Spotlight on: Maureen Bergenfeld
Military 4-H Club Coordinator
El Paso County
My husband, daughter and I
moved to Colorado the summer of 1991. At that time my husband was on active
duty with the Air Force and I was in the AF reserves. My daughter was starting
third grade and none of us knew anything about 4-H. Well that has certainly
changed with my daughter getting involved in 4-H! I am in my sixteenth year as
a volunteer organizational leader, tenth year as tabletop superintendent, fifth
year as llama superintendent and eighth year working for the El Paso County
Extension Office in 4-H.
My first paying job with extension was in 2001
as an administrator for the Colorado Trust after-school program. I enjoyed
working with the nine low-income schools and bringing them great teachers with
4-H programming. That part-time job lasted through 2006.
In the meantime
I had retired from the Air Force and had the opportunity to apply for a
position with a new state grant – that as military 4-H club coordinator. I
am now in my sixth year as military club coordinator and am still excited about
the difference we make in the military youths’ lives.
We have over
300 military youth in K-5 after-school programming at three installations and
Saturday classes. Many of these youth have a parent or parents who are deployed
and many have low self-esteem. It is wonderful to give these youth the
opportunity to lead clubs, learn speaking skills, and complete a long-term
project to the best of their ability. It’s also exciting to see all the
projects they present at the installation mini-fairs. I am glad I can be
available for them to talk to about their many concerns with a military
parent.
When not involved in 4-H (either as a volunteer or staff), I
love to read, cook and play with our animal menagerie (an Australian Sheppard
mix, four guinea pigs, a bunny and a llama.)