Apple spotlights how its technology is helping 4-H

As part of its Community Education Initiative, Apple says that its work with 4-H programs has reached over 90,000 young people from communities across the US that are traditionally underrepresented in technology.

The Community Education Initiative (CEI) started in 2019 in a partnership with Tennessee State University. It began with the aim of exposing students at historically black colleges and universities, to opportunities in app development.

Since then, Apple's CEI has expanded, with the company saying in 2022, that it was then working with over 600 communities around the world. Now in a new profile of its CEI ambitions, Apple says that it is presently working with tens of thousands of students, across all 50 states, plus 99 other countries and regions.

For one example, Apple says a 4-H — "Head, Heart, Hands, and Health" — mobile classroom is housing kids learning to code in Swift. They do it to then drive Sphero robots, controlled via iPads.

"It was really cool, and I especially liked working with the robots and drawing on iPad," says 12-year-old Jobie Thinthapthai, who is learning about medical technology, too. ""Medicine is constantly advancing with technology, so learning about that can help with my future."

"And it's the same with 4-H," continued Thinthapthai, "technology is giving us more tools to use with our projects, so we're learning skills that we can use later on in life."

That mobile classroom is run by a team of 4-H educators, including Mark Light. Previously a civil engineer, he now leads STEM programming in Ohio for 4-H.

"Technology is a big part of 4-H, and when kids pick up an iPad or Apple Pencil on the bus, it becomes the spark that gets them excited about learning new skills," he says. :I love when we have parents saying 'It's time to get off the bus and go on fair rides,' and the kids don't want to leave because they're so engaged."

Apple's CEI is also supporting STEM work a partnership with Rutgers University-Newark and 4-H clubs through the 4-H Computer Science Pathways project.