By GLEN WERLING
Hannah Bridegam is looking forward to getting to know all there is about Wells County 4-H.
Bridegam was hired last month to be the Purdue Extension youth educator for Wells County. She replaces Emily Luc, who resigned Oct. 1, 2021, to take a position with the Kosciusko County Extension as the assistant agricultural and natural resource extension educator.
Bridegam took two years of agriculture science at Ivy Tech in Fort Wayne and then three years at Murray State in Murray, Ky. She graduated from Murray State in December and recently moved back to the area. Her degree from Murray State is a bachelor of science in agriculture science and technology with a focus in agriculture education and non-profit.
“I tagged on the non-profit sector since 4-H is non-profit so I could understand how non-profit works with communicating, taxes and the financial side of things,” Bridegam said.
She is currently working on a masters degree in agriculture education through Murray State. She’s a 2016 Columbia City High School graduate but lived closer to Roanoke than to Columbia City, although her family lives in the Columbia City school district.
She spent most of her childhood in 4-H from mini-4-H through high school. “I was really involved all through middle school and high school,” Bridegam said. “I went to all of the camps possible and was a member of leadership board.”
At first she thought she would like to teach agriculture and become an advisor in FFA.
“But when I did my first round of student teaching, I knew that wasn’t for me,” Bridegam said. “Yet I knew I still wanted to do something with agriculture and work with youth, so I did a job shadowing in Whitley County with Cindy Barnett,” she added.
Barnett is the 4-H extension educator at Whitley County. “She talked to be about being in Extension and the opportunities available in Extension and that’s when it clicked for me. I could do 4-H, I could work with youth and still be involved in agriculture.”
She made that decision in her second year at Ivy Tech. She really had no plans to return to Indiana after graduating from Murray State.
“All while I was growing up, I told my parents I was going to move away,” Bridegam said. “I got to Kentucky and I fell in love with it down there. It’s a very beautiful state.”
She applied for some educator jobs in Kentucky and in Arkansas, but the job opening here became available and she thought to herself, “OK, it might be time to move back home.”
She was influenced in that decision during an internship this past summer in Kosciusko County. Her supervisor, who was also the director of Area 11, told her the Wells County job would be a great fit for her and encouraged her to apply. “I really thought about it and it was the best option, so I moved back here,” Bridegam said.
Her first day on the job was Jan. 17. She is renting a house in Bluffton.
“It’s a great town. I really like it. I found a great church to go to. I’ve been to a couple basketball games, so I’m getting to know the community well,” Bridegam said.
She was also introduced to the audience at Thursday night’s annual Wells County Extension report meeting and dinner that is held jointly with the Wells County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Rock Creek Conservancy District.
Bridegam is soaking in what the past youth educators in Wells County have done and learning how she can build on their successes.
“One thing I would love to do is reach out to my minority families, because people have it in their mind that 4-H is about showing livestock,” Bridegam said. “I want to change that a little bit and let people know there are other project options, not just livestock.”
She hopes to grow her numbers of participants in 4-H by encouraging participation in non-livestock projects. She would like to increase the numbers by 50 percent or even double the current participation numbers.
Bridegam showed primarily dairy goats when in 4-H but she also showed beef steers and swine foods, collections and posters.
“My family raises dairy goats, so that was my big
project,” she said.
“I’m excited to be here,” Bridegam said. “It’s a great 4-H program. The past educators did a tremendous job of getting the community involved. We are very blessed here in Wells County to have all of the community support.”
Wells County Extension Director Bill Horan explained that applicants
for an Extension Educator position must fill out a form on Purdue’s HR website, and they can also upload their resumé on that site. The applicants are then screened and interviewed by an administrative team from Purdue Extension Service.
Once they pass that step, they are interviewed by a local county committee. In Wells County, that include the Extension Office staff as well as the president of the Extension Board and the 4-H Council.
The final decision to offer the job to Bridegam was made by the Purdue Extension Leadership team, based on the input and recommendations from the county committee.
“I believe we had three applicants for this job opening. I think it was Hannah’s experience with 4-H in her home county as well as her
experience as a 4-H summer intern, her educational background, and certainly her enthusiasm and passionfor working with youth that landed her this job,” Horan said.
glenw@news-banner.com
