The Busy Life of Extension

The Busy Life of Extension

                  

My first month and a half at the Daviess County Extension Office has been a busy one! Although I am an Agriculture and Natural Resource Intern, I have been working in all areas of Extension.  I have had the opportunity to attend 4-H banquets and camp, work at a local Fresh Market at the Owensboro hospital, spend a day with a plant pathologist looking at horticultural plant diseases, and so much more.  Through my experience with Extension I have learned and come to love that there is no one day like the other.  Every day I look forward to coming into the office to see and serve new faces throughout the community. 

                  

Below, I have listed and described some of the events I have taken part in this summer to give you an inside scoop on what is happening in the Daviess County Extension Office:

Plant Pathologist Visit

During the first few weeks of my internship I had the opportunity to spend the day with the Daviess County Horticulture Agent, Annette Heisdorffer, and the UK Extension Plant Pathologist, Dr. Emily Pfeufer.  We spent the day in west Daviess County looking at several producers’ vegetable crops including mostly peppers, tobacco, cabbage, and cucumbers.  I was surprised to learn how many acres of vegetable crops Daviess County produces! Dr. Pfeufer taught me many horticultural plant diseases that I know will be useful in the future as a county agent.    

Agent Training

A couple of weeks ago, Clint and I went to the Princeton Research Station for an agent training.  During training, we went out into the fields to learn about wheat diseases that county agents could be seeing soon.  The agents were also taught how to record applications for the 2015 Wheat Yield Contest and how farmers should be sidedressing corn.  The agent training was a great way for agents to be updated on what diseases could be seen in the fields and also what the agents should be doing throughout the summer months. 

Rooster Booster

The Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce hosts a Rooster Booster breakfast the first Thursday of every month.  Many businesses throughout Owensboro come together to see what accomplishments are being made in the community. It is also a great way for the people of Owensboro to see what events are coming up to be a part of.  Being an Owensboro native, I really enjoyed attending the Rooster Booster and it was even more exciting being able to represent the Daviess County Extension Office!

Fresh Market

Local food and produce is becoming very popular everywhere but especially in the Daviess County area.  I had the opportunity to attend a local event at the Owensboro Regional Hospital called “Fresh Market” to help advocate healthy eating and buying local food and produce.  The Daviess County Extension Office set up a booth to give out several Kentucky Proud recipe cards and samples of the famous “Watermelon Tomato Salad”.  It was a huge success!

Plot Plantings

One of the unique things that the Daviess County Extension Office does is variety trail plots.  Many farmers in Daviess County volunteer a portion of their land for the Extension Office to plant different varieties of seed for research.  Daviess County currently plants about 20 different corn and soybean variety trials. Since I have started working at the Extension Office I have been able to help with about 10 plots.  It has been great being able to go out in the agricultural community in Daviess County and meet farmers!

4-H Camp 

Although I am an agriculture intern, I had the 4-H Camp experience in Dawson Springs.  I had a great time with the kids during the week! I also had the opportunity to help the Daviess County 4-H Program Assistant teach a Mad Science class.  We performed several different science experiments with the kids and also made brain hats! Working with the 4-H program has been as awesome experience this summer and has opened my eyes about one day possibly pursuing a 4-H Extension position.  

                  

In conclusion, my summer here at the Daviess County Extension Office has been an excellent one for sure. I have had many opportunities and have learned so much in just weeks.  Being able to work in my home county has been such a blessing and I could not ask for a better internship experience. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the summer has in store for me! GO CATS! 

My Experience so Far

I am now a little over half way through this internship and I have been very fortunate and have gotten to work with 4-H, FCS, and ANR. I’ve really gotten to see several different sides of extension and become more familiar with areas I wasn’t aware even existed. This internship has been an incredible experience and has done nothing but reassure me that extension is where I want to be, it has however made me question which area of extension I want to be a part of. 4-H will always be something I love and enjoy being involved with, but Ag is also incredibly gratifying.  I’ve been working with Marion Counties Ag agent and going to farm visits and field days which have really shown me the impact extension can have on someone. Ag agents can help a struggling farmer to produce better products or increase their income just enough so they can survive when without extension the family farm might have gone under. Extension has real world impact, with 4-H you can help youth develop skills or help their confidence grow, FCS works to improve people’s lives through health, finance, and development of skills, and ANR helps people produce better products and improve practices. It is absolutely amazing all of the things that Cooperative Extension can do for people, but at the same time it’s also impressive how little most people utilize the services that extension provides. The people who do utilize extension are working to improve themselves in some way and the agents who provide their time and expertise want nothing more than for that person to succeed, and that’s why I want to be an extension agent.

The past seven weeks have been some of the most hectic weeks of my life but I have enjoyed every minute of it with the exception of spraining my knee, but other than that it has been absolutely amazing. I can honestly say that I never know what is going to happen the next day even though I have a calendar filled with events and programs that are planned weeks in advance; I just never know what will actually be going on until I walk in the office the next day. In fact last Wednesday my calendar said I would be in the office supervising a craft class, doing early entries for the fair, attending a program council meeting, and doing a program on the radio, in reality I was on the radio and attended the program council meeting, and spent the afternoon visiting dairy farms. It’s a good thing a keep a pair of jeans and work boots in my office because I don’t think my khakis and flip-flops would have cut it. My inability to know just what is happening next might be because I have been working with all of the agents in Marion County, but it seems that with extension there is always something unexpected happening and you have to just go with it. There is always something new and interesting happening, this is not a boring desk job. This job can be challenging and forces you to think and learn, which is another reason I want be an extension agent.    

Camp!

As a former staff member, of course I'm dedicating one whole blog post to 4-H Camp.  Last week, Mercer and Jessamine county attended North Central 4-H camp.  Camp has ALWAYS been a major part of my summer. (13 years actually.) But this year is taking it's toll on me because for the time in all of my camping experience, I will not be camping a J.M. Feltner 4-H in London.  Last week was the first time I had ever camped at NC. And let me tell ya, they are WAY different from other.

I felt like a first year camper last week because I had absolutely no clue where anything was at that camp. I was a little hesitant about attending a camp I had never been to before, but it turned out to be not so bad after all. So my advice, go in with an open mind and it'll make for a better week.

Mercer and Jessamine have an amazing camping program and my favorite part is how well they utilize Outpost. Those campers get a totally different experience from the rest and they bond with each other so much more.

I love camp. I will always love camp no matter what camp I go to in years to come. This will be the best week of your summer, in my opinion.  💚

Life As A Double Agent: Part 2

           My favorite part of extension thus far: Everyday is different! When I go to the office I know that I will not be doing the same thing that I did the day before, in fact I will most likely do something that I have never done before. It is always an adventure! The best way for me to show you an example of that would be to give you a run down of my past two weeks. So here it goes.

           Day one of past two weeks. On the first day I worked with the FCS agent and the SNAP assistant on a nutrition class. This class takes place every other day, for three days, once a month and is focused on each part of MyPlate. Many women attend this class. These women have very different backgrounds and lives, but they all seem to enjoy the class. On the second day of the week I learned how to make homemade blueberry jam, blueberry cream cheese poundcake and can and freeze blueberries. Cooking has always been a favorite of mine, as well as eating, but I hadn't ever had the opportunity to make homemade jam or can. I truly loved this experience and look forward to doing more elaborate canning. On the third day we had another nutrition class. On the fourth day we went to Bowling Green to take part in a craft day with other surrounding county FCS Agents. At this craft day I learned to make alcohol ink tiles. I made the ink tiles in to a set of drink coasters for my sister and her fiancé. They were super cute, fun and easy to make! On the fifth day we had another nutrition class. 

            The second week was a 4H Project Day camp. This week was literally crazy! We had around 25 children participate in day camp, the ages varied from 7-17. It can sometimes be a challenge to find things that can keep children occupied for seven hours straight with such a wide age range, but we were very successful and the children seemed to have a blast! So many things happened during this week that it will probably be easiest for me to sum up the week as a whole rather than by each day. We made TONS of crafts (which I absolutely loved)! A list of the crafts we made are as follows: silhouette paintings, alcohol ink tiles, random paintings on canvas, our own canvases, lamps, peg boards, birdhouses, wood burnings, plaques, pot holders, skirts and backpacks, para chord bracelets, and tie dye t-shirts. Aside from all the crafts we did we also cooked, baked and make ice cream. There were also many special guests there! We had local horse owners bring in their horses to teach about horse safety, education and give horse rides. There were lessons about the weather from a former local high school science teacher and also lessons about the trees and leaves from a local fish and wildlife conservationist. Each day I learned something new and went home exhausted! Although it was exhausting it was well worth it! Being an extension intern is hard work, but I am very lucky to have this opportunity and I truly love it. 

Clovers, Cows and Champions

The last couple of weeks have been full of many different programs and events. Last Monday was the start of Fair Week and I got to help set of the Livestock barn and then later that day we opened floral hall to take entries for 4-H projects. The day ended with judging all the different entries, which is something that I have never done before. It is amazing to see all the projects the 4-Her's have done! The next day was the youth dairy show and I got to help do entries and keep placings in order. Wednesday was the open dairy show, poultry and rabbit show which I got to help prepare for some of the events that day. Friday I helped with weigh ins for the goats and got some great pictures of all the showman. The last day of Fair week was the Beef show and livestock sell which went really well.

 Monday of the this week I worked on an activity for the upcoming team meeting for camp. With this being my first time at camp it was really fun on Tuesday to meet all the teen volunteers and hear their past experiences.

Late Nights in Boone County

The past week and a half has been... "disjointed", I would say. The beginning of the week had me preparing for our Junior Counselor training. I planned a role playing activity so that the teens could react to situations and plan for difficulties while at camp. After this, I taught the roller coaster physics workshop that I will be doing at camp as well. The counselors enjoyed it immensely, and it was a great team building activity. The training lasted until around 8:30 PM, so I definitely got the full agent experience by being in the office from 8:00- 8:30.

I accompanied the agriculture agent to an equine field day on Tuesday. It was held in California Kentucky, and I assisted by identifying pasture weeds and speaking about them. This event lasted until 8:30 PM as well, and because of the drive I did not get home from work until 9:30 that evening. Needless to say, I was tired the next few days in the office.

This week has been much more routine, perhaps the calm before the storm of 4-H camp next week. I assisted one of the 4-H agents by picking up donated textiles at a resident's home, and I also made copies of some publications on carpet beetles, silverfish, and larder beetles. I am expecting the supplies for my project to come in any day now, and once they arrive I will be able to work on it during any sort of down time that I may have. I am doing an insect collection for the office to use when farmers or residents come in with insects to be identified. I think it will be a good tool for the office to have once I leave, and it will be an educational experience for me as I work on it.

Tonight I have the 4-H teen leadership club meeting, which I am looking forward to, and then the Boone County Farm Tour is on Saturday.

Until next week-

Catching Up!

Wow! The past few weeks have been crazy but a blast! I am slightly behind on my blogs so I am going to try to catch you up on all of the fun we have been having!

The first week of June we held our two camper orientations at a local elementary school; one for returning campers and one for new campers. This is where they signed up for their classes that they would take during the week of camp and were briefed on what to expect, bring, etc. Jessamine County had a total of 235 campers this year! The rest of this week we worked on fitting kids into cabins by grade, schools, and cabin requests. This was challenging but was similar to a giant logic puzzle so I found it to be really fun! We also went to North Central 4-H camp during this week to meet with the camp staff and camp manager to go over our camp schedule and requests we each had for the camping week. We were now ready to head to camp! But wait... State Teen Conference!

The next week of June was the Kentucky State Teen Conference. I had attended this conference for many years as a delegate and it was great to see a different side of it as an intern. Over the following weekend my supervisor Cathy & I met at Walmart around 8 one morning and did the last minute shopping trip for camp. Two full shopping carts later... NOW we were ready for camp.

June 15^th-19^th was our camping week. I have camped with Jessamine County for over half of my life and this camping program has always been very special to me and many others in my community. It was a great opportunity for me to see everything that goes into making camp happen and how to run a successful week of camp. We had quite a bit of rain but things kept moving and we still had safe and happy campers and that’s all that matters!

Through the everyday activities, programs, and community interactions that the support staff, program assistants, and agents provide, my favorite thing I have taken away so far is how important these County Extension Offices are. The support staff, program assistants, and agents truly work to bring a community closer and find the good where there could be bad. It makes me so happy to see how each person in this office cares for this community.

Aubrey Clark

A Fair-ly Good Time

By: Cole Bell

     The last two weeks I have been in and out of the office so much I feel like we need a revolving door. I devoted a lot of time to my summer project.  I made a fact sheet to be distributed at farmers market that explains the true meaning of many of the labels that are used to market food.  This project benefits agriculture, horticulture, and family & consumer sciences areas.  Saturday, June 20^th I was at the Paducah Farmers Market from 9am-2pm.  I distributed the fact sheet and talked to visitors of farmers market about Extension. I also filled seed envelopes with Sunflower seed to be given away. 

     I spent several hours last week setting up and arranging for floral and vegetable horticulture entries as well as the 4-h displays.  Then this week I got to be a part of the judging of the horticulture entries.  It was very neat to see all of the volunteers come together to help get all of the entries checked in and entered.  I got to spend some time talking to some of the volunteers and participants in the horticulture division. 

     Tuesday I got to be a part of the McCracken County Extension Horticulture Council Meeting.  The meeting began at 10:30 at Kirchoff’s Bakery & Deli; I had the opportunity to meet some great Horticultural enthusiasts from McCracken County.   Once the meeting was over we all had great fresh sandwiches prepared by the Kirchoff Deli.  Then I had a quick trip over to the Master Gardeners Plot to check on the progress there before coming back to the office.

     Wednesday I was helping with the McCracken County Cattle show at the fair from 9am-2:30pm. Then I got back to the office and had some plants that were brought in by homeowners so I took a look at those with the horticulture agent, along with this week’s samples from the spotted wing drosophila.  After looking at the spotted wing drosophila samples we went to look at a homeowner’s vegetable garden to see if we could find why their plants were dying.  We think we may have figured out why but we wanted to send some plants to the lab before we let the homeowners know.   

     This Thursday Family & Consumer Sciences is having a canning class that I plan to join in with, this class will last all day but later in the day I will be making my way to Calloway County for 4-H camp counselor meetings.  The last six weeks of my internship occur in Calloway County and the first six weeks have been in McCracken County.  Calloway County’s camp isn’t until July 7^th, but this will be my second week at West Kentucky 4-H camp and I can’t wait to go back. 

     I have quickly learned that there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything.  One day I was with our horticulture agent we didn't finish home visits until 5:00 pm, but I have enjoyed every minute of my time here at McCracken County and I wish I didn't have to leave.  I am sure I will have just as good of a time in Calloway County though! 

Busy Intern!

I can't believe it's been over three weeks since I've posted, but I guess that's what happens when you're a busy extension intern! The past few weeks I've been able to participate in so many amazing programs, events, and celebrations. It's an exciting time at the office for a number of reasons. Most recently, our 4-H agent has retired. Not only is the process of selecting a new agent in place, but the others agents must carry the 4-H workload until someone is hired. Consequently, the Ag agent and I attended 4-H camp in place of our retired counterpart. What an interesting, fun, and exhausting experience. All I can say is that I wish I had as much energy as the kids. Regarding the Family Consumer Science area, I have been busy doing demonstrations at the Meade County Farmers' Market, attending homemaker events, and working on my upcoming plant-based nutrition class. Stay tuned for more updates on the Meade County Extension Office!

The Newbie

I started my internship at the Oldham County Cooperative Extension office two weeks late. During those two weeks, I was study dietetics and family & consumer science in Seoul, South Korea. I studied at Seoul National University with nine other UK students.  The massive amount knowledge I gained during my adventure has broadened my mind. Now that I’ve started my internship, I’m able to make valuable comparisons between the two cultures.

It didn’t take long for me to be acclimated into the office. The staff is great and I enjoy their company.  I suffered from serious jetlag my first week back, but some how I managed to help my agent, Chris Duncan, prepare for the annual homemakers meeting and take photos during the event. I spent the entire next day preparing for 4-H camp. Before starting this internship, I had never heard of 4-H camp, but colossal the piles of 4-H binders, boxes, name tags and info sheets told me that it was a big deal. Now, I can’t wait for camp. The entire office as put in 120% effort to make sure that camp runs smoothly at Lake Cumberland. I’m secretly hoping that camp is similar to what I’ve seen on television. You know the, smores, campfires, the game etc.

The following week I went to the LaGrange community center for an after school snack program. I made roll-up mozzarella cheese sandwiches with the students and participated in their games. This program is every other Friday. I also attended the Dare To Care program with my agent. This program serves low-income families and partners with local companies to distribute food to those in need. Since this is national dairy month, we did a demonstration on cheese. We had several kinds of cheese for each person to try. Later, we made a cucumber dip and served it on crackers. I really enjoyed the dip and even took some home for my family to sample. Our Horticulture agent, Tracy, brought squash and zucchini plants for our audience to take home. There were a few plants let over so I was able to take two plants home. I was so excited. I felt like a farmer.

Overall, I have gained a better understanding of how the cooperative extension office works and what it does for the community. I am confident that I will be able to apply the lessons I have learned here to my future course work as a dietetic student.

Preparing for the Fair!

If you like excitement, come to the Garrard County Extension office in June! I've done a little bit of everything so far this month and I think this has been the very best learning experience. From crafting with kids, to crafting with adults, cooking classes and everything in between there hasn't been a moments rest but that's all part of the fun.

So the very first day of June , I was charged with leading the monthly cooking class. We prepared six different summer drinks. I'll admit , I was a little out of my element. I have never done anything like that before in my life. So with 14 pairs of eyes on me, I clumsily measured out tablespoons of honey, added a little too much lemon juice and served up a rather sour lemonade. It's a different kind of pressure preparing food or beverages in front of an audience. Luckily, there was an evening class, and I decided mid day to let my inner Rachael Ray out to redeem myself. And by 7 o'clock , I had learned a thing or two about keeping my nerves in check and preparing a proper smoothie. Everyone seemed to enjoy the drinks and I enjoyed getting to know some of the Homemakers. I'm very thankful for their patience!

This was my favorite :
Try It!

Fresh and Fruity Party Punch

2 cans frozen cranberry/raspberry juice concentrate

2/3 the water called for on the juice concentrate

3 ( 6oz) cans pineapple juice

2 liter bottle of lemon lime soda – chilled

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 cup frozen blueberries

Mix frozen juice concentrate and water ( only 2/3 of what is called for) until completely combined. Add pineapple juice and stir. Make sure lemon lime soda is chilled and add it to the punch. Add as much ice as you want and frozen berries.

Makes 1 Gallon.

 

In the same week, the 4H Agent and I participated in the ROAR program at the Middle School that helps incoming sixth graders get acclimated to life as a middle-schooler and get to know kids from the other elementary schools in the county. We spent the first part of the week building bird houses with them. Luckily, I only came away with minor bruising. We had a good time though and did a little recruiting for 4-H camp. It also allowed me to get to know some of the students I would be spending the upcoming weeks with.

At the end of that week, I traveled the long and winding road to Jabez for Craft Camp. Garrard County was the host this year so I was proud to represent my county. The camp consisted of about 20 different classes, some for the the more experienced crafters ( quilting, needle tatting...stuff I have no clue about) and then there were a couple classes the more novice attendees like myself could enjoy. I was able to craft a Scrabble piece necklace and a coat hanger made from bent spoons. The spoon class was lead by a lovely lady from Garrard County, Sue, and myself. For weeks, we prepared for this class, beating spoons flat with a hammer and bending them around a pipe so that things could be hung from them. We showed the ladies how to use self-drilling screws and attach the spoons directly to a piece of barn wood. The result was beautiful! The drive to Jabez was sketchy but completely beautiful and it was a great trip!

The following week, I took a much needed vacation so unfortunately, I had to miss out on Teen Conference but the day I returned, I had to hit the ground running. For my personal project this summer, I elected myself to organize Day Camps for 4-H. Day 1 was a painting class and a woman from the art council in Lancaster came and helped each child paint their own acrylic masterpiece. She was wonderful and took her time  letting them create a unique and colorful fair-worthy painting. She even let me in on the action and helped me paint a beach scene.

Day 2 was Photography Day and Thank God for Eric Comley, our 4H agent. He's a photography nerd but the kids love him and he knows his stuff. We took the kids to Shaker Village in Harrodsburg and let them loose with their cameras and creativity. The kids had the best day and I learned some things about photography I hadn't known either.

Day 3 was a little more laid back, we did a scrapbooking day. The kids brought pictures from home and created pages they could enter into the fair. They had a good time and created some pretty pages but I may have over shot the time it takes for a 10 year old to get bored and my 4 Hour Scrapbooking class turned into 2 Hours of Scrapbooking and 2 hours of "Ships and Sailors", a game I had to bring from the depths of my memory to entertain 12 little girls for two hours. It worked and they had a blast!

Day 4 was the busiest by far! Dirt Day! A couple ladies from town came and for 6 hours we planted and decorated and watered and dug . The kids were able to create Fair-Entry worthy terrariums, Annual Container gardens, Vegetable Container gardens, a small potted tomato plant, and decorate clay pots with paint and pebbles for use as folk art! And of course, we had another round of "Ships and Sailors" once it was all said and done. They have filled up the fair pavilion with plants so I would call Dirt Day a success.

This week we are having the Garrard County Fair! Yesterday we spent the day taking entries and it was great to see all the kids bring in their projects from Day Camp. That's rewarding. And Last Night I got to witness my first Goat Show. This should be an exciting week!

 

 

Woodford County Highlights!

Hey y'all!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. I know I am over here in Woodford County. Although I did not start until the first week of June, I have definitely made up for lost time the past few weeks. One of my main highlights thus far would have to be 4-H Teen Conference. Though I'm not technically a 4-H Intern, I joined our agent Ryan Farley and three teens for a week of learning, laughing, and dancing (lots of dancing). I did not participate in many 4-H activities growing up, so conference was a slight culture shock for me (in the best way). From the daily tracks to motivational speakers, dances, and just hanging out- I loved getting to know the 4-H'rs and learning along the way. Ryan keeps joking that he is going to "convert me" to the 4-H crew. We shall see!

Other than Teen Conference, I have spent most of my time planning FCS programs with Elizabeth Creed and working with our Be A Loser weight loss program. Every one of the participants  reported  they felt better about their journey to better health as a result of their commitment to our Be A Loser program. How exciting!

I hope everyone is enjoying their time as an intern and doing good for their community!
-Halle Graham 

Already?

Weeks 5 and 6 here in Johnson County have been typical in terms of their variety of tasks and how busy they've been! On June 9th, ANR agent Brian Jeffiers and I attended a Plant Mechanization demonstration in Lexington. It was very interesting to see some of the things that are going to be up and coming on the market in terms of machinery. I was very impressed to see the things that the Ag Engineering folks are coming up with, including an all electric plow! Functionality demonstrations were performed on all the machinery and they all did their duties without a hitch, much to the pleasure of the crowd. The rest of week 5 consisted of prep for the upcoming Farmer's Market and continued work on my internship project (the media project upcoming included).

Last week was a real pleasure because Tuesday marked the first seasonal meeting of the Johnson County Farmer's Market. We had been preparing things to begin the season for over a month, and it was truly a pleasure to see it all finally come together! Our turnout in terms of producers wasn't where we wanted it to be, but was much improved on Thursday and I fully expect things to bloom even larger from here on through the rest of the season as field crops begin to mature and yields reach towards their peak. Thursday also saw a farm visit, with the client being very concerned about the health of his Poplar trees, which had obviously been adversely affected by either fungal infection or an insect infestation as best Brian and I could tell. We sent photos to Lexington for a definite confirmation, and look forward to being able to advise the landowner on proper steps to save his large number of prized trees! On Friday, I assisted our FCS agent with her Annual Homemakers' Meeting by grilling burgers for a few hours (and just narrowly beating the rain!).

The first 6 weeks of this internship have taught me a ton. I've learned about a myriad of different things that people outside of Extension probably never give the first thought to. On Friday last week I was filling out my calendar for this week and I came to the realization that it has been 6 weeks on the job already. My internship here is halfway through, and all I could think of was: Already?! I've had a blast in the front half of my time here, and look forward to all the events upcoming (we all know Extension is wildly unpredictable) and finishing the back half strong!

Weeks Four and Five!!

Hi everyone!

Week four and week five of this internship have been two of the hardest and most rewarding weeks of my entire life. During these two weeks I attended the 2015 KY 4-H Teen Conference in Lexington, KY and 4-H Camp at J.M. Feltner camp in London, KY. Even with an extreme amount of preparation I was nowhere near ready for the amount of fun that I would have participating in these two events.

On Monday, June 8th, we packed the vehicles with all of the class materials, snacks, etc. that we would need for the next four days. After the packing of the materials, we began to load the vans with the teens and their luggage then headed to Lexington. For the next four days I would attend classes over the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test, basics of bees, and tree identification. Each class taught me something new. I had never worked with any of these subjects, which made this experience even more enjoyable.

While at the conference, I also attended District 2 Night Out! Our district decided to go bowling. This could have been a very competitive night out, but the teens were only there to have fun together and make memories that would last forever. There was an air of acceptance and love and that made for an amazing time. We arrived back in Letcher County on June 11th and headed out the next morning for 4-H camp.






On Friday, June 11th, we packed and prepared for the signing-in of around 60 campers and teens. With each child that entered the Letcher County Extension Office my heart would beat with more intensity. I knew that this was going to be one of the most amazing experiences of my summer internship. I had always wanted to attend camp through school, but never had the chance so this was going to be a dream come true. Luckily, it was everything I could have ever wanted and more. I rode the bus down with the children and teens which was probably more fun than it should have been. Pulling into J.M. Feltner campground was like something out of a movie with all of the campers and camp staff running around, singing, and dancing. The air was full of excitement and I was ready to partake. My favorite memories from camp were sallying, the amazing scavenger hunt, and the ultimate clash of colors! I am beyond grateful to those who have given me this amazing opportunity and I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for me, but I do not think anything will top my week of 4-H Camp!

 

 

CLASH OF COLORS!!! 

Wet Shoes and Smiles

In April at the orientation for extension internship, we received a package of goodies to help us through our experience. There was a highlighter, Sour Patch candy, rubber band, and more. However, the items I really need to help “survive” the internship were not included. What items am I referring to? Endless amounts of sweet tea, a rain jacket, multiple pairs of dry shoes and socks, and enough snacks to make a meal. Here is why: On June first, two agents, one program assistant, and I left Clark County with over two hundred campers, teen and adult counselors heading to North Central 4-H Camp. This was my first time ever to go to 4-H camp and let’s just say it was an experience. For the first two days, rain, rain, and more rain made its unwelcoming appearance. Even though on the third day the sun decided to join us at camp, this was the hardest day of the week and since everything was wet, teaching how to start a fire to the JCIT’s was challenging. There were more challenging events but let’s not dwell on those. Dreading the last full day of camp, I woke up the fourth morning expecting for the day to be miserable and long. Thank goodness I was wrong! This was the best day at camp by far. Not one drop of rain, not even a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was actually warm enough to jump in the pool with my cabin! My day consisted of outdoor cooking with Ms. Julie, an awesome volunteer, going on a mini fishing trip, making an all-natural selfie stick, a very creative talent show, a few Sallies Down the Alley, and of course the lighting of the clover. Friday came and even though I was just starting to actually enjoy myself, it was time to head home. But before I left, two of my JCIT’s from the class I helped lead took me by surprised when the hugged me and said I was the best teacher they had ever had. Was I probably the best teacher, no. Did I take the compliment and tear up just a little, yes! That weekend, I went home to unpack, wash laundry, and repack again because on Monday morning the big blue van was heading out again but this time we were heading west. Welcome to 4-H Teen Conference held at the University of Kentucky. In high school, going to teen conference was my favorite summer activity. This was a chance to spend four days with friends I had made from across the state. Even though I was older and knew less delegates, I still spent time with old friends who I shared a few laughs with. I could go through day by day to say my highs and lows, instead I will just tell you the greatest moment of the week. Sitting in the audience Wednesday evening at the 2015 Fashion Revue with my friends and family from home, we experienced a “Triple Crown” for Clark County! In 2012, I won the 4-H State Fashion Revue. In 2014, Cameron Ginter of Clark County won as well. All year, our sewing volunteer and second mother said this year she wanted a Triple Crown. Well, Ms. Julie’s wish came true as Abby Rank from Clark County took home the roses… aka a brand new sewing machine when she won the 2015 State Fashion Revue. Having the opportunity to be at conference to see Abby win was amazing. The past two weeks have been long and hard. Not enough sweet tea from McDonalds was consumed and most of the time my socks and shoes were wet. However, the hugs and smiles from all of the youth I was around made the experiences worth it!

The Fight

In Louisville, extension isn't king. When people ask me where I am interning I inevitably get blank stares in return. What is that? They ask, polite but overall disinterested. My go to is usually extension is in charge of all the 4-H programming; for the ones who have never heard of 4-H there's not much I can do. This is our struggle. No one knows what we do; no one knows the rich history of extension across the country. I'm a communications intern, and my internship is a fighting one. My supervisor, Hayley and I fight for this office every day. How can we inform, educate, share extension with this city? Who should we meet? What should we tell them? How can we make this better? My day is full of questions and answers. I watch Hayley put out fires all day, some are quick to die out and others seem to rage like a wildfire before we can temper the flame. But she always manages, with as little water as possible no less. I've learned some brutal truths of urban extension, but also some beautiful ones. 

As I meet the people that work in this office (and there are 30+), and learn what they do, I realize there is a unique impact made by extension in this community. Our programs spread far and wide, not just geographically- but also in the people they touch. I have helped high school students make life decisions at a reality store. I have watched one of our nutrition educators connect in the most wonderful way with women in transitional housing. I have seen the garden plots of African immigrants, which look like they were pulled from another country, but provide a little taste of Africa to the families. I have sowed corn and beans for a demo plot that will be harvested and donated to a food bank. I have watched kids fly into their parents arms after coming home from camp, and erupt into a happy chatter. And then there's all the behind the scenes action: The meetings with metro council, the hours of infographic creating, the press releases, the website editing, the document creating, and the research.

There are so many outlets for extension here. So many potential partnerships, potential 4-H kids, potential community gardens. The nickname for Louisville is Possibility City, and as far as we are concerned I don’t disagree, but possibilities don't always turn into absolutes, and we have the bumps and bruises to prove that. So we go back to fighting- with words, with pictures, with stories. Communicators have an arsenal of weapons (the kind that don’t require ear protection) to pull out, and I have a great instructor. I am lucky, I think, to go to a job where every day I watch people pour their heart into their work-especially when their work is making the world a better place to live. 

A Rewarding Start

            When I first started my internship a month ago, I had no idea what to expect. I was returning to my home county to work with my 4-H agent who I had known for years, and yet everyday has still been a surprise for me.

            My first week as an intern I hit the ground running. From the beginning my agent showed me all the technicalities of being an agent like paperwork and reporting, as well as the basics of how our office runs. In Ohio County, we have one 4-H agent, an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent, a Family and Consumer Sciences agent, a 4-H program assistant, a FCS program assistant and 2 support staff. The first big event my first week was a District 6 staff meeting. Our district director, David Herbst, came and discussed with all the agents of the district about new policies and information involving Cooperative Extension, including new evaluations, travel requests and feedback for improvement. On Thursday, we had livestock validation at the county park. There we worked with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to ear tag over 200 sheep, hogs and goats.

            My third week on the job, I had my first overnight 4-H trip at Ag Camp. One of our local elementary schools takes their sixth graders on a trip to a local farm and they spend the night at 4-H camp. Cooperative Extension invites several people in the field of agriculture to come teach the kids about different topics, including entomology, soil science, and forestry. In the evening, we had a mega relay race between the classes that the kids really enjoyed. For some of the kids, this was their first experience at 4-H camp and it motivated them to sign up for regular 4-H summer camp. This was one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences as an intern thus far because I witnessed the kids learning about things outside of their comfort zones and enjoy their experience.

            One of the main projects I was in charge of was our Cloverbud Camp. Cloverbuds are kids that are too young to be official 4-Hers (under 9 years old). We organized a day camp where that came and practiced their crafting skills and creativity. We made masks, flower pots, concrete stepping stones, tie-dye shirts and several other projects that allowed the kids to express their creativity and have a good time. That same week we also went on a trip to Holiday World to reward our active members who had completed 2 or more 4-H activities on the county level.

            So far my intern experience has been everything and more than I imagined it would be. There’s a lot of hard work and time commitment involved, but it also has those golden moments that make it all worth it. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds!