Dr. Richard Clark

I had the opportunity to visit the Williamson County Fair last week. I want to commend the entire Extension staff on a wonderful team effort to show how Science, Engineering, Math and Science (STEM) is incorporated in agriculture, family and consumer science, and 4-H. Hands-on interaction with fair goers included such things as seeing the  germs on their hands, 3-D printing, rocket launching 3-D printed rockets, nutrition- al snack preparation, exploring the physics of designing protective structures to keep a raw egg from breaking when it is dropped from 10 feet, robotics, bridge building using engineering principles, shoot sports, environmental education, chick embryology, and a farm to table simulation for young children to learn how food moves from the farmer to the market.

An additional highlight of the evening was a demonstration of unique creatures by the Crazy Critter Guy, Brian Stewart, from Ridley 4-H Center. Youth got to handle cockroaches, lizards, spiders, and snakes. This presentation was not only educational but was used effectively to recruit youth for 4-H camp.

Congratulations to Matt Horsman and the entire Williamson County Extension Team. Well done!