Martha McCormick
Founder & Convener of Next Step Adventure
For Martha McCormick, every step is an adventure. An exhilarating ride through food service, education and corrections led to her niche in youth development, starting in ISU Extension in the 1970s, where she took the 4-H philosophy of hands-on education to kids who were often excluded from traditional 4-H programs. For more than 30 years, her work involved program development, grant writing and project management, staff supervision and inspiration.
Throughout her career, Martha has used experiential education, teambuilding, storytelling and mind mapping to reflect on the past, gain insight and define the future. As a certified yoga instructor, she enthusiastically embraces the inclusion of yoga and acroyoga in the experiential education movement.
In 2006, she founded Next Step Adventure to extend her values of creativity, collaboration, and fun to organizations and individuals who were drawn to her leadership style. Martha has recently moved away from the day-to-day work, and toward figurehead status, long an aspiration of hers.
Martha is an Iowa transplant from California, but she’s flourished in Iowa since 1968 when she rode the train from LA to school at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon. After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1972, she moved across the state to Tama, then Ames, where she earned a Masters in Education from Iowa State University in 1980.
These days Martha explores the world through making art, gardening and yoga. Perhaps the greatest adventure is the addition of a granddaughter. Until she turned 4, June Rose spent at least a day a week with Martha while her mama tended a classroom of middle schoolers. Going to preschool has been a big change for everyone, but that’s how the next adventure starts, right?
Read the latest blog posts by Martha
- Teachers Going Green curriculum is here!
Last month Ashley M and I enjoyed a lunch meeting at the Trellis Cafe at the Des Moines Botanical Garden with Stephanie Harrington, Natural Resources Program Coordinator with ISU Extension, Polk County. Stephanie trains ISU Master Gardeners to work with … - Celebrate the Farm to School Movement
Kids and dirt go together, well like dirt on kids. These two kiddos are collecting roly polies in our raised bed garden. June has worked these beds since before she was one, but now she’s six, and her interest in … - Get ready to garden
“Getting ready for my first garden coaching gig since the pandemic.” That’s how I started this post back in March! Then this happened… … and this. My daughter and her partner got married the end of June in a “fast …
