"Cultivating Workforce Development and Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Mobile Human Sciences Camp Initiative for Rural Arkansas Youth" will allow University of Arkansas faculty members and students from four areas in the School of Human Environmental Sciences to teach tangible life skills to high school students in smaller communities.

The project is funded through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Secondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants Program for 2025-27. The project is in collaboration with Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, and the grant is for $150,000.

The School of Human Environmental Sciences is housed in U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

The interdisciplinary project is led by project PI Eunjoo Cho, professor and assistant dean of Bumpers College's Honors Program, and project co-PI Sarah Hixson, assistant professor, both from the apparel merchandising and product development program.

"It has long been my desire to create an interdisciplinary project in collaboration with a colleague from each unit in our school," Cho said. "I'm thrilled it has finally come to life. As a project leader, I am truly excited to launch our new community outreach program dedicated to empowering youth in rural communities."

"I'm ecstatic to see this project build from what Stephanie Hubert (senior instructor in apparel merchandising and product development) envisioned and to strengthen connections between our disciplines and within our state," Hixson said. "From working and attending camps as a kid to hosting them, especially in the town where I went to high school, is an exceptional experience. Working with my mom, Susan West, is another gift I'm grateful this experience provides. I hope to give all of our future mentors and campers the same joy and fulfilling memories."

The project team will co-teach service-learning courses in summer 2026 in Russellville and 2027 in Ozark. Undergraduate students in the course will design camp activities and serve as camp mentors. The dual approach enhances leadership and service experience for undergraduates while providing mentorship and role models for high school participants.

"This initiative aims to provide meaningful educational opportunities that will help young people discover their motivations and learn about potential career paths in human sciences," Cho said. "We hope to inspire young Arkansans to reach their full potential and make a long-lasting impact on the next generation."

Other project leaders are Nick Johnston, assistant professor from hospitality management, and Mallori Roberts, Didactic Program in Dietetics director, from the human nutrition and dietetics program. West, associate professor in tourism at Arkansas Tech University, is collaborating as a sub-awardee.

The partnership with Arkansas Tech University extends campus reach to the River Valley by utilizing spaces on ATU's campus and providing opportunities for communities surrounding Russellville and Ozark. West has hosted several camps for young girls over the years on Arkansas Tech's campus.

"Arkansas Tech University is both honored and thrilled to welcome the upcoming USDA-funded Mobile Human Sciences Camp to our campus," West said. "This is a program rooted in innovation, learning and the spirit of community partnership. This camp holds special meaning as my daughter, Dr. Sarah Hixson, returns to the very place where the original idea first sparked when she was a teenager. Seeing that early inspiration grow into a fully realized program that now empowers the next generation is truly remarkable. We're grateful to the USDA and the University of Arkansas for supporting experiential learning opportunities that align with ATU's mission of education, discovery and service to Arkansas."

The camps will provide hands-on, experiential learning activities in key areas of human sciences (apparel, hospitality and nutrition) with a special focus on entrepreneurship and waste reduction from food and textile industries. Participants will be prepared to perform professional competencies benefiting Arkansas students, families and their communities.

The mobility of the camp provides rural students with access to university resources without traveling to Fayetteville. Goals include advancing curriculum in human sciences; enriching immersive, hands-on learning experiences; and increasing interest in pursuing a bachelor's degrees among high school students through meaningful, lasting connections to HESC, Bumpers College and the U of A. The camps will help prepare high school students for careers in human sciences and help them learn how to reduce textile and food waste in Arkansas and globally.

"This camp gives young people in smaller communities a chance to discover just how creative and meaningful careers in human sciences can be," Johnston said. "We are proud to offer an experiential learning model that not only supports rural youth, but also strengthens local workforce development and expands applied learning opportunities for our undergraduates. By working together on challenges like food and textile waste, students will see how hospitality, nutrition and apparel connect to everyday life and community well-being, and that their ideas can make a positive difference in their own hometowns right now, not just someday in the future."

"As the nutrition faculty member on this project, I'm really excited about the opportunity to connect what we teach in the classroom to meaningful, real-world experiences for students," Roberts said. "This project allows us to reach rural communities, introduce high school students to the many career paths within human sciences and help them build lifelong skills in areas like nutrition, hospitality, apparel and leadership. I'm excited to see our undergraduate students serve as mentors and role models while making a lasting impact in Arkansas communities."

The project is an expansion of a SEAM Studio funded by a U of A Women's Giving Circle $20,000 grant in 2024 (PI Hubert and co-PI Hixson). Students in AMPD completed a SEAM (Sewing Entrance Academy Mentorship) special topics course by hosting a week-long camp for students aged 5-13 at the Webb Community Center in Hot Springs.

"The collaboration between HESC and Arkansas Tech University and its campuses will strengthen community ties across the state," Cho said. "This statewide network will create pathways for young Arkansans and cultivate leadership skills for undergraduate students. We will deliver a hands-on program that meets local needs and fosters community engagement."

The work is supported by the Secondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants Program, project award No. 2025-38414-45275, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.