Weeks 7 & 8

The past two weeks have been very busy around the office.  We have been spending most of our time preparing for the two weeks of summer camp.  The first in London Kentucky and the second in Carlisle Kentucky.  I have also been working with my forestry day camp.

For the second installment of my forestry day I took a group of students to the Red River Gorge.  We spent most of the day hiking Gray’s Arch trail where I showed them around 13 new tree species like American chestnut and big-toothed aspen.  We also came across a young copper head while on the trail.  This was a great teaching opportunity for the students.  They were able to see one of the more common venomous snakes in Kentucky, and were taught what to do if they come across a snake in woods.  I was also able to explain some of the benefits of snakes, which is good since there has been so much negative press lately involving snakes.

I also had a chance to help out with the District 4 Riffle and Pistol Competition.  This was a fun experience.  When I was in 4-H this was one of the main things I participated in, it was pretty eye opening to see it from another point of view.  This was also a great chance to see great 4-H is when it comes to firearm safety and education.  The whole day went rather smoothly, there was not a single issue all day.

When I wasn’t teaching about trees or helping with shooting sports, I’ve been getting things ready for camp.  Even though it is a lot of work, I am glad to finally experience camp from an agent’s perspective.  It has always been one of my favorite parts of 4-H.  I remember the pre-camp meetings every week when I worked on camp staff; it was nice to be on the other side of the table this time.  Next week will Fayette County’s first week of camp and we still have a lot of things to do before then.