It Starts at STATE

Emily Moore, 4-H Extension Associate, Class of 2019

Emily Moore was first exposed to the West Virginia State as a young child, when her fourth grade class at Buffalo Elementary School in Putnam County built a garden through a WVSU Extension Service program. The experience planted seeds of passion that have led her to not only enroll as a student at WVSU, but also back to the very school garden that started it all.
 
In 2014, Moore found herself working as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) for WVSU Extension Service's agriculture department. One of her tasks was to revamp the garden at Buffalo Elementary and introduce agriculture education to the school's preschool students. She eventually joined WVSU full-time as a 4-H Extension Associate, while simultaneously completing her Board of Regents degree.
 
"It was so much fun and a good experience for me as a kid," Moore said of her early exposure to gardening through WVSU, which she now brings to the kids in her former elementary school. "I want little kids now to have the same experience I did."
 
Using the internationally acclaimed Junior Master Gardener (JMG) curriculum, Emily is adapting activities to the preschool age level, including picket fence design, garden building and container garden development. 
 
While JMG is traditionally designed for students beginning in third grade, WVSU became a pioneer in adapting the instruction to a preschool audience. Emily's work at Buffalo is among the first JMG interactions at that age group across the nation.
 
Reuniting with 4-H through WVSU helped ease her transition to the classroom after transferring to WVSU from another university.
 
"I'm happier at STATE," says Emily, who balances her coursework with her Extension Service job. Slated to graduate in 2019, she plans to pursue certification in American Sign Language in order to bring WVSU 4-H and garden education to an even broader audience of young people.