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Intro:
The following program is brought to you by the Tennessee
Broadband Association.

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Lead Tennessee Radio – conversations with the leaders moving our
state forward.

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We look at the issues shaping Tennessee's future: rural
development, public policy, broadband,

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healthcare and other topics impacting our communities.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Hello, I'm Carrie Huckeby, the executive director of the
Tennessee Broadband Association.

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And in this episode of Lead Tennessee Radio, we're talking to
Dr.

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Daniel Collins, who is the state extension specialist in UT's
extension department at the University of Tennessee.

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Daniel's specialties are STEM, 4-H camping and performing arts.

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Three areas that I know require creativity and some hard work,
but sounds like a little bit of fun might be involved too.

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Daniel, I know your summer has been crazy busy as school is back
in session, so I really appreciate you taking some time to

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join me this morning.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Absolutely. I appreciate the opportunity.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, tell us about your background, your history with 4-H and
how long you've been the state extension specialist.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Well, I'll tell you, I have a long history.

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I am a lifer.

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I started 4-H when I was five with my mom, who was a 4-H
volunteer and a 4-H teacher in one of her

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schools. And so I've been going through the 4-H program.

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I went from being a participant to being a teen counselor to
being an adult volunteer to then go on

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to college trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

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I had a life plan kind of figured out.

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But then my 4-H agent, who was a second mom to me, really pulled
me in and took me to lunch and was like, "I need to talk to you

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about an opportunity that I think that you need to look at." So
I finished my bachelor's at Emory & Henry College in Virginia,

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and then I pursued a master's at Virginia Tech in extension,
career and extension.

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And so then I moved into a role of being a 4-H agent for many
years.

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I was in Grayson County, Virginia, for five years, in Smith
County, Virginia for three.

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Then I went moved to North Carolina in Sampson County, North
Carolina, where I was a 4-H agent there.

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And then I got the opportunity to go back to school, and then
had the opportunity to work in the state 4-H office

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and work with the International Exchange Program through North
Carolina 4-H, while I was working on my doctoral

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degree. So I most recently graduated in May with my doctoral
degree in agriculture and leadership education, focusing on

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training and development.

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And now we're here.

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I've been working at University of Tennessee now for about a
year and a half.

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I'm about to cross that threshold.

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So it's been very interesting and very exciting in the things
that we've got going on in STEM, camping and performing arts.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Wow. That's a really deep rooted history in 4-H, since you were
five.

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I have found that it seems in many cases once you're a 4-H'er,
you're always a 4-H'er.

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So you're definitely proof of that.

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And you said you've been involved since you were five, but
officially in the school system, do I remember

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correctly that students can get involved in 4-H around the
fourth grade?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
That's correct. In Tennessee, we do fourth grade and up.

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In Virginia, we did a Clover Bud program, which was five to eight
year olds.

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So that's how I got to be involved a little bit with some after 
school opportunities that my mom had kind of started with another

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teacher at the school, and then we kind of move forward after
that.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, I don't remember a lot about school, but I do remember
making that dairy poster for the 4-H project.

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And I remember making cornbread with my mom in the kitchen, you
know, as part of another project.

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And, you know, those are really good memories.

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Once the students are in the program, what kind of experience do
you work to provide to them in those early years, and what keeps

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them involved through their entire education?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Well, some of the focus that I have is, as we've mentioned a
couple of times, the STEM and camp and performing arts, of

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course. But project work is really what keeps our kids involved.

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They get the opportunities to do public speaking.

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They get the opportunity to do a portfolio, an e-portfolio
that's submitted.

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So it's actually a compilation of what they've done throughout
the year, their experiences, their project work, and then they

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get the opportunity to send that in to be judged and to kind
of.

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There's monetary awards in some instances as well.

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So it just keeps, we just keep adding some things, and we keep
adding more experiences that keeps them involved.

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You know, education is a very, very diverse thing now because
we've got all sorts of competition out

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there for us. But we're trying to keep it where we, you know,
we're research based, so we keep everything kind of pushed

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forward in that instance where everything's aligned to Tennessee
education standards and national standards as well.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Great. Well, the National 4-H Council, 4-H, the TNBA, we
certainly have some things in common as we work

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to close the digital divide.

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And you also focus on broadband adoption, digital literacy.

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The 4-H Tech Changemakers and the STEM Ambassadors is one of the
programs that does just that, focuses on those

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areas. Tell us about how that started and what the mission of
the group is.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Well, one of the things that I was approached by a couple of
different people, Sreedhar Upendram is a specialist

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within the institute at UT, and he actually is one of our
national program leaders on this

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program. And so he kind of approached my boss, Mr.

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Justin Crowe, and kind of looked in my direction of, you know,
he's a STEM specialist.

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So let's look at, you know, let's look at some opportunities.

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And one of the big things that, I've been working in rural
populations for a long time.

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And even when I went to North Carolina, it was very rural.

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And one of the big things that I feel growing up in a very
Appalachian, very rural area myself,

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that there were opportunities that some people got that – well,
I felt this way, we'll say it that way.

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I felt this way that there were opportunities that others got by
having that digital access, and by having that opportunity to

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have a computer that was not ten years old and was able to
connect without dial up.

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So growing up in that aspect there, it was one of those that I
struggled with because I was like, "All these people get to see

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all these things and have all these opportunities." And it
actually became a passion of mine to make sure that the kids that

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I was working with and the kids and the parents and the families
that I was working with were able to be connected and see the

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things that we're doing. So I had to do some extra steps.

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Working in Grayson County, Virginia, as a 4-H agent is actually
making some phone calls.

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Even though they didn't have the Internet, I was making phone
calls.

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I was sending letters, which that was something that we did in
the nineties when I was as a 4-H member, we got our letter, and

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we were like, "Oh yeah, we're going to have a meeting."

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We'd have all these things.

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But now today's age is really moved in that direction of people
don't have time to really sit down and make a phone call

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to individual families or to be able to do that when they're
trying to get the information out.

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Now, we do have some agents out there in our state that are
still kind of doing the things that they need to do because of

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the limited access and the digital divide, as you had mentioned.

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But we also just kind of, I look around the fact that we still
have a lot of Tennesseans that do not have that

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access. So being able to provide that through a 4-H program was
a key goal for us.

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And so being able to show that youth can teach adults and youth
can model the opportunities that they

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have. And I think one of the other things, too, is that the
safety that goes along with the Internet and digital access is

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something that even my parents will call me.

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And we've had Internet there since I graduated college, but
they'll call me and say, "What?

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What is this? Why does this keep coming up?" Or, "What is this
information?" So I became the technology guru of

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our family. So that's really how that kind of played out there,
too.

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But the passion really, it really shows through.

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And our agents and our teens, we've had a few [people] very
interested in this information because of the fact that

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it is rural access plus urban areas as well.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yes. And I think, you know, we all knew broadband was important,
or broadband access was important before.

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But then the pandemic came along and just, you know, drove that
point home.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
That's correct.

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Carrie Huckeby:
And so, I think all of us are working really hard in our state to
make sure that everyone has

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access. And you hit on a point about being in Virginia, not
having that access, and you felt like you were missing those

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opportunities to be connected out beyond your community or in
your community.

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And last year, the National 4-H Council and the Harris Poll,
they did put together a digital impact

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survey to look at those economic and social effects of broadband
access on teens and the

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communities that they live in.

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And as I read through the survey, as I said, it supported what
we're all saying anyway, that broadband is a necessity for

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so many reasons.

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But what really jumped out at me is something you just said.

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Teens with no broadband or unreliable broadband connection are
likely to stay within their community to look for

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work. And we've talked a lot about students that have broadband
access, get to

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look at all these opportunities or they get to work from home.

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They get to find a job and find something that they can do at
home and stay in the community they love but

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have access to other careers.

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So I was a little taken aback by this because I hadn't realized
that not having a broadband

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connection, that you feel like you're very limited, that you
maybe just have to stay in your community to look for work.

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So, touch on that a little bit.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
So, I'll just give you a personal example of the fact that my
ambition was to go to a local college.

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I was going to be a teacher.

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I was going to be a coach at my home high school, just because
it was one of those, at that time, I had never

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really experienced outside of southwestern Virginia.

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And it was one of those that because I didn't even have a cell
phone at that time.

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So imagine people are like, "Oh, my gosh, cell phones." I didn't
have one until it was almost college.

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And I was going to be going away and doing some different things
and traveling quite a bit.

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So my parents decided that it was time for me to have one.

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And I've had one since with the same phone number, which most
people are like, "you have the same phone number that you had the

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very beginning?" I said, "Yes, I have."

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Carrie Huckeby:
Hey, me too.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
See, it's one of those, but it's a rarity, I guess, because some
people are like, "Oh my gosh, how do you, you know, maybe you

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needed to get like.." If people need to get a hold of me,
there's no excuse of that.

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They have my cell phone number.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah, me too.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
But that whole part there of speaking to the limited access.

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So I just finished my dissertation, and it was focused in rural
Appalachia.

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And one of the biggest things that came from that research was
the outmigration of, you know, like, they

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call the term "brain drain" is what they call it.

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And when we send our brightest and smartest and things of that
nature who are traits, who

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have knowledge in those trades, and they found out that there
are more opportunities outside of there to make money, to

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start a family, to get more type of assistance if they need it.

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It's outside of the region.

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And that was one of the big things that when I started working
in the region, because I had already experienced travel

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and being able to go to other places at that time in college.

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And I was like, you know, I want to show these kids that, yes,
we do live in a great area of Virginia, but there are also some

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opportunities out there as well.

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So I started doing some some teen programing where I would take
them on trips and expose them to other

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cultures and to give them an idea of what our nation's capital
looked like, you know.

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So there were a lot of things that kind of motivated me with
that.

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And it really boils down to that digital access, I believe.

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Carrie Huckeby:
I think you're right, too, because whether they choose to stay in
their community or they choose to go, we want them

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to have the tools that they need to make that decision.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Absolutely.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah. You don't want them to be forced to make a decision because
they're doing without that knowledge.

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Was were there any other "aha moments" from that survey findings

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that you were surprised by, or anything that just confirmed what
you believed?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Everything, to be very honest, because I read through that as
well and looking into the

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information of that because people are like, you do know that
they did this.

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And I was like, obviously, I did not know that because it was
something that I kind of had gotten word about but didn't know

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completely about. But once I did look at it, and focus on the
fact that.

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We are hitting a very big opportunity for our 4-H'ers right now
and for our volunteers and our agents as well for

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this program. But that really just kind of justified it for me.

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When I was looking through this survey, it was just like, yes, I
grew up that way.

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I know exactly what you're talking about.

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And it was just one of those things that I kept talking through
my head as I was reading through those is, "Wow, this is amazing

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that they actually have some empirical evidence to be able to
prove that."

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yes, I read through it.

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And I think, as we've said before, there were things in there we
knew, and it just reaffirmed

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what we believe.

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But I sent it over to Pioneer, my account manager, and I said,
this is fantastic data.

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You know, we should use this to educate everyone and in our
social media post and get it out there.

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You know, it may be a best kept secret, but it's great
information.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
I love that.

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Carrie Huckeby:
The TNBA Marketing Committee had the opportunity to visit UT and
to be there.

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And we also, a couple of years – well I guess it's been three
years ago, pre-COVID – that we attended Round

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Up that event.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Oh yeah.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah we had a great time.

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But the last time we were up there, you shared some great news
about the National 4-H Council and a grant that you will

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be receiving for the digital literacy.

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Tell us about that: how you plan to use that and what good that
will do.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
So the grant is a one year grant.

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It's called the 4-H Tech Changemakers Grant.

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And it is the availability of funds for us to train and develop
teenagers,

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our training teams of teens, to go out into their communities
and train adults.

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Now, it can be a range from 18 to 99 and training them.

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But training them in STEM concepts to kind of break that digital
divide is what we're trying to do.

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We're trying to build that digital access.

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So we've also got some funding to be able to purchase some
materials and some training opportunities to be able to give out

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to our offices and our trainers to go out into their communities
and actually show

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individuals how to use digital concepts.

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And that could range from netiquette to just basic computer
skills.

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We have a lot, and I know this for a fact, we have a lot in Knox
County, and Knox County is one of the...

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And I live in Knox County now, but I know that there is quite a
bit of urban parts of Knox County, but there are

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really a lot of rural parts of Knox County that still have
populations that do not use Internet very

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well or very much because one out of fear, two out of access,
because there's still some limited access

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around the area.

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And three, most of them just think, you know, I read my newspaper
.

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I read the things that I have to have to get my news.

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I don't really need to need the Internet, but we're hoping to
build on some horizons of you've got

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opportunities to check out things at the grocery store before
you even make a trip to the grocery store.

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You can check out things at a department store that kind of even
shop online and be safe about that.

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And so we're trying to open those opportunities for those
individuals, and I use Knox County as an example.

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But we're trying to do that in all 95 counties throughout the
state.

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So we're opening this up to, we started it out with 20 trainers,
but I feel like we're going to have a few more than

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that when it comes to our teen opportunities, because we pay to
train them.

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We pay for them to get out there and do those lessons and do
those opportunities to get out

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there and really hopefully close that STEM gap and close that
digital divide.

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Carrie Huckeby:
So you did say that you hope to have it in all 95 counties.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Yes. It's an opportunity.

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I mean.

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It's an opportunity for everybody in all 95 counties.

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We'll say it that way. Now will we have all 95 counties the
first year, probably not.

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But our attempt is to have as big as a spread as we can when it
comes to this opportunity.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Okay. So you've got 20 trainers.

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Will those trainers go into each county and train 4-H students
to go

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out and work with anyone for between 18 and 99?

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Or how is that going to work in each county?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
That's a great question. So the trainers are actually the teens.

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So the teens will take, we'll put them.

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We have a curriculum that we do with training and development.

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I'm working with a couple of other of our state specialists to
get this training done.

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But we're going to train these trainers who are the teens, and
it's kind of a train the trainer type thing.

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They're going to go out, and they're then going to either teach
individually with their agent or team teach with their agent, or

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team teach with another team, and go out and do some of these
digital access curricula.

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So what we're working with is, we're working with another part
of a grant through Sreedhar, which Sreedhar has been

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very instrumental in a few things for us and developing some
very great digital access curriculum, and it's

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focused toward adults.

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So what we have to do is, we have to train these teens because
normally teens are really, they're focused on working with

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younger 4-H members.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Right.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Now, we're going the other direction.

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So we're having to train them how to work with adults.

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And so that's one thing that as a teen, I worked with adults
very well because I had adult volunteers.

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We had a very big adult volunteer base in my home county.

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And so I learned that difference.

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You know, fourth graders is a lot different than 37 year olds.

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So we're working on getting that information together to put a
great training together so they can go out and be those STEM

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ambassadors for this program.

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Carrie Huckeby:
So I live here in Warren County.

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And our extension office is here.

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And so how will you find those adults for the teens to work
with?

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How will you, will you go to the local senior center?

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Will you advertise it, market it and have people sign up?

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Or how will you find those students?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
It's a great question.

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So what we're going to be doing is we're going to be working on
community action plans.

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So the way that we're going to be working with that is, you
know, we may take them by a region.

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We may take them by an area.

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We're not really sure exactly because we're still working out
some of those kinks.

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But in developing, you know, who can you ask?

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Can you go to the library?

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Can you go to churches?

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Can you go to Ruritan or Kiwanis?

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Can you go to certain things and be able to say, "Hey, we have
this opportunity.

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We would love to bring it and share it with you." And that's
another thing that I think as a teen I would have

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appreciated to be able to learn how to identify who to reach out
to and how to reach out to them.

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And so we're hopefully going to be able to teach them how to
identify those individuals, our groups, and how to

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work with them to get something planned, where to go to, those
type things.

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Because I wish that I had been told earlier before I became a
4-H agent that, you know, the worst somebody can say is no.

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I mean, really. So that's one of those things that, you know,
most of the time when you attach a 4-H name to something,

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people are like, oh, yeah, I would really love to know more
about that.

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But the impact, I think, is going to be the biggest difference
there too, because we've got some really exciting lessons for

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them to work with.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah, I think it's a great opportunity.

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I know that I'm in between that 18 and 99 age group, and last
night I'm trying to clear my browsing history

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or clean out the cookies and things on my computer.

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And I was struggling with it.

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So, you know, I know the training's more basic with virus
protection and just how to use FaceTime or Zoom

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or things like that, but what a great opportunity for the
students to work with that

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demographic of the community.

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And, you know, just such a great learning experience for both.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Well, I think it's going to be an opportunity for them to
understand that technology for that older crowd has

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completely evolved for this younger crowd.

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And that's how, I mean, just looking at the opportunities, like
when I first had a cell phone.

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It didn't have Internet capability.

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It was just a cell phone.

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And then text messaging came along, and then the Internet kind
of connected to it.

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And now we have apps that do a lot of stuff for us.

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So that's the whole thing that I'm excited about.

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For them to see and understand that this has evolved a lot.

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Like I think that they see that it's evolved, but actually
experiencing it is going to be a total different experience

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though too.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Right. They've been raised with technology where someone like
myself remembers back in the early nineties when

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we were saying, "What's this Internet thing again?"

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Yes.

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Carrie Huckeby:
You know, and then we've just had to keep up – and try to keep
up – with the technology as it's gone along

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. Where it just comes natural to them.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Yeah, it's unreal how the difference of that, too.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yes. Fantastic.

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So after the year, this grant is for one year?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
That's correct.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Will the program go on after that one year or will you be trying
to find other ways to finance the program?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
It's a great question. So this is a grant available every year.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Okay.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
And so now, funding changes and funders change.

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But this is something that they feel is very important for
National 4-H Council, and we feel it's very important in

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Tennessee 4-H. So we're going to continue, our plans are to
continue this program for many, many years.

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Carrie Huckeby:
That's great. It sounds like too good of a thing to let it end 
after one year.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
I agree with you.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Fantastic.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
I definitely agree with you on that.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, I think we've said this to you before too.

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Many of the TNBA members, you know, we cover about a little over
30% of the state.

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And so if there's anything that we can do to be of help with
this program, don't hesitate to reach out and ask.

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We love to...

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
I will definitely be doing an ask.

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I'm just going to let you know that right now.

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Carrie Huckeby:
All right. Fantastic.

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I mean, we're all after the same thing is, you know, doing
better for our communities and reaching those people

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that that need broadband access, for sure.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Absolutely.

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Carrie Huckeby:
So, Daniel, as we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to
add about the 4-H program, or just what you love about what you

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do every day?

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
I tell you what I love about what I do every day is the "aha
moments" that kids and volunteers and even our agents

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get, especially when it comes to a concept of what we're talking
about.

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And I'll just use, for example, this.

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We have a STEM Steering Committee, 4-H STEM Steering Committee,
made of agents and regional program leaders now and a couple of

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specialists. But this is.

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We are in a very technology driven era right now.

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And to be able to hand something or to share something with a
kid with a professional, whatever, and them say,

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"Oh, wow." That's what I get up out of the bed every day for.

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And so I love being able to share that as a specialist.

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Camp is the same way.

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Performing arts is the same way, but STEM is really one of those
that there's a lot of impact out there right now, and we

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are really gaining some leeway when it comes to our STEM
programing.

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I'm hoping to grow this program statewide even more.

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Digital access is very important, but there's other parts of
STEM that I want to really focus on as well.

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We've developed a partnership with the College of Engineering on
UT's campus, and we're doing some outreach and grant writing with

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them. We're doing some other work with some other departments
right now to hopefully get some more

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collaboration going on as well.

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So we've got some exciting things coming down the pipe for us in
STEM.

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And I'm hoping that we can keep moving forward and not get set
back in it.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, you're certainly doing some great things that matter and
make a difference for sure.

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So I thank you for all you do Daniel.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Well, thank you so much.

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I love this opportunity.

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Hopefully, we can do this again after, and I can have some kids
and some agents be a part of this after we get kind of started.

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But I would love to be able to highlight what they're doing as
well.

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Carrie Huckeby:
That's a great idea.

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I love that.

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Dr. Daniel Collins:
Yes.

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Carrie Huckeby:
So my guest has been Dr.

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Daniel Collins, who is the state extension specialist with the
University of Tennessee.

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And you've been listening to Lee Tennessee Radio, produced by
the Tennessee Broadband Association, cooperative and independent

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00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:40,430
companies connecting our state's rural communities and beyond
with world class broadband.