Florida 4-H, Apple collaboration inspires youth to pursue tech careers

At South Walton Academy in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, future engineers are at work.  

 Before beginning her class, many of Misty Williams’s students would have said they couldn’t even imagine a future career in technology. But today, they’re coding robots. 

Williams, program director of the 4-H STEM Lab at South Walton Academy, teaches kindergarten through 12th-grade students how to use modern software and hardware, exploring subjects like coding, robotics and animal husbandry. 

The transformation in her students has been made possible through the Florida 4-H Clovers CODE program, a collaboration between Florida 4-H and Apple. As part of Apple’s Community Education Initiative, the company provides hardware, software and training to Florida 4-H educators. The program has launched in six Florida counties – Clay, Collier, Miami-Dade, Osceola, Palm Beach and Walton – connecting youth at 14 schools, community centers, clubs and other settings to cutting-edge software tools.  

Apple has a long history in education and a deep commitment to supporting educational opportunities for young learners. This summer, Apple announced the expansion of its support for 4-H, with programming now available in Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan and North Carolina. Between 2019 and the end of summer 2024, Apple-supported 4-H programs reached thousands of educators and close to 100,000 young people across those states. 

 “At Apple, we believe that technology is a powerful tool to inspire creativity and open doors to countless new opportunities for students of all ages,” said Stacy Erb, director of Apple’s Community Education Initiative. “We’re so thrilled to support the Florida 4-H Clovers CODE program, which is making learning even more fun, accessible, and engaging for students across the state." 

The collaboration is integrating traditional agricultural education with state-of-the-art technology, Williams said. It began last school year and has introduced more than 800 elementary and middle school students to the basics of coding, robotics and graphic design while also incorporating traditional 4-H components like raising baby chickens from eggs – and then using technology to enhance that work. They use new software to achieve this, including iPad, Scratch Jr., Sphero and Draw With Me. 

For example, her students complete a lesson on breeding chickens that includes research into incubation and chicken breeds and incorporates drawing the breeds of chickens on iPad with Draw With Me. Students are learning to document their research and observations, blending hands-on activities with digital tools. 

The program bolsters student academic achievements while preparing them for the future workforce, especially with an agricultural context where technology and traditional agricultural methods are increasingly intertwined. 

It has also helped students in rural communities build their future in a rapidly changing technological workforce. 

“This collaboration empowers young Floridians with the skills to thrive in the 21st century,” said Brent Broaddus, Florida 4-H statewide STEM specialist. “This collaboration fosters innovation, critical thinking and digital literacy by blending traditional agriculture with cutting-edge technology. This holistic approach ensures that all students, regardless of background, have equal access to a future filled with endless possibilities.” 

High school students are benefiting from Keynote presentations, where they explore college and career paths, including vocational opportunities, and create detailed plans for their future success. 

Middle schoolers, in particular, have shown significant progress with digital technology through the Everyone Can Code materials, a set of resources that teaches coding from kindergarten to college. This initiative has boosted their confidence and engagement, serving as a behavior modifier and reward system, and it has boosted their creativity and problem-solving skills they utilize in other challenging classes, Williams said. 

“It’s like a lightbulb has gone off. They’re all business; they’re ready to learn,” she said. “We see their confidence and work ethic translating to other classes like math, science and English, as well.” 

The programming includes a wide range of activities, from agri-business projects like a food truck challenge, where students develop a menu, logos and business plan, to robotics with Sphero products provided through the collaboration. For the youngest students and students with developmental delays, introducing programs that teach them block coding and multi-step directions helps with increasing active engagement time and interest in learning. 

“Having the Apple resources through our Florida 4-H program has shifted our school in a direction we didn’t think was possible.” Williams said.