The SDSU Extension office is pleased to announce that Michael J. Koranda has filled the role of 4-H Youth Program Advisor March 1. Michael will be shared between Bon Homme and Charles Mix Counties and when in Charles Mix, he will office at Courthouse in Lake Andes. He will be in office on Mondays and Thursdays with a rotating Tuesday. You are all invited to stop by and welcome him back to the area.

Michael is the son of Irene (Varilek) and late Donald Koranda of Tabor, SD. He brings 23 years of teaching experience from working with impoverished rural students to working with large school districts as a subject matter expert in the field of education. Once Michael gets settled and is able to take stock of all that is available to do his job, we expect that you will find him in the community and area schools providing programing to our local youth.

After graduating from BHHS in 1993, Michael attended Black Hills State University where he earned a degree in Elementary Education and Vocal Music Teaching. He then left South Dakota and began a 23-year career in education by moving to California where he taught Elementary School and earned his Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. His career in education has provided him many opportunities to impact the lives and education of students living in California, Colorado, and Minnesota where he had achieved the title of Master Teacher. Finally, in his last role in education, he worked for a not-for-profit assessment organization out of Portland, OR where his expertise in student goal setting, differentiated instruction, and coaching districts in strategic planning provided him opportunities to support educators from around the world.

When asked what he hopes to bring to the role of 4-H Youth Program Advisor he said, “I want to impact the world.” With that goal stated, he brings a desire to grow more opportunities to promote positive youth development. He hopes his passion for developing young people to be empowered, confident, hard-working, responsible and compassionate will not only impact their lives today however achieve his goal of impacting the world tomorrow.

You can contact Michael at michael.koranda@sdstate.edu or the Extension Office at (605) 487-7666.