Two New Staff Members At Hempstead Cooperative Extension Service

The Hempstead County Cooperative Extension Service recently welcomed two new staff members. Kimberly Rowe is the new Ag Agent and Betty Wingfield is the new 4-H Program Assistant.

Wingfield was very active in 4-H in her youth and says 4-H is more important than ever. “4-H gives kids an opportunity to become leaders and viable citizens in the community,” says Wingfield. She notes 4-H helps them to prepare themselves for the workforce and to learn skills towards being good citizens. Wingfield says just joining a club allows young people to learn skills and to work together as a team. “You learn to tackle projects and complete them as individuals and as groups. When you go into a job, you’re doing much the same thing. It helps promote that skill of working with others and getting along with others to seek a goal,” says Wingfield.

Wingfield credits her 4-H experiences with allowing her to visit many places she probably wouldn’t have as a young person. “I went to Washington D.C. Twice, I got to attend a Teen Leadership Conference in Baton Rogue…I got to even attend the Weiner Rice Festival in Weiner, Arkansas…just towns and places I would have never gotten to see without 4-H,” says Wingfield. She notes the motto of 4-H is “Learning Is Fun” and she says even though the 4-H members are learning lots of skills a goal is to make these activities fun for the participants.

Wingfield says there are current nine clubs in the county and some are project clubs such as the horse club. She notes the first step is getting young people are interested into a club. You can learn more about this by contacting Wingfield at the Cooperative Extension Service in Hope at 777-5771.

Wingfield is a native of Magnolia and attended Southern Arkansas University. She and her husband Clay live in Prescott.

Kimberly Rowe comes to the Cooperative Extension Service after several years at the Southwest Research and Extension Center. For the past three years she served as the Social Media Manager for Extension. She has a masters degree in Ag Communications. Rowe expects to have a social media presence for the local Cooperative Extension office and to contribute to their web page. “I want us to be visible but I also want us to be impactful”, says Rowe.

Rowe says she’s happy to be in the position she hopes she can help the Cooperative Extension Service to great things for Hempstead County.