Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti listens in as Aiden Brokken talks about planning, designing, and building his robot in PowerSurge 4-H Robotics SPIN Club in Bloomington. (Photo courtesy of U of I Extension)

University of Illinois Extension and various community partners enjoyed a visit from Illinois Lt. Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti on her way through Bloomington-Normal this week.

She started by stopping for a tour of the Unity Community Center in Normal to discuss the progress of the current renovations and updates coming this fall to expand opportunities in the program.

The group including The Town of Normal and Town Council Members, Normal Rotary, Extension County Director, and Extension staff members toured the site, discussed the impact of Unity’s food distribution project, and took a walk through the production garden where many of our Unity youth grow food and worked in throughout various summer camps.

The team then arrived at the McLean County Extension Office to chat with the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel, ISU CeMaST program, Circuit Breakers Electricity 4-H SPIN Club & PowerSurge Robotics 4-H SPIN Club representatives, 4-H Teen Teachers, and more.

Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti chatted with 4-H Teen Teachers Akhila Mattapalli, Christivie Nzengo, Sky Holland, and Jennifer Velazquez about their leadership experiences with youth and involvement at the Unity Community Center in Normal. (Photo courtesy of U of I Extension)

The day ended with discussions of how each represented group is working to increase collaboration and opportunities for STEM into their businesses, schools, and after-school programming throughout McLean County and beyond.

For more information on projects like this, please contact or visit us online at go.illinois.edu/LMW.

—-  Lt. Governor Sanguinetti visits with local Extension office  —-