June Announcements

By Kelsey Meyers, health and human sciences regional educator 

Purdue Extension and electric cooperative Jay County REMC partnered to host the East Central Indiana STEM Day Camp: Build a Smart Clubhouse, an in-person program open to all Indiana 4-H youth in grades 6–8. 

Extension 4-H youth development educator Allison Keen led hands-on, project-based learning that taught participants how to design, build, and code their own Smart Clubhouses using sensor technology. Youth applied engineering concepts, explored coding, tested ideas, and worked through challenges while bringing their designs to life. 

The camp provided a supportive environment for youth to strengthen creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and technology skills. By completing a real-world STEM project, participants gained confidence in their ability to design, build, troubleshoot and innovate while exploring potential interests in STEM education and careers. 

The partnership between Purdue Extension and Jay County REMC created an engaging regional learning opportunity that encouraged youth to experiment, learn from mistakes and develop skills that will help prepare them for a technology-driven future.

By Amanda Graupner, regional educator 

Get WalkIN’ is a Purdue Extension wellness initiative that encourages individuals to improve their physical, mental and social well-being through weekly wellness-focused emails and practical health resources. This summer, Brock Turner, regional health and human sciences educator, expanded the impact of the program by partnering with Betsy Coffing and Franciscan Health to combine Get WalkIN’ with local Wellness Walks. 

Community members gather every other Monday during the summer to participate in guided walks and learn from local health professionals. Each walk creates opportunities for individuals to build relationships, share experiences and connect with local organizations invested in community wellness. Although the Wellness Walks were physically held in Tippecanoe County, the program was open to anyone in the West Central Region.  

Participants from across the state can engage with Get WalkIN' content virtually and those locally can attend in-person walks in the West Lafayette region to connect with health professionals through the Franciscan partnership. The program also helped community members learn about additional wellness services and programs across the West Central Region.  

Programs like Get WalkIN’ demonstrate how Purdue Extension expands access to wellness education while creating welcoming spaces that encourage healthy habits, active lifestyles, and stronger community connections. 

As we develop strategies to deliver programs regionally, we are focusing on broader reach, depth of expertise, reduced duplication, applied research, innovation and continued service for communities. Stay tuned for updates on the transformation in the next newsletter. 

If you have any questions about the transformation, please email ExtensionTransformation@purdue.edu, and your question will be sent to the appropriate department.  

By: Extension Communication Committee (Jenny Clark, Olivia De Young, Rachel Dillhoff, Amanda Graupner, Molly Hunt, Kelsey Meyers, Lily Thill)

How to add an event in Cascade

How to add an event in Cascade 

When it comes to promoting events, consider adding them to Cascade. Keeping your website up to date with program information can help people discover your event through Google search or AI queries and shows stakeholders what local Extension programming is available. 

To add a regional event: 

1. Log into Cascade 
2. Click ‘Go to a Site’ → then click Extension-Events 
3. Select the ‘Region’ folder 
4. Choose your region 
5. Select the year folder for which the event is occurring BUT choose the Recurring folder if your event is happening over a series of dates 
6. Select the month folder for which the event is occurring  
7. Follow this video for how to add a single day event: 
   1. https://youtu.be/hl2WrTynR5g?si=JNaC24CTrzGH52BT&t=34 
8. Follow this video for how to add a recurring event: 
   1. https://youtu.be/hl2WrTynR5g?si=JNaC24CTrzGH52BT&t=34 
9. Once all details for the event are filled out, at the very bottom of the form in the ‘Tags’ field, type in your regional tag either: 
   1. east central region 
   2. west central region 

If you have questions on how to add an event to a county page or have other questions related to setting up events, please reach out to Eric Imboden at eimboden@purdue.edu. 

Quick tip – Amplify events through social media

Once you have an event page, you can share the link on social media. Sharing event pages will help people discover your website and other program offerings. It also allows for social media graphics to focus on the basic information (who, where, when) since the full details will be on the event page.

As a reminder, posting a flyer on social media is not an accessible way to share program information. Linking to an event page is a simple alternative that ensures all people can access information about upcoming Extension programs.