Adventures In Clark County Extension

It's hard to believe, but I am entering my fifth week as an intern at the Clark County Extension Service! I grew up in the Clark County 4H program as a teen and have been very fortunate to be able to return to my home county to see 4H from the "other side of the fence"! My name is Samantha Anderson and I am a recent graduate of Murray State University with plans to return to Murray State in the fall to pursue my Masters of Science in Agriculture.

Clark County Open Goat Show

The first day on the job started by traveling to the community park to a local elementary school's end of the year field day. There we launched rockets that the students had assembled earlier in the year. My first day definitely set the tone for the rest of the summer; things have been moving at lightening speed ever since!

Nothing says summer like a grilled hotdog or burger!

We are currently in the middle of county fair week, filled with various district and open class livestock shows in addition to receiving and displaying the various project entries from local 4Hers. Our Teen Leadership Club also operated the concessions stand at the district and county beef show as well as during the "old fashioned fair games" the following day. Our teens showed lots of enthusiasm and work ethic during the long days spent inside the concession stand! My favorite part of fair week so far was operating the grill for the concessions stand during the beef shows; this was the first time I had ever grilled out!

The previous week was spent at the University of Kentucky participating in State Teen Conference. Our teen leaders displayed a great level of maturity and enthusiasm during all activities and a wonderful time was had by all! I especially enjoyed working with my 4H agents in leading one of the workshops during the conference, "The Best of Pintrest". Spending the week inside Kirwan Tower was an experience I will not soon forget! This was the first time I was able to spend time getting to know the teens within Clark County. I must say that they are an extraordinary group of young people with a great sense of humor who possess a great deal of understanding for "Intern Sam" who isn't very familiar with downtown Lexington. This was my first time attending a Teen Conference and I could not have asked for a better group to experience it with!

Ending our morning with a walk down to the boat dock!

The first full week of June was spent at North Central 4H camp in Carlisle. Participating in camp as a JC (Junior Counselor) during high school is one of my fondest memories of growing up in 4H. This year I was presented to teach one day of the CIT (Counselor in Training) class program. The main theme of the day was "Teaching vs. Facilitating". Activities included projects that the young people may be assisting campers with as a JC in the future. We built and launched rockets, made wire bead critters, experimented with cornstarch goop and ended our morning with a walk to the lake to discuss what we had learned. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the CIT's and have no doubt that they will soon make excellent JC's!

Tonight I'm headed back to the Clark County Fair to work in the Cattleman's Association concession stand...it wouldn't be fair week without some time spent in the "hut" serving out some ribeye sandwiches and ice cold Ale-8's!!