mill, leads us through the long history of how Jackson’s Mill became the hub for West Virginia 4-H camps. He also guides us on a tour of parts of the campus and explains how the buildings got their names.  

Monday, July 11, 2022, 9 a.m.  

We’re kicking off week four with Jorge Atiles, Dean of Extension and Engagement at WVU, doing a read aloud of “The One Day House” by Julia Durango. Next, our friends Arden and Maddi, WVU Extension Communications’ summer interns, take us on an adventure to learn about fun things to do at WVU. Then, we jump over to Meshea Poore to talk about respect. She teaches us that not only does everybody deserve respect, but everyone should show respect, too. To wrap up this Monday, Kanawha County Extension Agent Kerri Carte shows us how to make yummy BLT lettuce wraps. For this recipe, you will need a tomato, cucumber, green onions, a couple strips of bacon, light mayonnaise, and Bibb lettuce. 

Monday, July 4, 2022, 9 a.m.  

Week three kicks off with Adeola Ogunade, evaluation and communications specialist at WVU Extension, doing a read aloud of “Wish” by Chris Sanders. Next, we jump over to Meshea Poore to talk about belonging. She teaches us that belonging comes from respect for everyone’s interests and differences. Then, Nila Cobb, healthy lifestyle specialist at WVU Extension, talks about how to be a good friend and discusses bullying. She also leads an activity on how to make a friendship chain. For this activity, you will need strips of paper, a marker and a stapler. Speaking of friends, J.R. Davis, 4-H youth development agent, tells us a little bit about the 4-H pen pal program and teaches us how to address and write a letter.