Maria Barga is a Tech Educator serving Southern Maryland. Although Maria is new to her role, she is no stranger to UME. Throughout her youth, Maria was an active member of 4-H where she learned everything from how to raise and show sheep to different painting techniques. Before her role as a Tech Educator, Maria served Calvert County Extension as an Admin I, where she built and maintained the county website along with supporting different program areas by developing various marketing materials.
Maria started with Tech Extension February 26, 2023 and since has worked with 16 different organizations, reaching a total of 8,804 people, 1,054 of which were directly impacted. She has partnered with 4-H in Calvert County, Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maryland and The Arc to teach youth programs like Pixel Art in Google sheets and Storytelling with PowerPoint. Maria has also partnered with local government, libraries and senior centers to teach people how to set up their new HP Chromebooks and sign them up for the Affordable Connectivity Program that offers free or reduced home internet through the FCC.
Maria would also like to thank her teammates, Shelita, Blaise, Vishnu, Aziz and the Digital Navigation Team for their help at device distributions.