Wisconsin youth raise their voices to impact peer mental health

Before becoming an anthropology student at UW–Madison, Decilyn Clark was part of the Raise Your Voice Club at Merrill High School. “I joined Raise Your Voice my sophomore year after COVID because things were getting a little weird around that time,” said Clark. She initially signed up because she was a mental health advocate and […]

All in favor, say woof! Co-op model helps ensure a veterinary business’s future

With retirement on the horizon, veterinarians John Dally, Ann Vetter and Mark Baenen wondered what would become of the two Wisconsin clinics they co-owned. They hoped Spring Green Animal Hospital and Mazomanie Animal Hospital would continue to serve future generations of pets, but they knew that many younger veterinarians don’t have the desire or financial […]

Four seated GenteFuerte participants deeply focused on holding their weights in front of them.

StrongBodies Empowers Community Health Leaders

English | Español StrongBodies classes at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center in Milwaukee are offered completely in Spanish. Known as GenteFuerte, the classes are designed to improve strength, endurance, balance and flexibility, important for keeping one’s body working well as one ages. Carmen Bambrila, a volunteer leader, said, “Personally, I am very grateful to […]

StrongBodies/GenteFuerte potencia a los líderes de la salud de la comunidad

English | Español Las clases de ejercicio StrongBodies en el Sixteenth Street Community Health Center en Milwaukee se dictan totalmente en español. La versión de estas clases hechas en español se llama GenteFuerte, y son diseñadas para mejorar la fuerza, la resistencia, el equilibrio y la flexibilidad, todos importantes para mantener el buen funcionamiento físico […]

UW-Madison Units Partner to Provide Long Term Support for the Wisconsin State Climatology Office

UW–Madison Extension is partnering with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and its Center for Climatic Research (CCR) as well as the College of Letters and Science’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) by providing funding to support the Wisconsin State Climatology Office (SCO) into the future. Specifically, the Division of Extension will provide […]

Connecting campus to communities with Extension’s Northwoods Forum

As part of UW–Madison’s 175th Anniversary, Extension held a special forum in Lac du Flambeau on May 7, 2024, to bring campus and communities closer in dialog on issues affecting Northern Wisconsin. Fittingly for the anniversary theme, Extension brought together 175 elected officials, government administrators, non-profit leaders, and others from northern Wisconsin. The Extension Northwoods […]

The role of caring adults in positive youth development: 4-H Volunteers impact youth mental health

Lisa Sprangers, a 4-H volunteer in Outagamie County, first met 4-H member Lily Schwartz when they served together on the Wisconsin 4-H Leadership Council. Sprangers remembers when they were initiated as co-presidents of the Council, “We were going up on stage and Lily looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know what am I doing.’ […]

The Swiss Army knives of their communities – Municipal Clerks handle more than just elections

While running elections is an important role for municipal and county clerks, that’s not the only thing they do. Ann Hempel, elected to serve as the part-time Municipal Clerk for the Town of Unity in 2023, estimates that running elections for the 513 people who live in her township is only 5% of her clerk […]

What’s next for the family farm: Resources help when making decisions

Christine Bender remembers the moment 10 years ago when she told her parents she wanted to come back and farm long-term. “My mom started to cry because she was so happy,” Bender said. In the decade since Bender and her family created a succession plan, they’ve had many discussions about working together. Now she serves […]

Feeding Wisconsin Kids Locally Grown Food: Recommendations to strengthen farm-to-school supply chains

Farm to school programs provide kids access to nutritious, high-quality, local food while creating market development opportunities for local farmers. Yet, a new study by UW–Madison Extension and the UW–Madison School of Human Ecology shows that not all local farmers have equal access to this economic opportunity. This is especially true of historically underserved farmers, […]