Halfway Through Already?!

Today starts the beginning of week seven for me and I can't believe I am already halfway done. The past two weeks really picked up speed and flew by. The further we get into the summer, the more the extension office does.

The past two weeks I have been helping with smART camp (summer morning art camp). In our county, a children's art center was recently built, so all through the summer they are having different kinds of art camps for the children in the community. The building was brand new and an awesome facility, so I loved getting to be a part of what they are doing there. The camp is two weeks each morning and for elementary aged kids. Over the two weeks the kids put together an entire musical playing all the parts, making props, sets, learning the songs, and practicing the acting part. Mrs. Vicki and I just provided snacks each day for the campers, but in between I got to help with some of the art projects, and play stage hand sometimes. It was a really neat experience and an awesome way to be a part of the community. On Friday afternoon they had their big performance. We filled the auditorium, and the kids did awesome. It was an exhausting week, but probably one of my favorite things I've got to do so far.

Most afternoons after the camp I came back to the office. I have been working on some projects we have coming up in July, and getting ready to teach an etiquette class at another camp we are having at the art center. After all the crazy mornings, I was glad to have quite and relaxing afternoons.

Last Thursday I helped with a 4H SET (science, engineering, and technology) day camp. The kids extracted DNA from bananas, built and shot off paper rockets, played with eco bots and circuit boards, and built marshmallow launchers. I was in charge of a nutrition lesson and snack along with helping with the other activities. Trying to tie everything we did together, I did a lesson on the importance of fruit, and we built fruit kabob rockets with bananas. The kids all had a blast that day, and I was really impressed with the paper rocket shooter. We have 2 other day camps coming in July that I am definitely looking forward to now.

I am halfway done, and I feel like the second half will fly even more than the first half. Almost every day in July we have our calendars full! We wrapped up the Homemaker year with the County Annual Day today. I have the next two days in the office to plan for my activities, then for the rest of July I will be doing day camps, nutrition lessons, and preparing for the county fair at the end of the month. I can't wait to see what the rest of my internship has in store.

Busy Busy Busy!

These past two weeks have been the busiest yet! There is always something to do at the extension office. Even though I was busy I have had a great two weeks! I started my fifth week with a nutrition day camp at Johns Creek School. It was three fun-filled days with the youth in my area! The children really seemed to enjoy themselves and they learned how to eat more healthy. We started the first day by making chef hats and aprons.

Two of the aprons and hats the children decorated

After the children finished the aprons and hats we started to cook with them. On the first day we made apple slice pancakes and fruit & cheese kabobs. The children absolutely loved the apple pancakes. They all ate several pancakes. They took pride in the food they had created. Along with teaching the children how to cook we also read several books to them and did nutrition worksheets with them. On the second day we cooked corn fritters and BBQ chicken pizzas. I was very proud of how willing they were to try the food. Once they tried the food they actually liked it and wanted to eat more of it. On the third day we made Fruit salad and fruit pocket pies. I had a blast working with the children and teaching them life skills. 

 Making Corn Fritters

The children with their aprons and hats they made

My sixth week was just as busy as the fifth week! On Monday I went with the 4-H children to Magoffin County for poultry judging training. This was a new experience for me! I had never been around chickens in my whole life until this day! I have learned so much about chickens. I didn't know there was this much to know about chickens. The children we took with us really seemed to enjoy it. We did everything from judging the amount of eggs a hen has been producing to judging the different parts of a chicken carcass. It was a very interesting day! It didn't seem to bother the children seeing the chicken carcass and judging it.

After my exciting new experience of poultry judging I went to Westcare Rehab center on Tuesday. I went with our EFNEF assistant to teach a nutrition class with the guys at Westcare. I was a little bit nervous to go there because I have heard some stories. However, I had a blast! Everyone was very respectful and nice! They even helped us carry in all our supplies. We made pizzas and fruit salad with them. All of the guys loved the food and loved being involved with preparing their own food. I had a good experience with Westcare. After we left there we went to the county jail to teach a nutrition class. It was my first experience working with people who are in jail. The class was not as well behaved as the Westcare guys. I still had a good experience. Sometimes all they need is to feel like someone cares about them and bettering their lives. 

I spent Wednesday at the Phelps Intergenerational Center Health Fair. I had a good time talking with all the people who stopped by my booth. They really enjoyed the models I had of how much sugar was in different drinks. I spent Thursday and Friday preparing recipe books and running a trial run on canning salsa for our canning workshop that Saturday. It was a busy busy busy two weeks! Yet a very fun two weeks!

Update

The past two weeks have been a blast. Last week started the KinderCare Environmental Camp where we jumped right into learning about plants, learning what they need to grow, and learning about trees and how to identify their leafs.

 Also last week we became scientist at our Science Day Camp where we conducted many different and fine tuned our scientist skills. We discovered what a scientist is, analyzed new specimens (raisins in Mt Dew), developed a boat to rescue the new specimens, but the tallest tower with team work, and studied the reaction when you put Mentos in coke. Over all the day was fun, all the kids wanted to stay longer.

 

Today was another eventful day at KinderCare Enviromental Camp where we had Chick Day. Last week they started a chick incubation progect and today they got to compare and understand the difference of country eggs verse as store bought eggs, learn the parts of the eggs, dissect and ID the part of the egg, learn the varieties of chickens and their eggs, understand the development and hatching process of chicks, and lastly  we where able to candle their eggs to see the development of their eggs.

Tonight is our first Camper Orientation for our first week of camp. Photos will soon follow. Words can not express how much I appreciate this opportunity to be able to work with the Fayette County Extension Office.  

Finally a moment to breathe…

Boy was I wrong when I thought the first two weeks had flown by.  This blog, though it’s already at the start of my 6^th week, rounds out the first 4 weeks of my internship and I am still going full speed ahead.  It seems like such a quick turnaround but it has been a thrilling ride!

Week 3 – State Teen Conference

Though I had been in attendance of this conference as a delegate for 3 years, I was still not prepared for what the week had in store.  Events were similar but the atmosphere was very different.  Being on the other side of the coin for the first was an experience I was not quite ready for but had to get a grasp of it very quickly.  This was a week of little sleep, sore body parts, and readjusting to college food.  As we stayed on UK’s campus, the first of 2 weeks in a row for me, I ached in the mornings from sleeping in the residence hall lifestyle.  Working the kinks out through the day, I danced my cares away in tracks and did some jewelry making in workshops.  By the second morning I couldn’t decide where it hurt the most, achy bones from sleeping or sore muscles from abnormal amounts of dancing.  As many complaints as the delegates and I can possibly come up with, all in all this will be a memorable week of my internship.  I got a fix for my absence from campus, spent some time catching up with other friends and interns from across the state, and made some stronger connections with other agents from our lovely district.

Week 4 – In the life of an Ag Natural Resource Agent and KY Youth Seminar

Kicking off this week I spent some time with our Ag and Natural Resources agent as my supervisor took a few days off.  We gathered and put in the needed information for the weekly crop report and received a request to take a trip down the road and look at a plot of land.  He had about a 4 acre plot that was quickly growing up and he was unsure of what to do with it.  Most of the area was grown up in thick under brush including honeysuckle and winter creeper but it had also established small patches of sumac trees among the thicket.  He asked about the identification of a few weeds and trees, which between David, the agent, and I, I was able to brush up on my dendrology skills and identify a few trees as being an Eastern Cottonwood, Winged Sumac, and Silver Maple.  I also learned a little about bag

worms as we looked at an infestation he was experiencing with a Blue Spruce on his property.  From here, we stopped at a wheat field and David walked through the stages of wheat and how to tell when the wheat has reached maturity.  I really appreciated this time in the field to ask questions and familiarize myself with some other areas of agriculture that I am not as acquainted with.  The following day I accompanied David to the UK Sheep Unit in Lexington for an orientation with Dr. Aaron, and Dr. Ely regarding the Small Ruminate Profit School starting later this year.  Here I got yet another earful of new material on sheep and goat production.  We received promotional material to pass along to the county producers and took a tour of the facilities at UK as they answered several questions that agents may receive about the production.  This was a great opportunity to get a glimpse at the life of an ANR agent at this time of year.

The KY Youth Seminar event was a first for me as I had not previously attended as a delegate.  Like all other 4-H events I have come to love, this week, though the conference was only 3 days, was jam packed from start to finish with leadership development, college preparation activities, and social events to keep the delegates entertained.  I really enjoyed this new experience and yet another week of time spent on the UK campus.  Though we had some icky weather and set off a fire alarm on accident, the week was still one to remember with new experiences, a visit back to UK’s South Farm, and the reward of watching as delegates came together to work and achieve new heights for themselves.

So I bid you ado,  until the end of the week as I process, recover, and prepare the next update of the internship that some only dream of experiencing.

Lindsey Boone, LaRue County 4-H

Weeks 3&4

Week 3

I started this week off getting ready for a theatre day camp at Jenkins. I looked up activities and short scripts. Then I met with Mrs. Froman, the 4-H agent, and my fellow intern Chelsea Workman to plan for the Belfry Summer Art Camp for students in grades K-12. Due to a broken kiln, I am now planning a painting class rather than a ceramics class, but I have some interesting ideas on what to do. Then I got to attend a Board Meeting at the Artists Collaborative Theatre where I got roped into being in their upcoming production, Rex’s Exes. My Monday finally ended with rehearsal for Rex’s Exes.

Tuesday started off at Burdine Elementary School where Kristy Porter, one of Pike County’s Fine Arts assistants, and I taught a theatre class for the elementary summer day camp. We had two great groups of kids from grades k-5. We did some theatre activities- Freeze Frame, Sculpture Gallery, and Rhyme Charades. Then we decorated animal masks and the kids acted like their animals.

The rest of the week I just helped out around the office. I did some research, made copies, folded brochures, and helped unload one of the office’s vans.

Week 4

We had some excitement in the office on Monday. The power went out for about an hour. Most of us were working on our computers at the time so all we could do until the power came back on was sit around and answer the phones. Fortunately Brenda, one of Pike County’s awesome Staff Assistants had a bag of Tootsie Rolls to help us pass the time. Tuesday I tried out some ideas for murals to see if any were actually plausible or if they were a little too difficult/complicated. Then we did our first complete run through of Rex’s Exes at the Artists Collaborative Theatre.

Wednesday started off with a Fine Arts meeting where we discussed what we were working on and what we needed to work on. Then the office took me to the Mexican restaurant for my birthday. After lunch I learned about making playbills on Microsoft Publisher from the Fine Arts Assistants, Kristy and Lauren. Then I planned for my painting class for the Belfry Art Camp.I have plenty of ideas for the elementary and middle school groups, but it’s so hard to find good fun activities for high school students.

On Thursday Chelsea Workman, my fellow Pike County intern, showed me around the Belfry area and we stopped at the Belfry Library to discuss doing a mural in the area. The librarians were very receptive and invited me to do a mural for their community room with the kids in their summer reading program. I can’t wait to see how this turns out!

Meredith Yount
Pike County Fine Arts

Week 3 & 4 State Teen Conference

Week 3

My 3rd week as an extension intern fell during the State Teen Conference. Of course this week was full of many activities from attending different tracks and workshop to listening to many amazing guest speakers. For our district night out we went to Malibu Jacks with Breckinridge Co. The teens had an amazing time riding go-karts, playing mini golf, and much more. At the closing ceremony we had a teen announced as a new member of the 4-H Performing Arts Troop. After arriving home from conference I meet with a teen leader for 4-H camp orientation. She had never attended camp before so I got to discuss what her duties and responsibilities would be.
Week 4
This week was very hectic preparing for 4-H Camp. On Monday I had a meeting with two campers who would not be able to attend our camp orientation so we did theirs early. I also attended the shooting sports meeting that night. Tuesday was supposed to be a day I went to do a soybean test plot with the Ag Agent. Once we gathered all our supplies and prepared the planter we realized the test plot that had been set aside was not big enough to do the test we wanted to preform. So we had to cancel the test plot. That night I attended the orientation for Camp Teens and Leaders where we prepared them for camp. On Wednesday the day started with a link meeting about camp with Washington, LaRue, Taylor, and Russel Counties. We discussed all the fine details for camp. Thursday I hosted a day camp called Peace, Love, and Cupcakes. I had a great time with the young lady's that attended teaching them the basics of cooking. We made Tie-Dye Cupcakes, Pretzels, and Danishes. That night was the campers orientation where we told them what to bring and what to expect at camp. To end the week I typed the Summer Chatter and Project Day Camp Letter.

Highlights of June!

Coming into this internship Dr. Tyler asked me to think about goals to accomplish through this internship. After some consideration I decided that there were three things I would like to improve on. First is learning how to effective network.  This is something that I was thrown into right away! During week one I sat in on many meetings and was introduced to a lot of people. Among these people are Dean Cox (College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science) and Terry Allen (associate vice president for employment equity). I was also given the opportunity to join a student subcommittee for the first year experience subcommittee! Highlights of week two I was given the task of teaching a workshop during the Kentucky Youth Seminar (KYS). In the workshop I spoke to high school scholars about transitioning from high school to college. It also consisted of trivia about UK and the college of Ag. I had a lot of fun with the kids! Though there were set back during the week due to weather and fire alarms, it was great to see the kids get into their board scenarios and rise to the challenge. This past week I had great time exploring Louisville with the Kentucky State University Ag Discovery Program. Starting here in Lexington I got the chance to check out the Farmers Market. It was interesting to find out that they have a system that allows people to purchase from the market using their debit and credit cards. If a station does not have their own card machine you can find the farmers market table and they’ll swipe your card for the amount and give you tokens to give to the farmer you wish to purchase from! They also are able to take food stamp cards, which I find very congenial. After the farmers market we drove down to Louisville to visit Churchill Downs. This was my first experience with the equine side of Kentucky. My favorite part of this visit was the video they showed us. The video was meant to enwrap us into a race day experience. I think they did a perfect job of it as the screen fully surrounded us with 360 degree show! Our last stop of the Louisville Slugger museum, this was quite interesting to me as well. Baseball is a big part of my family so it was cool to see how an essential part of the game was made. I have learned a lot the past couple of weeks and this is only the beginning!

Until next time!

-Tiara Fripp

Is it really halfway over?

This Friday marks the end of my sixth week in extension, and I can't believe my internship is already halfway gone and next week it will be July! The last two weeks have been some of my favorite so far, as I am finally feeling comfortable and confident in the extension setting and getting into the thick of my summer project.

Week 5:

This week was filled with summer camps and teaching physical activity to elementary aged children.  I have read the Spriggles book so many times now I could probably recite it. The summer camps here in McCracken County have quickly become my favorite thing. Being around kids can be so refreshing. A lot of times their teachers seem frustrated with them and apologize for their behavior but they are mostly good for me and seem excited when I get there.

I attended a few extra camps this week with Denise and Stephanie. They mostly focus on physical activity and dental hygiene, while I talk more about nutrition and wellness. I began the OrganWise Guys curriculum at Hendron Elementary and the kids loved it. They have had so much fun getting to learn about the "characters" (their organs), learning where all of their organs are located, and why it is important to teach them healthy. They surprisingly ask a lot of in depth questions about what specific organs do, especially their liver and pancreas, and where they are found in the body. I'm finally glad I took anatomy in college and happy to say I have retained it.

This entire week was really focused in attending the summer camps, so I was at Farley Elementary three times throughout the week. We practiced jump-roping, learned about exercise for being healthy, talked about screen time, and worked on sorting foods into their the right food groups. The kids really love playing games and love when you bring them things, even if it is a bottle of water.

Week 6: 

This week has definitely been the most diverse week of my extension experience. On Monday, I attended the McCracken County Fair and worked as a judge for the Holidays crafts. It was a good experience and a lot of fun! I like getting to spend the day with the local Homemakers and see how much work they put into the fair each year. I never realized how much work went into putting on the fair and how many people worked on the entries. A lot of the contestants worked very hard on their entries and it was hard to choose the best ones.  Here are some pictures of some of the entries:

I also went to a summer camp every day this week and continued with some of the curriculum I have been using.  Monday was a very busy day, as I was at the fair all day but had to leave a few times to go teach a class. I taught about fiber at the Senior Citizens Center and handed out some PlateItUp recipes along with a tool for making them. I ran around the community for a lot of classes this past week, and I have loved every second of it! On Thursday, the McCracken County office hosted a Canning Day taught by the Graves County FCS agent. I have never had any personal experience with canning and have been excited for this day since my first day in extension. It was so much fun learning how to can and seeing how the process really worked. It takes a lot of time and dedication but can be so worth it when done correctly. The participants visibly enjoyed themselves and seemed to make a lot of new friends. Here are a few pictures I snapped from the canning class: 

This is the participants learning how to can in a hot water bath. 

Here is the pressure canner that we used. I learned it was important to always have boiling water on hand in case more was needed during the canning process. One of the things highly stressed throughout the class was not to mix a hot with cold while canning because the jar will bust and ruin the food. 

These are the carrots that we canned in the pressure canner.

This is the freezer jam we made. I say "we" liberally because the class participants did most of the work, but it was enjoyable to be able to help them and be a part of the process in whatever way I was needed. 

I had to leave the canning class for a couple of hours to teach my class at Farley Elementary's summer camp, which I also really enjoyed. The kids seemed to be extra wound up for their teachers, but I let them create skits to practice good table manners and showcase bad manners.  We all had a lot of fun, probably because I was giving them an excuse to act crazy and not be on their best behavior for a few minutes. They can be so funny and are very imaginative. 

As the title of my post suggests, I can't believe I have already completed six weeks of my internship and can't wait to see what else I get to do while I'm here!

You know what they say, "Time Flies...." Weeks 3 & 4

Wow! It's already been two weeks since I've posted my last blog?!? You have got to be kidding me! This internship is flying by at the Floyd County office! The past two weeks have been just as exciting as the first new as I am usually doing something different each day.

Week 3

Week 3 may have been my favorite week thus far into the internship (following closely behind is week 2). My third week was full of day camps in Floyd County - these have been so much fun and has been my favorite experience! Monday and Tuesday, June 16th and 17th, I headed with Heather to Prestonsburg Elementary School, where we began our day camp - Fun Science! The children were all so excited and energetic and seemed to have so much fun! I was able to help a couple of the kids build their "Frankensteins" out of boxes we have been saving - it was a lot more difficult than it sounds, but also very fun. The kids have also been building their own volcanoes! The next two days, we spent the mornings having day camp at Betsy Layne Elementary School. This was also a really great bunch of kids - by this point, I was becoming a pro at making box monsters.

I also went to my first adult camp training during week 3. I can finally say that I am getting a little bit excited about camp - I am still kind of nervous because I have never been, but I have faith that it will be a blast!

Week 4

We packed up and headed to the Maytown Center on Monday and Tuesday for another day camp! There were significantly less kids at this camp (only 11, as opposed to around 30 for the others), but these kids packed quite a punch with their personality, so it was equally as fun! I had never been to Maytown, so I really enjoyed getting so see a new place. The rest of the week, I helped Heather organize and plan for more overnight camp stuff. I am also working on my special project. I am doing a newsletter that provides tips on how to afford college for parents and students. It is something that I have been wanting to do for quite some time and I am thankful that I am finally getting the opportunity to do so! Brandy and I were able to sit down one day and work on choosing songs for the camp slideshow....this was much more difficult than it sounds. We are now in the process of learning how to mix songs together for camp and we have not made much progress. I will let you know next time if this was a success of a huge flop!



From both weeks, I learned a couple of things. First, I learned that kids will do anything to win a prize! We took several weird fruits (pluots, mango, plantains, pomegranate, and papaya) for the kids to try and if they successfully tried it all, they would win a prize. You would be amazed at the amount of kids who forced themselves to eat something they didn't like! However, most of the kids LOVED a couple of things - I think we were successful in getting them to try new foods! Secondly, I was able to see again just how different all kids are in so many different ways - having thirty kids packed into one room will surely open your eyes to that realization.







Until Next Time,
Tyler Lee

Its been one month of Scott Co. Fun!

Dear Readers, 

It has officially been one month since I began my internship...(well like three days over, but you get my drift.) Thus far, my experience has been simply amazing. In the short amount of time that I've been here, I have a lists of experiences that will last me a life time. Some of my highlights so far include Teen Conference, Fair, Babysitting Clinic, Farmers Market and Camp Planning.

Teen Conference was a very good time. Although this was my second year attending conference as an intern. Each experience is different. I enjoyed mingling with the teens, getting to know youth outside of my county, as well as building bonds with those that are in my county. My tracks and workshops were amazing, and overall my experience was very pleasant. I enjoyed meeting some of the other interns and sharing experiences with them as well. District night out at Malibu Jacks was a bunch of fun too, I almost forgot to mention.

Camp Planning is cool. I like sitting in on conversation and being able to observe the "ins and outs" of planning for camp. Both 4H agents and myself drove to Franklin Co. for our camp planning meeting, this year Scott, Woodford and Franklin will be camping together. We also have an amazing theme being that we are camping so close to July 4th, "Red, White and Kaboom." I'm super excited for camp, I get to teach a class this year. I will teach a team building course, that will allow me to facilitate a slew of activities for the youth, I'm sure they will love it.

Babysitting Clinic was very different for me. This was my first time really teaching all by myself, and teaching a subject that I wasn't that familiar with. I spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with the curriculum and coming up with fun games and activities that would teach the Middle School age youth about babysitting. I had 16 youth show up for my class, and it turned out to be really great! The course was very interactive, informative and also fun. One little girl claimed "you should be a teacher" which really made my day!

Farmers Market was a lot of fun. We made samples of Strawberry Salsa, and Blueberry, walnut salad. Both were very tasty, and all of the ingredients were available at the market. We had a bunch of really good responses to both. I enjoyed my time spent there, and learned a lot about GMO's and different preservitives while listening in on a couple of conversations.

Fair week is here now, and to say the least, I'm exhausted, but having fun. We've set up for everything from sheep show, goat show, beef show, to dairy show. It has surely been a week. However, we have a new barn that everyone is super proud of, so it's cool to show it off during our shows. I'm learning a lot about the animals and how to judge such a show as well. Taking in fair enteries was neat too. I saw a lot of cool sewing items, as well as a bunch of food that I wanted to eat. To say the least, my time here in Scott Co. with Alison and Patrick has been simply amazing, and I'm looking for more to come.

Signed,
Happy Intern :-)

Traveling is in the Job Description

            These past two weeks have been full of travel and lots of 4-H’ers.  I have been to Lexington for the 4-H teen conference and Muhlenberg County for the state livestock judging competition.  This has been an example to me that county 4-H agents do not spend all their time in the office; they are truly in a different place every day of the week.  Both of these events were new to me and it was great getting to interact with the kids in my county the past two weeks. 

            I had a great time at the 4-H teen conference in Lexington.  I got to experience new things and relive some old college memories.  When we were driving to Lexington I was dreading the rock hard beds and the food at commons.  I thought to myself it was going to be a long week.  But I had no idea what to expect of my tracks and workshops.  I was in the track “Getting Fit UK Style.”  We got to tour the Johnson Center, do some exercise, and do yoga.  It made me feel really good about myself while we were doing it, but once we got done and started walking around again I was in a lot of pain.  Who knew that yoga could put you in that much pain?  It made the rest of the week a little longer because I was so sore from doing the downward dog and the tree.  I got the chance to share stories with the other interns that attended teen conference and we reminisced on our youthful days during the dances.  This was the first real chance I had to get to know some of the kids in Boyle County.  First impressions were great and I cannot wait to do more activities with them throughout the summer.

            The state livestock judging competition was held the following week.  Talk about a long drive from Boyle County!  We went up Monday and checked into our hotel.  We ordered some pizza for the kids and then it was time for some reasons practice.  We got a couple of online classes for the kids ready and then game them a set amount of time to write their reasons and then give them to us.  I was really impressed with our kids.  They did a great job Monday night and I was excited to see how they did Tuesday at the competition.  After another stay on a hard bed that wasn’t mine, it was time for the competition on Tuesday.  I figured out that I would be collecting cards during the competition for one of the groups.  Not too hard of a job.  But during the competition I met and interacted with some of the interns, agents, and volunteers.  After a long morning of judging we had lunch and then the older kids gave their reasons.  We went ahead and headed to Boyle County for the night instead of staying for the awards banquet.  We turned out to have a great day! We had the 2^nd high team overall for the Clover team and then one of our kids got 7^th high individual for the senior division.  It was another great experience with our 4-H’ers.  

Look for my next blog and hear how my 2 babysitting academies go... that is right, Ben Conner is teaching baby sitting!

Ben Conner

Boyle County 4-H