First Two Weeks - Homemakers, Community Service, and Nutrition Classes

I began my internship with Extension in McCracken County on May 19th. I was pretty nervous walking into the office for the first. I fretted over what to where and showed up about fifteen minutes before anyone else, but everyone was extremely welcoming and friendly! I have quickly formed wonderful relationships with everyone in the office. The desk I use is pretty removed from everyone else, but they come and visit me and make sure I have people to talk to if I am here for a long period of time.

The very first day I jumped right in and went to the annual area Homemakers meeting with my supervisor, Denise, in Marshall County. It was very interesting as I had not previously known all that the homemakers do throughout the region and what they are involved in. They work closely with Extension on a lot of different projects. I am originally from Western Kentucky and also got to see a lot of familiar faces that I didn't know were a part of Homemakers Association. After that, I helped the Nutrition Assistant here with teaching a lesson about healthy eating and good dental hygiene to a local elementary school.  This was very helpful for me because I will be spending a lot of time this summer teaching from the same curriculum at the elementary school summer programs offered in McCracken County.

The next day, I attended the Community Service Coalition with Denise.  This meeting consisted of the directors multiple outreach programs in the Paducah/McCracken County area that frequently come together to figure out how they can work together to better serve the low income and struggling populations in McCracken County. Examples of attendees include the RedCross, Hope Unlimitied, the Senior Citizen Center, and Paducah Cooperative Ministries. I had no idea how many services were available in the city of Paducah and the wider region of the county. It definitely made me proud that so many people were willing and trying to help the under-served in my little town!  Denise is also on a board for a newly-developing team of people that are coming together to figure out how to better serve the Paducah area. It is interesting because they are basing their mission on the mission of FCS and extension services. Through this, Denise was tasked with documenting the access to nutritious foods in McCracken County, a project I was able to work extensively on later in the week. I have definitely already gotten to know McCracken County and Paducah much more than I had before and am excited to see what else I discover through extension this summer. 

I am lucky that I get to spend time with more than one supervisor on occasion. McCracken County has a nutrition assistant to the FCS agent that I have gotten to work closely with over the last two weeks. We went to the Merryman House, a local domestic abuse center, and taught a cooking class. Stephanie also taught about buying fruits and vegetables on a low income because this is really the scope of her job. I was glad to be able to observe her in a teaching role so that I can better prepare for when I have to do it on my own. 

This second week has flown by! I have been busy preparing my lessons to start next week in the school summer programs. I will be teaching from the LEAP curriculum and the Yummy Curriculum at three elementary schools and at another agency called the Scholar House. I am excited and nervous about these opportunities and can't wait to see what I will learn and how I will grow through them the rest of the summer! 

Devin Edwards