September 2, 2025
Programming with a Purpose: A Fond Farewell and New Horizons Ahead
Submitted by K-State Extension Program Leader Coordinators
Sometimes we must know when to let things go. This week, our system bade farewell to an old model of Programming with a Purpose training as part of new agent onboarding. Thanks to the participating agents, we went out on a high note.
Several of your colleagues spent three days in Manhattan, gaining skills on a structured approach to program development, a key component of our mission to deliver research-based education and technical assistance to our stakeholders.
As part of the training, your peers took stock of the community in which they serve, the population that we aren't currently reaching with programming, and the tools available to them in the form of action plans and surveys in PEARS.
They developed personas to represent their opportunity audience and then adapted a signature plan for delivery in the local unit. Utilizing the logic model framework, they designed programs to help reach our state with education in landscape management, growing local foods, SHICK, volunteer training and water conservation (among others).
In Kansas, all of our extension work begins with understanding and documenting needs at the local level. We are proud of our Extension Operations Team and their willingness to take their own advice and undertake a needs assessment across our system related to new agent onboarding and local unit needs.
The results clearly showed that Programming with a Purpose content is needed earlier in the onboarding process, and we needed to let go of what isn't working in the current delivery model.
A point of emphasis here: Programming with a Purpose isn't going anywhere—we're reinvigorating it as part of a more comprehensive and effective onboarding experience.
Letting go of "how we've always done it" gives us the opportunity to craft training that will have an even bigger impact.
As you approach your action and program plans for the upcoming programming year and work to craft your work, we encourage you to take a pause and do some assessment. Here are some questions to ponder:
- What is the current situation with stakeholders and their needs in your unit?
- Do you really need to push "COPY" on last year's plans and programs, or has the time come to let something go?
- Can you build impact and connection by trying something new?
- And how will you embark on your own reinvigoration journey?
Written by K-State Extension Program Leader Coordinators:
Cheryl Boyer, Sharolyn Jackson, Sandy Johnson, Deborah Kohl, Sarah Maass, and Erin Martinez