Welcome to Iowa This Week.
I'm Tim Harwood.
The Iowa State Fair is over.
The new school year is well underway.
Those two things come together in today's program.
Dozens of scholarships were handed out to four atrus who exhibited their work at the state fair.
We're going to get some perspective now from Gail Castillo who is superintendent for Iowa State University Extension's 4-H exhibits building.
Thanks for being with us Gail.
Well thank you for inviting me.
This time last year, back in September of 2025, that was probably when some of this year's state fair projects were starting to form in the minds of those 4-H students.
How do you put all that dedicated work and planning into perspective as you think about it?
You know, it is really amazing.
It's easy to wonder what's our future going to look like and have a lot of questions.
And I have the joy every August of being in that 4-H exhibit building and seeing what 4-H members have been doing the last year in their 4-H work.
Things that they have decided they wanted to learn more about, maybe a workshop they attended they got excited about, but they have set goals.
They are making decisions about the resources they have available to them.
They are learning amazing things and I know our future is in such good hands because our young people are learning how to take steps toward achieving their goals.
You know, we have young people learning about planting food on the moon.
Several plant the moon exhibits and that's an educational program that people can participate in.
We have young people working in robotics.
We have young people learning to craft beautiful craft work, quilts, clothing.
They're taking care of themselves.
They're learning conservation and being good stewards of the resources around.
And so for me, it is amazing what the members learn in the time that they have and present as what they've been able to accomplish.
For me, it's just hope for our future.
You know a lot of this learning as you describe is self-directed and that seems like it's particularly important to getting the kinds of results because instead of being told hey it's 10 o'clock we're gonna open up this book and read about this topic this is the students pursuing the things that really interest them on their timeline and in whatever way is most appropriate to their circumstances.
Yes as a lot of people know but some people may not know.
4-H is administered through Iowa State University as our land grant university in Iowa.
And so our role is to take information and education from the university out to the people of Iowa, make resources available to the people of Iowa.
And that means our youngest citizens are our youth.
And so, you know, we have a lot of workshops that can be done on campus.
We have
workshops that come out from campus to counties, but we also have young people who within 30 plus project areas decide I really want to learn more about ag and natural resources, specifically conservation and and how to make sure that my family farm will be here for me when I get to that age to take it over.
They are able to make the decision.
Hey, I have access to some woodworking tools, and I want to learn more about how to build with different types of woods.
And we have beautiful exhibits that are done.
Plant the Moon, like I said, that came out of an educational program, but a lot of the learning, the members are choosing on their own something they may have started in school, but maybe not had time to go as deep as they wanted.
And so we're a great non-formal learning organization that comes alongside of our public, private and home schools to help provide additional opportunities.
We're talking with Gail Castillo, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach 4-H Exhibits Building Superintendent about the
recently completed state fair and the educational value for the 4-H members who participated in the fair with over 2,400 youth exhibitors and
If there's somebody, let's say middle-aged who really hasn't paid any attention to what's going on in 4-H since they were that age, maybe they were in the program and have gotten some separation, they're not there anymore, they haven't been through the 4-H building at the State Fair, what would they see if they'd walked in last month that wouldn't have been there when they were that age?
Well, first and what so many people commented on,
We have brand new displays throughout the building and so it just brightens up the entire building.
Many people commented it looks different but I can't quite pinpoint.
We're so grateful to the State Fair Board for providing new showcase so that we can display all the education.
So that was one.
Two, our Iowa 4-H Foundation came alongside us
and help us tell the story of Iowa 4-H.
So not only the 3,300 exhibits of learning that the members did all around the building, we had a panel of 4-H history, how it started, and then panels of how it's going, education that is happening across Iowa right now, 4-H fishing clubs, youth leadership.
clover kids, civic engagement, our youngest members learning to give back to the community around them.
Mission Moon, learning what will it take to have people go to the moon and live and work there.
So many amazing programs that can be done out in counties and in addition to all the learning by youth, I think I'm most proud of being able to showcase
This is what people can do and learn in 4-H.
It may not look the same as when I was a member or when other people were members.
The kids are excited and they're learning and then they can't wait to, we just started a new program here and hundreds and hundreds have enrolled already because they can't wait to start the new year.
I mentioned that there were a lot of scholarships that were awarded based on these projects at the Iowa State Fair, these exhibits that 4-Hers had the chance to display.
Could you talk about what you saw when it came time to give the news that those scholarships were being awarded?
You bet.
You know, it's so exciting to us that we have several colleges and departments at Iowa State University.
They will send staff and so we just point people in the in the direction of the exhibits.
And it is the actual colleges and departments determining.
Scholarships that they want to award if a member enters their department or their college at Iowa state.
And so our college of liberal arts and sciences, college of ag and life sciences, health and human sciences.
and then our Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, and they all send staff to look at all the exhibits, read the write-ups, what the members were learning, and they have a chance to then, their decision, they have come to us asking for the opportunity, they award based on what they see in that member's learning,
Something that is forthcoming in their college, it's either a major and studies being done in that major or it might be kind of on the cutting edge of this member has a really great idea.
I want to show them that we're encouraging this.
So they might see a scholarship on a red ribbon.
And a red ribbon exhibit isn't a bad exhibit.
It just means the member had more to learn.
But the college is saying, hey, I recognize something here, and I want to encourage you to keep going down this path.
And so we had a piano compositions awarded, sports photography displays, a child development exhibit on sign language, poetry.
We had some digital storytelling.
We had brewing microgreens for chickens.
Young people are passionate about their livestock and we had a number of chicken exhibits awarded and I love it because, you know, chickens are one, a lot of municipalities allow.
It's a small animal.
They're easy to care for.
Lots of uses for chickens.
We had a young man 3D print a planter part that he needed.
and make that work.
A young person did a 3D model of an animal cell.
Just really amazing and incredible.
How to make homemade granola and the things that went into that and where that food was sourced.
So many other things.
Constructed Norwegian dress.
A young person wanted to honor the heritage and constructed a dress.
A health exhibit on ACL tears in females and why it's different for females than in males.
Upcycling sweatshirts, they drew so many comments.
We had young people upcycle sweatshirts, so we had Iowa State and Iowa Side by Side that they had taken and used other resources to make it really a one of a kind showpiece.
A leadership exhibit where
young people partnered with our good friends at Iowa Select Farms to do meals in a bag with their pork loin giveaways that they do Thanksgiving, Christmas time every year.
Welding, we had a young person weld a dog out of rods.
So many people stopped to take pictures of that dog.
It was pretty incredible.
Again, robotics, trivia games.
just so many amazing and unique exhibits.
I don't even know where they come up with these ideas.
talking with Gail Castillo, superintendent for ISU Extension's 4-H exhibits building at the Iowa State Fair.
And I mentioned that this might be the time of year where those state fair participants or those 4-Hers, whether they did go or didn't go to the state fair this year, are thinking about next year.
Just a word, Gail, as we wrap up about what kinds of things you'll be working on to make the 2027 Iowa State Fair even better, even more exciting for 4-H participants.
You bet.
We're still working on the wrap up and getting all of the pieces put together to report out to our funders.
We're working on a new impact report.
We're trying to gather data of those dollars members have been awarded on both the building and the livestock side.
How many volunteer and staff hours it takes?
to put on the state there for just us in Iowa 4-H.
We're also working on an evaluation with our communication participants.
Their words, what they get out of our live events at the state there, what they're learning about, how to put a presentation together, and the skills that they learn.
Are they able to be nervous but work through those nerves?
Are they able to think through?
and present their ideas in ways that other people can understand.
And so at an initial glance, I've got some really great comments and feedback from the young people.
We also, of course, always are looking at our rules, making sure that they make sense for today, that they make sense for the young people, and that we're following industry standards.
And it's not just a rule because it's always been a rule.
You know, I think some people are like, well, that's just, they just always do that.
Sometimes we do, as adults, we get stuck in a rut, but we do work really hard in 4-H to always be looking at how can we make sure we stay relevant for today's youth and today's Iowa.
And so as we wrap up, we are continually working toward 2027, as I know our members are.
You know, those young people who love to restore tractors or thinking about the next quilt or what they're going to learn next about their livestock and or even what kind of livestock they want to exhibit.
I don't often get out into the barns to see that, but I do get to see the posters and the displays they develop as a result of their work with their units.
Gail Castillo is Iowa State University Extension's 4-H exhibits building superintendent.
Thanks for being with us.
Thank you so much.
It's a delight to speak with you.
It's one of my favorite times of the year is State Fair and I love being able to talk about all that the members are doing and learning.
And for anyone who wants to still take a look at the 2026 4-H exhibit results, those are online through the Fair Entry website.
And more information about 4-H at the Iowa State Fair is available from the Iowa 4-H webpage through Iowa State University Extension.
And that's all for today's edition of Iowa This Week.
Thank you for listening.
I'm Tim Harwood.
