Moving Right Along! FCS, Mollie Dawahare

Has it really been two weeks since the last blog?!?  It feels like I just sat down to write my last one.  The past few weeks have been pretty eventful.  Last week my grandmother passed away so I spent the bulk of my time with the family, in and out of the hospital.  My extension office was extremely understanding with it all. I feel so blessed to be a part of such a loving community.  During my time at the office, I planned for the YMCA nutrition classes and then presented them during the afternoons.  Attendance was a little low because of vacations and simply good weather, but those that did show up seemed to be interested in what we had to say.  I think it is going to become a weekly class, which will allow for more practice, building confidence and relationships with the community leaders.  Today, we made plans to go teach a few weekly classes to their summer campers in July.

Last Friday we had our intern evaluation director, Sherry Smith, here to do evaluations.  We met her at Bob Evans for a delicious lunch, and then went back to the office where she got a little tour of our facility and chatted about the experince.  I only had great reviews for her so it was a short but sweet visit.

Saturday morning was spent at the Diabetes Run where I volunteered passing out water to those poor runners at the turn around during the 5K.  It was such a warm run, I don't know if I would've been able to run the whole time! They all did their best, for sure.  There were many awards distributed and smiles flashed.  What better way to spend your morning than going on a run and visiting with friends at the farmer's market?!

This week has been quite busy as well! Monday night we launched our first cooking school at the Baptist Church.  The class of about 12 learned how to make tasty white bean and feta pitas. For a little dessert we did a Kentucky Proud Very Berry Salsa served with homemade high fiber cinnamon and sugar pita chips.  Now that was something else.  Visit Kyproud.com/recipes for the salsa recipe! 

This week was also spent at the final 4-H camp training.  I'm looking more and more forward to camp with each training session.  The teens are really great kids and have such a contagious passion for those campers!  During this past training, we talked about what to do for various problems at camp.  They are going to make the best counselors--so well trained :)  I am teamed up with a few of the other adult counselors for leading a fun foods class!  We were able to organzie and plan for that a little during the training.  We decided to have a nutrition component along with the snack so that the kids learn how to make nutritious snacks.

The Farmer's Market was Wednesday!  It is growing; we had a total of 3 farmers. However, we have honey and soap producers that were not there this week.  The farmers were so nice and generous with their produce.  I'm looking forward to starting up the cooking demos and  lessons in July!  We're hopeful that the classes will draw more of the community to the market.  I learned how to make fried green tomatoes yesterday, so maybe that could be one of the demos? It was messy, but fun :)

Today has been spent at the YMCA and in the kitchen learning to make soupbeans and cornbread!  They were both mouth watering.  Looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend.  Wish the same to you all!

Where does the time go??

I can't believe that I am already more than halfway through this internship.  I think a lot of us have that same feeling!  The past couple of weeks have been a little slower, but it's definitely not going to stay slow for long!

Last week I had the opportunity to work with the FCS agent here in Morgan County a little more.  We traveled to Bath County for a CEC training on Wednesday and held a rain barrel workshop on Thursday.  The CEC training was very informative and I enjoyed gaining further insight on how agents prepare for council and board meetings in their counties.  Prior to Thursday I worked on gathering the needed supplies for the rain barrels.  I had never made one before so I learned a lot in a short amount of time.  The rain barrel class was a success even thought there were not very many homemakers in attendance.  Summer is such a busy season for everyone!  On Friday I helped the ANR agent work the steers that reside on the extension farm.  During a beef nutrition field day early in May the steers recieved growth implants and UK is monitoring their progress.  I was given the job of working the head gate on the squeeze chute, and I'm proud to say I didn't have one miss!  The Ag. agent was kind enough to give me that job rather than her's (fecal sample collection). Hah!  After working the steers I helped with some landscaping around the office.  Even though this is a temporary home for Morgan County Extension, they still want to make it feel and look a little more welcoming. 

This week has been filled with office duties and preparations for the upcoming events in July.  The Morgan County fair isn't until the last week of August, so unfortunately I will be missing out on all that fun.  All of the fair pictures look like you guys are having a blast!  However, I have been busy with CAIP (County Agriculture Incentive Program) meetings and applications.  The local farm and land owners get very excited when they see the CAIP advertisements in the paper.  I also had the opportunity to conduct a meeting somewhat on my own.  I facilitated the CEC meeting on Tuesday that was held through Adobe Connect.  Even though Gae Broadwater was presenting I still felt accomplished for hosting and preparing for the meeting on my own.  All the council members in attendance said that I did a fine job.  This week we also finally finished cleaning all of the country hams.  Yet again, it was one of the hottest days of the week, but that just makes it more memorable!  Today I am working on Safe Night and making a check list for my special intern project.  I've still got a few weeks to prepare but I'm already beginning to feel anxious. 

I hope you are all having a great summer, I know I am!!

I've reached my halfway mark! Project Days & Kids Cooking Camp ;)

            So, I’m halfway through my internship and I must say, the experiences keep getting better and better. Over the past two weeks our office has hosted Projects days for the first week, and Kids Cooking Camp for the second week. It’s definitely been a blast. I’ve been more creative, thought on my toes more and been more of a “helicopter parent” than I ever imagined. Did I mention that I am learning a lot about Cooperative Extension, it is definitely the best kept secret.

             Project Days are hosted at our office; they complete two projects a day. The first session is from 10:00-12:00 the kids that stay the whole day, stayed to have lunch and then we started back up from 1:00-3:00. We started on Monday with Basket Weaving. They turned out great. They were very creative, and everyone’s basket turned out much different from each other’s’. Tuesday, for the first session we made homemade Jelly with our FCS agent. It was soooo good! I have never made Jelly, and I really learned a lot. After that we continued our day with our Horticulture agent, building Terrariums with the children. They were told to bring their own “aquarium” and we provided the soil, plants and other supplies for this self-sustaining, plant tank. We then had rocks or small frog and butterfly figurines for them to paint to add to their terrariums. They turned out so neat. I had never heard of a Terrarium, or built one, so this particular project day, I think I learned more than the kids.

We headed Wednesday by assembling a bird house. Every child was given the pieces to the bird house, nails, sand paper and a hammer. I was absolutely sure that this would be the most difficult thing we had done all week. However, it was one of the best! They were great! The skill of these kids completely blows me away sometimes. I have learned that if you simply sit back and try to guide the children, they are able to do far more than what we think they are capable of. Wednesday was wrapped up with us making gumball machines/candy dishes. They were so cute, we made them of flower pots, small fishbowls, ribbon and a hot glue gun. They were so cute, that I made myself one as well! For our last project day we had about seven girls come, to make purses out of old jeans that we purchased from the good will, added with it was some very cute fabric that they ruffled around the purse. If I wasn’t so busy helping, I would have made one of those too, they were the cutest little creative bags! The girls loved them.

This week we have just finished Kids Cooking Camp, where we took the Kids to a different country every day. We started on Monday in America, where we made Grilled chicken packets, and fruit parfaits for desert. DELICIOUS! Tuesday we moved to Mexico where we all made Fish Tacos, Guacamole and Mango for desert. Wednesday we moved on to Italy where we made a Baked Ziti and an Antipasti salad. AWESOMENESS! It was sooo good. Lastly, we moved on to Germany where we made Pegouchis. It’s sort of like your traditional Calzone, but the inside was stuffed with sausage, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. Much to my surprise, even that was delicious. I really enjoyed every bit of Kids Cooking Camp. Throughout the course of these two weeks,  I honestly didn’t know what to expect during Project Days and Kids Cooking Camp, I just knew there would be a lot of little people around, which we all know can get a little overwhelming. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed myself over these past two weeks. I felt like I was able to connect with the kids some, I was able to display some of my leadership skills, I was able to help plan and execute, overall it was a fulfilling experience, not only for myself but for the children as well.

One Gear Speed: Fast (SHELBY COUNTY 4H)

The last three weeks have flown by and are continuing to pick up speed.
County Fair was an 11 day event.  That's right 11 days.
Carnies, cattle, swine, pottery, painting, goats, sheep, clothing, gardening, tractor pulls, country singers, recycling and non stop exhibiting.
The fair kicked off with our annual District Dairy Show.  Over 60 exhibitors from surrounding counties arrived with their best cattle to parade around the ring and strut their stuff. 
The following day was our Open Dairy Show which allowed for all age exhibitors to compete, which was a delight for all.
On that Saturday, we had our poultry show and our 4H Dairy Shows.
Lots of long hours spent in dusty barns, but it was well worth it getting to meet the families in the community.

The following Monday, we began taking the 4H county fair entries, and they were later judged and put on public display that night.

Wednesday we hosted the Rabbit show which I was able to help set up the display table for the exhibiting rabbits. 

Thursday we were there for the dairy goat show.

Friday was a long day filled with hogs sheep goats and winding down with beef cattle.  We set up multiple show rings this day and the day before.  This allowed me to get some cardio and workout time in while at work.  Just another perk of working with extension.

And finally on our last day of the fair, we hosted our open beef show.

for all of these events, our speaker system in the barn was down, so I was in charge of finding up coming exhibitors and letting them know how long before their class was due up.  Also good exercise and a good way to interact with the community.  Looking forward to next couple of weeks (4H Camp at Lake Cumberland)

Teen-tucky Take Over :)

Greetings All,

The past two weeks have been filled with smiling moments and laughter. The kids I work with are hilarious! I had a full dose of teenager at The 2013 Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference! I almost forgot what it was like to be 13. Teen Conference was a BLAST! I got to relive my teenage years (as if they weren't just 8 years ago laughs) some things I was familiar with like and others that were new, like knowing the entire Thriller dance or the Gangnam Style Dance. I was tickled pink by not only the fun the teens were having but the camaraderie and the enthusiasm to be apart of something bigger than themselves. To be actively contributing to their communities and their state is something to be very proud of. During teen conference, Marquel Lett (from Jefferson County) and myself had the pleasure of teaching The College Conversation workshop. The workshop was enhanced by Jordan and Kendriana (interns from Hardin and Jefferson Counties) who helped us talk about the highs and lows of college. We all have different experiences in the college world. One thing we all agreed on is choosing between Good Grades, a Social Life, and SLEEP was one of the hardest things to balance. I was impressed and proud of the fact that most of the teens had already started the College Road process. I really didn't start thinking about college until my Junior year/middle of Senoritis (laughs). Not only did I bond with teens across the state, I also bounded with the teens in Franklin County!! They were already asking if I was coming back next year :) so I must be doing something right in this world of Extension!

The next week consisted of more fun with Project Days, bonding with coworkers, and judging the Woodford County Fair. Let me first say that Woodford County have some future bakers in the making over there! The treats I tasted from the 5-8 yr old were delicious!! Great Job Little Ones!! After judging, I got some great ideas for my special project and for my arts and crafts project day! Coooking Project Day was filled with sweet treats and Kentucky Proud recipes like kiwi jam, chocolate cake, apple cake, and many other yummy deserts. The arts and crafts project day was filled with folk art, decoupage, safety pin bracelets, and hemp bead bracelets! This week I also met the District Board, which was nice to see how changes and decisions were made here in Franklin County. The week was finished with Longest Day of Play in Lakeview Park. This was one of the first times we really used some of the equipment we bought with our Best Buy Grant. The children (we had to play to bait them over) got to play on the Wii and Xbox Kinect which was quite the task because everyone wanted to play and everyone wanted a turn, but it all worked out and they enjoyed themselves!!

In the next edition, Clover Bud Camp and 4-H Camp, I'm so excited I haven't been to camp since I was like 12 :) :) :) leghooo !

fair week fared well

Wow! Union County Fair week 2013 is finally wrapped up!  As a kid, the fair is this awesome thing that rolls around once a year in the summer, but you have no idea how much behind the scenes work goes into making it a success.  From the 4-H perspective, there were a lot of parts I didn't know existed or really what went on to make it happen.

I'm a little early for blog post #3 but the fair was so jam packed that I think it could count for 2 weeks worth of material (plus this week will be a slow week).  I saw it all this past week from the livestock show to the 4H drill team girls to judging exhibits to the annual country ham breakfast.  For as crazy as it got a few of those days, I would say we had another successful fair week.

I tried to get a few pictures as I remembered it or had the chance to snap a couple.  In my opinion, the 2 most successful parts of the fair week (as far as 4-H is concerned) was the country ham project and its fulfillment at the ham breakfast and the livestock show even though entries were down.  For both of these events, we had some talented Union County 4-Hers as well as a few from the surrounding counties come to join us.

I also got to see a rabbit show for the first time on Saturday after the breakfast.  I know nothing about rabbits so I was a little lost - but it was still a good experience.  I may be allergic to the though!  Stephanie and I got to see everything from the tiny baby rabbits to the huge Flemish rabbits.  Now that was cool!  She also brought along her lovely little helper who seemed to love the rabbits already!

I Survived County Fair!!

It's been another two weeks! Wow, how time flies. The last two weeks have been crazy busy. The Shelby County Fair just ended this past weekend and it was quite an adventure. My only experience with fairs before this point was the Kentucky State Fair. From the moment I arrived as an intern, the office was buzzing with chatter about the approaching event, but in my head I couldn't picture what a county fair looked like. Needless to say, it is extremely different from the state fair. My first day at the fair I was introduced to the cow show. I truly thought this was one of the most exciting displays I've seen in a long while. By now, the office knows that animals are not my favorite. But, seeing so many children and youth in their white, completely dedicated to the task of showing these massive animals, really showed me how beneficial 4H is to youth. The youth had been working with these animals for months and they really had to have a passion for what they were doing in order to learn the skills necessary to do it properly. In addition to this, I got the chance to act as a judge in floral hall, and help with the rabbit show. Although it was just a taste of what others in the office have done for years, it was definitely exciting to get the opportunity to participate.

In addition to this, I began my intern project last week. I will be doing my version of UK's Weight: The Reality Series. It is a small-scale version of what the university has laid out. Over the next 5 weeks, participants will receive weekly nutrition classes, in an attempt to promote healthy living. Each participant is to keep weekly food journals and physical activity charts. Each week we weigh-in to keep track of any change seen in the participants. Additionally, we are offering a few fitness classes at the extension office, including kickboxing and zumba, to encourage people to get out and moving. The individual that shows the most commitment and improvement will receive a free 3 month membership to the Family Activity Center--the local gym--and a free fitness consultation from Bethany Tucker--a Shelby Co. agent and certified personal trainer. I have high hopes that, over the next few weeks, the program will continue to grow. I also am extremely hopeful that his program will truly help people make impactful changes in their lifestyle.

Until next time!

--Kameron White

Farm Visits and Gardening

These past two weeks have been more down for me than any other couple of weeks but still a whole lot to do. To start off the week we had just gotten back from Camp which was awesome. But when getting back to the office it was a lot of paperwork, and getting things reorganized. That night the Adult Bee Club met and I was able to attend. I do not have any experience with Bees, and honestly I am sort of afraid of them. It was so interesting to learn though. And made me want to get into the Bee business. I got to go out to the bee hive and watch them feed the bees. Of course we went to several tobacco fields to see what problems they have been having. One we visited had a temporary phosphorus deficiency which makes their leaves have a spotted color, but that will go away. One day it was just me in the office since everyone else was basically off. So I ran the office, and feel I did a pretty good job. So most of that day I worked on my personal project and found a lot of info on it! The state specialist came because we had been having problems with a tobacco patch whose buds were coming off or being cut off and we could not figure out the problem. And apparently it wasn't only here. He said he had been seeing it across the state.

The next week was an amazing week for me. We met with a teacher from Cloverport. She had sent an email about wanting to turn a vacant city lot into a garden. This is exactly what I wanted to do in some sort of fashion for my individual project. And now I have a basis to start. So I travelled out the Cloverport to look at the area and take samples of the ground. And it looks as though we are going to need raised beds. And they want both a vegetable garden and a flower garden, which I am excited about because a pollinator garden is awesome and is beautiful at the same time as helpful.

And here at our office we planted our raised beds as well. and it turned out great!! It was so much fun and makes me want to start my own garden. We planted 300 pound pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, green beans, cucumbers.

Before doing anything

after hoeing and putting string on.

Me planting peppers.

after job was done

after job was done

This weekend I opened up the Farmers Market. People are so anxious for it. They were there at like 6:00 and already buying stuff even before the doors were open. Then once they were open people flooded in. It was so cool. And their food looked amazing. Also This Saturday we made fleece blankets with the Teen Club for the local Nursing Home. So that was really nice to help with. These next two week will be beyond busy with fair stuff and fairgrounds cleaning and getting fair books put together.

WEEK 3 AND 4

WOW!!! It seems like I just blogged, how the time is flying by. Before I know it I will be done with this internship!!! The last two weeks have been busy, busy!! We had our county fair the week of June 10 to June 15. That was a very busy week. On Monday I done something I have never done before, judge the pet show. Let me just say that was a day I’ll never forget. The pets some of the kids had were just off the wall!!! I had everything from a calf, dog, cat, (your normal pets) all the way down to an earthworm and crawfish. It was hard for me to pick a winner in some of the class because you could get see the smile and happiness coming from all the kids that I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. I mean come on they’re all so cute and having fun. So in the younger age divisions we just gave a blue ribbon to everyone. But when it came down to the very last class of the day, the costume class, and I had to pick a winner, oh my, that was a hard decision to make. And the winner was: THE MEXICAN CHICKEN!!!  

                     

I had the chance to go out with our Agriculture agent On Wednesday June 12. This was a very experience for me because we visited Blueberry farmers. I had never been to a blueberry farm before and I didn’t know much about blueberries. So being able to travel with him to visit farmers was very good for me. I learnt a lot of different things about blueberries and I also was able to meet some nice farmers in the community.

                     

We hosted the district Dairy Show on June 15 and it was a very nice hot long day. We had around 114 entries. It was a nice experience to be able to see all the different breeds of cattle and to be able to see the youth show them. I didn’t have it to hard that day, I was the ribbon girl. I hope I said something nice to each of them as the exit to ring.

    

Monday June 17, I did a wood science day with a few children. We had a toolbox and a bug barn. All have to say about that day is thank God I didn’t have a ton a kids. We had three kids that day and that was plenty because if one didn’t need help the other ones did. And there was only one of me so I had to help them all at the same time. But overall it was a good day!!

   

The next day we made our way to Bowling Green to the district horse show. This brought back a lot of old memories. I can remember when I showed at the district horse show there, and every time I went into the arena I had butterflies in my belly. So of course I enjoyed this day to the fullest, being able to set back and watch the show as I help with it. We had two young ladies that were showing and they both did an outstanding job. I wish them the best at the State fair show!!        

 

Now I’m ready to see what the next two weeks as to throw at me, hopefully it’ll be something fun!!

Weeks 5 & 6 at the Floyd County Office

As the middle of my internship approaches, I have begun preparing for 4H camp (July 1 – 4), continued weight loss programs, my special project and much more! I also had a wonderful visit from Dr. Cherry Smith for my summer intern visit and what a pleasure it was meeting her!

In the fifth week of my internship, as part of my special project, I visited the Prestonsburg Senior Citizens Center for the second time to do a nutrition lesson over “Fiber.” I also visited the Mud Creek Senior Citizens Center where I did a nutrition lesson over “Low-fat Diets” and plan on going back on July 16 to do a nutrition lesson over “Low Sodium Diets: Cooking with Herbs.” Another exciting thing that happened this week was Kids Day at the Farmer’s Market. We collaborated with the St. Vincent Missionary to create an event that made the Farmer’s Market an exciting environment for children. This was also giving the children the opportunity to interact with the farmers and learn where their food comes from. We had crafts, storytelling, games, and face painting. I was in charge of the crafts station where we did card stamping with fruits and vegetables. The fruits and vegetables that were used during this event were saved for compost. So, no food was wasted!

In the sixth week of my internship, I attended a Media Youth Smart Day Camp at Osborne Elementary with the Floyd County EFNEP Assistant, Judy McGuire. During this camp, the children learned about how the media can affect their foods choices. I also attended an Agent Training in Bath County where I met our District Direct, David Adams! This was my very first Agent Training. I met so many delightful Agents in the 1^st District and had the opportunity to experience what it is like to be behind the scenes of a County Agent.

Weeks 5-6 at Meade County

Learning about general safety during Spin the Bottle



Working through problems at Physics Zoo

Last week was State Teen Conference, and we had a wonderful group of delegates from Meade County!  As a 4-Her, Teen Conference was one of my favorite 4-H activities, and it was great seeing the opposite side of a program I enjoyed as a teen.  During the week I helped out with my supervising agent’s track, Spin the Bottle, and participated in two workshops: Cupcake Wars and Physics Zoo. The week was really enjoyable and went really smooth. I even had the opportunity to get to know some of the agents from our district better during the county night out during conference.

Meade County Delegates during closing dance



Camp shirts

One of the adult leaders and his weeks worth of TP

When we got back in the office on Monday it was time to prepare for camp.  This past week was full of paperwork, t-shirt labeling, and dividing up supplies for the cabins.  We had our Camp Leader training for the adults and teens, as well as our final camp orientation.  Since we had a little extra time, we got to do a couple of ice breaker activities with our camp leaders.  We played the game where you take as much toilet paper as you'd need for camp and then have to say something about yourself for each square.  Some of our leaders took a little TOO much!  On Friday, me and Carole spent the day in Louisville, shopping for snacks, cleaning supplies, and craft supplies for a couple of upcoming day camps.

Even though these past couple weeks were really busy, there isn’t much to blog about- just a lot of hands on organizational work.  It’s hard to believe I’ve completed the first half of my internship, it feels like I’m just getting started still!



On the GO!

Since last time I have been very busy traveling. We started off last week leaving on Monday morning for 4-H Teen Conference. Mercer County had 21 delegates that attending making us have the largest delegation at the conference. This conference was an experience; the kids loved it and had a great time. While at conference I also helped with the Spotlight class. I helped create the ending video for the conference from pictures that were taken by the students in the class.

 

After returning for conference on Thursday afternoon, on Friday we then took a group of kids to Holiday World for their awards trip. In order to go on the trip the students must have completed at least 3 events/competitions. We took 11 4-H members with us to Holiday World and had a very fun time.

After returning home on Friday night late, I then had to begin packing my bags for 4-H camp. We left Monday morning for Camp. Mercer and Jessamine County camped together with a total of 382 campers at camp.  With this being my first time ever at 4-H camp I did not know what to expect. I had a blast, I loved working with the kids and watching them grow over the week. You can truly say that camp impacts many lives and inspirers kids to try new things.  

Even after being away from home for two weeks straight, I wouldn’t change this for anything I had an awesome time getting to know students and interacting with them. I have had an amazing experience with extension so far and have loved every minute of it. Next week on Friday the 28 of June we leave back for camp again but only this time with 41 cloverbuds! This should be very exciting and I am looking forward to the next two weeks at work. There is never a dull moment in the life of an extension agent!

Weeks 5 and 6!!

    Since my last blog I’ve been incredibly busy!! We have been on several local farm visits per day and I have really learned a lot during these visits as you may know we are in full swing with garden production and its also that time of year for home invaders and creepy crawlers to get into your homes so its time to spray!  The big question that we have been faced with in the last weeks have been the issue of centipedes entering peoples homes in mass numbers and although they can’t cause any physical harm they do an awesome job of making things look bad.  Having little experience with this problem before now I have been doing extensive research on the creatures and how we can best combat them.  I have learned that these insects may be worse this year due to a abnormally wet late spring going into the early summer and moist low lying areas are a perfect breeding ground for them to reproduce.  So what I have learned that if you do a good job of removing old leaves and other organic matter that will hold moisture away from your home and spray bifenthrin products around your door facings, windows, and cracks this chemical is normally found in ortho home defense max which is a good control for these pests.
    On top of all these visits me and my agent Chad have been working extensively with a local summer program and have done two different activities with the students last week we held a workshop with them on how to build popcan birdhouses and it was a riot!! You can see home of the completed birdhouses that I have posted in our extension intern facebook page.  This week we did model rockets with the group the kids are very well mannered and were extremely excited to be building these rockets and launching them on the next day.  On shooting day I was so proud of my rocket I volunteered to launch first to test the wind and see how they were going to drift in the wind.  So I launched and first thing I lost my rocket on top of the school building ha!  And mine was the only lost rocket all day the rest flew straight and true and had little to no drift.  I could tell that the students were really having a good time which made me feel better about my job and programs like that make me really want to pursue this path later!
    Over the last few weeks I have observed that this job only gets more rewarding as you go.  I love helping people and this job continues to challenge, and reward me with the satisfaction of knowing that I have been a help and have been a positive influence on someones day and the products that they wish to produce.  I also have been busy planning my program that I will be having this coming Tuesday at the office it will be a one hour interactive workshop for local growers outlining some of the disease and insect issues that you will see this time of year and what you can do to prevent these issues and ultimately increase your yields.  So I will leave a update in the facebook page letting you guys know what the turnout was.  Its been an awesome summer and I hope that I can stay busy!!!

The End

            Alas! I can’t believe how quickly my six weeks went. I guess it’s true; time does fly when you’re having fun!

            Anyway, the last two weeks of my internship have been spent continuing with our Children’s Garden, My Project on Polymer clay & 4-H Camp.

            Last Saturday, June 15^th, I got to finally teach my special interest Project on Polymer Clay & Mixed Media. I was happy to have had a great turn out with ten of the thirteen registered participants in attendance. Most everyone was new to the Polymer Clay media and were thrilled in learning how to work with this easy and fun oven bake clay. I really enjoyed teaching something that I myself enjoy doing in my spare time.

My class's lovely equine creations!

Me demonstrating adding a paint patina to the clay.

Student adding details.

            This past week was also Laurel County’s 4-H Camp Week at Feltner 4-H Camp near Levi Jackson State Park.  Even though I didn’t stay the whole time at camp I was able to join our 4-H assistants in teaching arts and crafts to our campers. We had a lot of fun making Art Explosion Tile coasters with Adirondack Ink. These fun, colorful, abstract tiles matched the camp theme-4-H Rock Stars- wonderfully.

Camper's Creations

Art Explosion Tile Samples

Even I got to try my hand at making one! 

            Though today may be my last day in the office my work with Extension will continue as a volunteer for Children’s Garden through the remainder of the summer and with the Ag. Fair later in July. My internship will also close tomorrow with one final event at the Farmer’s Market where we are putting on a June Dairy Month promotional event. Being from a Dairy background myself, and as one of two remaining active dairies in the county, promotion of the industry is vital to keeping it alive.

            As a final thought I thoroughly enjoyed my Interning experiences and hope to use the skills I gained there to help me in where ever I go and I just want to give a big Thank You to those agents and staff here in Laurel County  that made my experiences so memorable. 

Kim Patton

Laurel County Extension. 

Weeks three and four

                I went to Europe for three weeks so this is technically my third and fourth week as an intern. When I came back from Europe I barely had time to breathe before I jumped right into 4-H Teen Conference (TC)! This was not my first time at TC; this was my fifth year at TC so I was familiar with the process.  However, this was my supervising agent's and county delegate's first year so I was glad that I knew what I was doing.. or we would have all  been a little confused!  We arrived at Teen Conference that Monday and it isn’t the first day of TC if it doesn’t rain!  I was in the middle of giving my county a tour of UK’s campus when it started to down pour.  Luckily, we were just at the library so we made it back before we were drenched.  Monday night at TC my brother and I, both members of the State Teen Council, actually got to sing the National Anthem and My Old Kentucky Home.  The opening ceremony at TC was pretty cool! The motivational speaker was hilarious; I had Hey Mickey stuck in my head all week!

                Last year at Teen Conference, I was a State 4-H Office so I was very busy that whole week.   This year at TC, coming as an intern, was very different.  I got to participate and teach tracks/workshops and actually got to help out the State Performing Arts Troup.  I co-taught the track “Kicking it with Katy and Kelsey” with Katy Datoma, the 4-H Program Assistant in Fayette County.  This track was designed to be a place where teens can just come and talk about life.  We let everyone write a question on a piece of paper, Katy and I read the question aloud, and then answered it to the best of our abilities.  Our questions ranged from college life to fitting into high school.  On Tuesday evening, we had the awards banquet/office speeches and then district night out.  The district night out was a lot of fun! District three went to The Movie Tavern where we had meal and saw the movie Epic.   I had a lot of fun here and loved the movie! Wednesday night was the State Fashion Review, the announcing of the new State Officers and the closing dance.  Fashion review was wonderful as always! The male escorts dance was to funny!  A girl from District 3 also won fashion review! District pride!! The announcing of the new officers was a little bitter sweet for me because as a Past State Officer it brought back great memories of when I was elected.  But it also meant that I am two years past my time as a State Officer.  I was really happy for the newly elected officer and I think they will do great things in 2013-14! The closing dance was so much fun!  I loved the photo booth that was set up this year! I spend most of my time out there waiting for pictures! By the final night, I was completely exhausted! I was really sad for the last night, but was ready to be home! The closing ceremony Thursday morning was a great way to end the week.  I cried a little for the officers who hung up their jackets, but smiled at the accomplishments they made the past year.  The slide show, done by Spot Light track, was a great recap of the week!  After the ceremony, Grant County packed up and headed back up to Northern Kentucky. 

Grant County delegates at the photobooth!

Grant county delegate enjoying Starbucks for the first time!

                That Friday following Teen Conference was a very long day.  I did some paper work and prepared the next week to come.  The week following TC was filled with camp preparation and project days.  On Monday (June 17), the Program assistant (Chelsea Young) and I worked on camp materials.  We went through applications seeing who was missing what.  That afternoon, Lamar (Grant County agent), Chelsea and I, visited Meadowview apartments to talk about to youth about Careers.  These kids are participating in a summer camp and every day they try to get some professional development speakers for the kids.  We came and talked to them about different career and college paths that you can take.  Tuesday morning, Chelsea and I continued working on camp materials.  We sent letters out about orientation and then we made the schedule for orientation.   We spent a lot of time working on camps stuff and we still have more to do, but the rest will be after camp orientation.  That afternoon I worked on my getting more materials for my summer project.  I am doing a four day cooking camp and it is really starting to come together!    That evening, I attended the Grant County annual homemaker dinner.  Patty Poor, the Family and Consumer Science agent, asked me to come and sing for their entertainment portion of the evening.  This was a different side of extension that I have not seen much yet this summer.  I got to meet many of the homemakers in Grant County and hear about the exciting work the Grant County homemakers are doing!

                Earlier in the summer, Lamar and I were interviewed on the radio to promote 4-H.  I guess we became so famous that they wanted us to do a TV segment promoting 4-H!  Wednesday (which was also my birthday!!) we had the opportunity to record a TV segment that will air on Grant County cable! 

Grant County 4-H Staff at the TV station!

This was a really cool opportunity! Since it was my birthday the office staff also brought my in some doughnuts!!  Also on Wednesday, there was a 4-H no-sew class.  At this class kids made crafts out of cloth materials, but there was no sewing.  They made t-shirt wreaths and decorated t-shirts with crayons.  There is another no-sew class next week I am really looking forward to!  On Thursday, there was scrapbooking club meeting all day at the office.  This day went by really fast because we were so busy scrapbooking! Sadly, there weren’t many kids that showed up, but the kids that did had some great scrap book pages!  On Friday, there was a 4-H Project day at the office.  Around 10 kids showed up to work on projects that could be enter in the fair.  They made paper crafts, a piggy bank out of Pringles and stick horses out of 2-liter Coke bottles and tobacco sticks. 

I helped a six year old make a 4-H green stick bull.  

This week at the office flew by because we were so busy!  I really like days that are filled with activities.  Lamar has told me many times “4-H Agents get paid to play” and with Teen Conference last week and all the classes at the office that statement has been very true!

An Extension Agent Wears Many Hats!

I am officially at the six week mark at Meade County and it is hard to believe, it doesn’t seem like I am halfway through. I love waking up and coming to work in the morning. These past two weeks have consisted of a wide variety of opportunities.

Tuesday, June 11^th I worked with our local farmers market to promote cooking with squash. After this I went and checked out the location for where my special project would take place. My project is to work on trapping the Spotted Drosophila in a farmer’s blackberry crop. This local farmer has an agritourism enterprise and we have high hopes of capturing this “fruit gnat” once the berries start changing colors.

I have also taken the reins on using timed artificial insemination to breed a heifer. On Friday the 14th of June, I had to insert the CIDR (controlled internal drug release) and also administer GnRH. I then removed the CIDR on Wednesday followed by two shots of Lutalyse. After removing the CIDR we helped a farmer work cattle. We helped tag the cattle with fly tags and we also used a liquid back dewormer. Both of which I got to participate in. It was very interesting considering I was basically piercing their ears.

I am double checking to make sure that the tag is placed correctly in the gun.

 

Here I am removing the old tag.

The tag is now in place!

 We also checked a local farmers soybean field. This farmer has a two foot hard pan in which the roots cannot penetrate so it is not suitable for planting corn. This is because corn roots can go beyond five foot deep. The farmer wanted us to do a stand count and considering the conditions the stand count was not far beyond the total seed drop, so we determined that the farmer should have a better soybean harvest than originally thought.

Friday the 21^st  I set my traps as part of my special project. These traps will be checked every week and reset in order to get the best results. Each week the contents will be sent off for evaluation. This is part of research that UK is conducting.



 

Friday the 21^st I helped to Pregnancy check a herd of cattle. We used a new blood method that requires taking blood from the underside of the tail. I was able to participate and found out that it is not as easy as it looks.  I first had to clean the tail from any manure then I proceeded to alcohol the area that I would be sticking with the needle. This blood test requires 3 ml of blood to be sent off and tested.

 

This past week has consisted of a lot of running back and forth to various locations to check fields for farmers. I have learned that patience and time management is key. Meade County has planted two Bermuda Grass test plots which are not doing the best. We went out and checked them on Wednesday, June 19^th, and we are not totally pleased with the results of the stand. Considering that Bermuda Grass is a warm season grass we are thinking maybe the tricky Kentucky weather has something to do with it. The agent at Meade County, Andy, and I will be exploring options. I cant even begin to describe my job roles this week. I feel like an extension agent wears many hats, I feel like I have been a horticulturist, a vet, a friend, an entomologist, and the list goes on! I cant wait to see what these next two weeks have in store for me as I head off to 4-H camp.