Peil named as new 4-H Educator

Dawn Peil is the new 4-H Educator at the UW Extension Office. Peil grew up here in the 4-H and FFA programs and she has always been involved in ag. Prior to this new position, she spent around 19 years at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Peil said, "when this opportunity opened up, it just seemed like a good fit.

Part of Peil's background with the NRCS, which used to be the Soil Conservation Service as a part of the USDA, she was a range conservationist. Some of the work range conservationists are involved in is working with farmers and ranchers on their ranch to make improvements. They can do irrigation improvements such as center pivots, gated pipe and other range projects. Those included water pipelines and tanks, water development on the rangeland, as well as grazing systems. Peil said, "These projects can be Farm Bill based, so we had contracts based on farm bill money. The Farm Bill is a national program where so much money, so many million dollars nationwide, are pretty much ear-tagged to help farmers and ranchers make improvements on their land."

This experience connects to her new position because it is still ag based where Peil wants to educate the youth on agriculture. Peil said, "My favorite part of the job over there was working with farmers and ranchers and out at their place. This job is more similar because it is targeted to youth." 

Peil wants to tie in more modern youth interests and make it relatable to ag, which she said is important. Peil said, "There's some new projects information that youth can be involved in. There are visual arts, traditional ag. We want to include those kids that are involved in science and engineering and communications, government. There are so many relatable career choices in ag that can use those."

Peil explained how she and her family like to attend stock shows. There she observed a combination of mostly ag activities, but there were people with computers running everything. There were events coordinators, communications, advertising, all things that aren't traditional ag.

Peil wants to explore those areas for the kids and bring in science and technology in addition to traditional ag. Peil said, "Science technology in ag right now is huge. And I bet you a lot of those people that are developing those things maybe have never set foot in a field. I want to make them aware of the options when they're done with the 4-H program." Peil wants to broaden the scope of 4-H while deepening the experience.

Regarding future plans or activities she wants to do, Peil said, "Joey Johnson had this job for a long time, and I think he's developed a great program here. I kind of for the meantime, just want to continue forward with what he started." However, she is interested in the junior leaders club and maybe wants to expand that portion of it. The young people in their teenage years can take leadership roles in the community or club or their project.

To be eligible for the 4-H program, youth as young as eight years old until they are 18 years old can participate. There is also the Clover Bud program for those under eight years old. 

Peil wants to gather students area-wide from parts of Washakie, Big Horn and Hot Springs counties and have them go do something fun where they will incorporate different kinds of training to learn about the environments.

Some of the leadership opportunities for kids include public speaking and communication and possibly even things like etiquette in social settings. Peil wants to give them the skills they need to assume a more of a leadership role in their club, in their church, or in their community. The training also allows kids from the counties to get together, network and meet new friends and see how kids in other counties are doing it.

Peil's position involves working with other educators. There are 42 educators all over the state. There are 4-H educators and range, nutrition, agronomy and horticulture educators. There are specialities all over the state and Peil hopes to work with all of them through the many projects.

Peil grew up in Hot Springs County, mostly. Her father managed ranches here. She also lived a while in southern Colorado and a short stint in New Mexico, where her father managed ranches in those states. 

Peil came back to Hot Springs County in eighth grade and graduated from here. Most of her childhood was here. She joined the 4-H program and sold market pigs and sheep and horses.

Peil said, "Growing up through 4-H and FFA, they had a huge impact in my life and who I grew up to be and maybe the values that I still have, skills I still have that I got through the 4-H program. It's a great way to develop to be a successful adult."

On being a 4-H Educator, Peil said that "working with the people is probably the most rewarding, especially working with the youth."