Romania picks Kalispell man to lead 4-H program

Ben Frentsos of Kalispell is developing a 4-H youth program for an entire country.

His return to Romania, where he once volunteered with the Peace Corps, is part of a three-year fellowship in coordination with the National 4-H Council and Montana State University Extension.

“About 50 countries have 4-H-style programs,” Frentsos said. “Romania does not.”

Until recently, Frentsos served as the Montana State University 4-H youth development extension agent in Flathead County, a position he started in November 2017. He didn’t anticipate making a new career move so soon, but the opportunity wasn’t one to pass up and he had experience living in Romania.

“The National 4-H Council located in Washington, D.C. made contact with the MSU Extension after they had seen that newspaper article,” Frentsos said, referring to a 2017 Daily Inter Lake story about his position as the new extension agent and his experience working abroad.

“It’s kind of a bittersweet thing,” he said. “In two years working with the extension in Flathead County I’ve taken the time to get to know the 4-Hers’ families and community,” Frensos said. “I’m very fortunate. I had a lot to learn.”

With his understanding of Romania, Frentsos is hoping to have a head start.

“But there’s a lot of groundwork to cover — what exactly youth are interested in and how can 4-H provide opportunities that don’t exist,” he said.

Frentsos first left his hometown of Kalispell for Romania in 2008 to spend three years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English.

“It was certainly a chance to travel the world, but also connect myself to a larger purpose,” Frentsos said.

During his time in Romania, he met his wife, Mariana. After his time with the corps concluded, he stayed in the country longer for a teaching position at a private school.

The goal of the 4-H fellowship is to establish a self-sustaining youth-development program that becomes part of the “global 4-H network.” Eventually, Frentsos hopes to establish youth exchanges and connections between Montana and Romania.

He will first spend time assessing what the needs are — what Romanian youth are interested in and are involved in, what enrichment programs or after-school clubs exist, what activities may be a good fit and leadership/partnership interest from local adults and organizations.

Frentsos will be serving both city and rural populations.

“I’ll be in a city of 300,000 people, but in close proximity to very rural, very underserved ethnic groups in the countryside,” he said.

Frentsos said the program that comes out of the fellowship may not necessarily be called 4-H, but will have similar attributes using the 4-H “positive youth development” model. He said there is no shortage of 4-H activities in agriculture, science, engineering, math, healthy living and civic engagement opportunities.

“There’s a format that varies country to country. In some cases it looks nothing like the U.S. [program], or it may look very similar,” Frentsos said. “4-H does a very good job connecting a kid with a project.”

For now, Frentsos is a staff of one in Romania.

“We’re very much laying the groundwork that attracts enough interest so that after I’ve left others will take the reins,” he said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.