Community and connection. These two elements, so essential to our well-being, were challenged in ways we’ve never seen during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Not to be deterred from their mission, Virginia Cooperative Extension’s 4H embraced a new national program called 4H Tech Changemakers that connects teenagers and adults within their communities.

.Dr. Chantel Wilson, 4-H STEAM Extension Specialist at VSU, Dr. Erika Bonnett, 4-H Programming Specialist at Virginia Tech, and their Virginia Team won a competitive grant from the National 4-H Council to design the 2020 4-H STEM Challenge Mars Base Camp kit.

Dr. Chantel Wilson lives where science and nature intersect, and she loves introducing youth to her world. Wilson is an Extension specialist and 4-H STEAM educator with the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) at Virginia State University (VSU).