Learning the Ropes

From the moment that I stepped foot in the Christian County office I have felt at home. The Christian county office is huge! We have an agent in each department (including three 4-H agents) and then there is a lot of office staff too. Feeling like I belong from day one was an amazing start to my summer.

Thus far this summer I have been involved in numerous 4-H programs. Even though, I have done a lot of the traditional 4-H programs, such as cloverbuds, cooking club, Ag/livestock club, my supervisor does something that I think is super unique. She is an army brat, so she focuses a lot of her time on the kids in the army base near us, Fort Campbell. I have pretty much been on the military base every week of my internship since my first day. I have experienced their club there that is called “blue oaks” and they have a P.E. program for homeschool kids. The kids from there will be submitting projects into the fair and the group of kids we took to Teen Conference last week were from Ft. Campbell.  

Even though I have gotten the chance to do lot of different programs, a great deal of what I have done this summer is what I would say is the behind the scenes things in extension. I have been to more meetings than I can even count! My first three days of the summer were spent in meetings. I have even had the pleasure of experiencing a district staff meeting. That was pretty overwhelming, but it was pretty awesome to meet so many agents on my third day working. On top of going to lots of meeting I have been involved with a lot of marketing opportunities for 4-H. I have done the basic marketing with the Plate It Up recipes at the Farmers Market, but have also done so much more. Kendriana, my supervisor, has been asked to talk at different events such as Grandparents’ Day at the PADD office in Hopkinsville, and to make a booth at a USO event for military families in Fort Campbell. At events like these we have shared with our target audience the different events that were coming up in the county, such as 4-H camp and the day camps.

Also, I have been in the office a little more than what is normal for an agent. During that time I have been able to see some of the work that the office staff does and how they help the agents to prepare for events such as the county fair. With being in the office I have also learned, or tried to learn, how to do some of the reporting that is required. I haven’t gotten a chance to report in KERS, but I have reported travel time and then done leave requests.

This summer has been W.I.L.D. and it is only half over! We still have the Western Kentucky State Fair (that’s what our county fair is named) July 1-9. I also still have to conduct my intern project. Speaking of projects, mine will be a college prep class that I will be doing at the Boys and Girls Club in Hopkinsville. The kids will spend the time doing a board game, I have designed, that will cause them to realize that they still have a lot to learn and understand before graduating high school.

My summer thus far in extension has been a good one. I can’t wait to see what these last five weeks have in store!

~Kyaria Scott

So Much to do, So Little Time

​Before interning at the Owsley County Extension Office, I never realized what all the agents do. I was here a lot in high school and even after high school. I was a strong member in 4-H and tried to do as much as I could after high school, but I never really put that much thought in what all they do. They are constantly running around and I’m trying my best to keep up. They do so much, I don’t see how they keep it all straight. My planner is never far from my side, programs are constantly getting added. We actually just added a painting class for July. I will be the one teaching and I am so excited. 

​While I have been an intern, I have been able to; meet so many wonderful people in and out of the community, participate in micro processing training, assist with cooking camp, help with sewing classes, Homemakers’ meetings, Farmer’s Market, Entomology project, Community service projects, nutrition lessons, and so much more. The list could just keep on going. I’ve had so much fun and I have learned so much in a short time being here. 

​My project is actually going to be more health and fitness based. Our community is wanting to be more active. I can see a difference since fitness trackers have come out and I want to help the community be even more active. Since we are such a small town, we don’t have a lot of races available. Natasha and Crystal have been wanting to have an annual 5K race, but didn’t really know how to get it started. I guess that’s where I come in. I have been planning a 5K race and 1 mile walk from beginning to end.  I have ran in many road races, but planning it has taken a lot of time. We are calling it The Lightning Bug 5K run/1 Mile Walk. It will be July 8th, and start at 8 P.M. We want it to be around the edge of dark when they finish. It will be a type of glow race. They will be given glow in the darkbracelet/necklace. We are hoping for a good turnout.

Special Project Time

          This year, I was privileged enough to take on this summer with another intern in the next office over. Franklin County was fortunate enough to have 3 interns this summer. For the special project, Meagan and I have decided to join hands and take on this task together. Meagan and I will be working collectively to make our visions come true. I feel as if working with someone else will really better the programs that we are going to offer while displaying how important teamwork is. My dates will differ from Meagan’s but we will both be present at all project days.

            For our special project, the theme will be Making Healthy Happen. Meagan and I have done research and on the CEDIK County profile in Frankfort, we collected that there were several issues health related here in Frankfort. The one that really stuck out to us was that 33.1% of the adults are obese. Even though this isn’t directly correlated with children, we felt that education is a great way to break this chain in our area. With that being said, children are at risk for the same health issues that the adults in the community are facing.

 Meagan and I have choose an alternate route, instead of being reactive, we are going to be proactive. Since the internship has started, Meagan and I have been able to attend several different training, such as Project WET, Project Learning Tree and some SNAP classes. Therefore we felt that new information would be very exciting to present. Along with our new curriculum, we have asked Public Health professionals to assist us in reaching out to our young community. Since our audience is elementary school age, we felt that hands on and physical activities would work best.

Meagan and I have divided the task evenly between the two of us, based on our strengths. I was over making an icebreaker for the kids to do. I felt that the icebreaker was important because it would be introducing what we will be doing for the day. On nutrition day or day 1, I have created a game that correlates with MyPlate. Each group will have to place foods on the correct spot on the MyPlate poster, and then we will discuss why MyPlate helps us have healthy balanced meals.  After this activity is complete, we will begin to talk about germs and how easily they can spread. While having this discussion, they will be doing an activity from the Project WET curriculum called GERM BUSTERS. They will also be served a snack that is approved by SNAP. Once their tummies are content with healthy snacks, we will come back together and do another activity that includes calorie counting. We will end this event filled day with another game from the Project WET curriculum called AQUA BODIES. This will also be a gateway activity for our next day.

On day two or physical fitness day, we will have a personal trainer come in a conduct a few games with the kids. First the icebreaker will be the infamous Ships and Sailors game. Meagan and I felt this would be a great way to start our calorie-burning lecture. Along with talking about physical fitness, we will discuss how important water is for the body. During our hydration activity, we will also be having a SNAP approved snack. The activity that we have chosen for hydrations is also out of the Project WET curriculum, called ON TRACK WITH HYDRATION. We have decided to not serve juice on this day but have waters with different types of fruit in them for flavor. After snack and the hydration lesson, we will have our guest do another game with them.

The kids will also have a pre and post assessment to see if they have improved and learned from these lessons. It will also help Meagan and I improve our program as a whole. For our projects we have a very diverse group of kids. They will vary in age, gender, race, and family based incomes. Meagan and I have worked diligently to coordinate a curriculum just for our special project. The date for our special project will start on July 1^st at Good Shepherd Elementary and our last program day will be on July 26^th in Elkhorn Elementary. Good Shepherd will consist of 25 kids whereas Elkhorn will have about 50. With that being said we had to alter some of the games and activities so that everyone will have chance to absorb the same amount of knowledge. We cannot wait to implement these plans and see the effect it will have on our community.

Project Update

First off, I am one of the interns in Harrison County. I am working closely with the 4-H Agent here. I am excited to say that this has been an opportunity that I won't forget. I have absolutely loved every minute here. It's hard to believe that our internship is almost over. Camp is next week for our county and I cannot wait to go! Teen Conference brought back many memories  from my youth and its pretty exciting to see everything.

Second, I am excited to initiate my project into my hometown of Cynthiana. I will be doing a little lesson plan on terrariums. The kids will be able to build their own terrarium and enter it into the county fair. Not only will they get to do that but, I am also attaching a mini craft session afterwards for them to create little things to put into their terrarium. I cannot wait to work with the youth in my community.

Project Update

I have decided to conduct my project either the second of third week of July. It really depends on the place I will be doing it at. For my internship project I have decided to do a 3 day camp on healthy eating and physical fitness for children ages 9-10.  Looking through the county profile under Jefferson County, I seen that that even though the obesity levels aren't high, they could use some more help in that area to avoid future health risks. I think this will be very beneficial for children so that they can be aware of the importance of physical fitness and  to maintain a healthy diet so they can prolong their life.
I have chosen to do it at the YMCA during their summer program. My agent has helped me contact people and we plan on going up there to give them my proposal. With the camp, I plan on teaching the children the importance of physical fitness while incorporating fun activities that will keep them active and moving. At the end of the lessons we will make a healthy snack that they can take home with them.
I hope this program will be beneficial for them. I'm already excited to start. 

Project Update

While looking over the needs of Knox county, I realized that they do not have a livestock club and went to the volunteer certification courses this spring to be the leader of the club. Since this we have not had many 4-H members express interest. Knox county has an ample amount of beef cattle as well as swine, goat, sheep and chicken producers that would support children who would like to show livestock. For my project I will be doing a beef cattle interest/information day. The reason for this would be that I show charolais cattle and have the facilities necessary to carryout good demonstrations for the students as well as their parents. This would be an all day event, in which we would host the information session in the morning at the extension office then provide lunch then go to my personal farm for the hands on demonstrations. In the information portion, myself and the other agents will inform the attendees of the proper nutritional needs for beef cattle, how to properly care for them, facilities necessary, the basic anatomy of a cattle, an introductory to breeds of cattle and the reasons that people have those cattle based off the characteristics that they possess. We will then have some type of beef for lunch, more than likely hamburgers and have some cattle producers grill these for us. Once lunch is completed we would then go to my families farm where I keep my show cattle. Here we discuss the daily care for show cattle and give students the opportunity to do it themselves. In addition to this we will discuss showmanship and the application of the cattle anatomy and how it relates to livestock judging. With our ANR being a livestock judge we will actually have the students who have shown put on a mock show so the children can see what it is like to see a cattle show. This will also give students a introductory to livestock judging and the reasons they would give about the animals and their placing. Overall I would like to see the end result be students that attend have a better understanding of beef cattle in general, but hopefully get students to want to show some kind of livestock and build a outstanding 4H livestock club.

Where has the time gone?

Just yesterday it seems like I was beginning my first day as a Harrison County intern, and now I have several weeks under my belt already. So far this summer my internship has been a lot of fun and I have been able to see what exactly goes on in the office on a day to day basis. One day I may be going on a farm visit with the Ag agent to answer any questions they may have with their operation or crops and the next I could be canoeing with the 4-H agent with the outdoor adventure club. Harrison County has two interns this summer which is great because we are both getting to see a little bit of what each agent does for the county.

So far this summer I have had the opportunity to travel to one of the neighboring counties to help plant a research plot for corn, I have gone to countless farm visits to help with a wide range of questions that farmers have had, and making sure that the fairgrounds are getting ready for the upcoming fair with the Ag agent. I have been on canoeing trips with the outdoor adventure club and getting things ready for 4-H camp with the 4-H agent. The county agents have a lot of different things to do with their job and countless meetings to go to while still having a life of their own, which takes a special person to do. Even on the first day, all of the office employees make you feel like you are a part of their family and were very welcoming. All of the county residents that come in for questions or to pick up something always ask how the summer is going and that they are really glad to have us in the office this year.

My internship this summer has been eye opening as to what goes on from this side of things and I am very excited to see what the rest of the summer brings and to be attending camp next week!

Life as a Mercer County Intern

Well, it's been a month since I've started this adventure as an intern in Mercer County. Throughout my time, I have learned so many new things, and keep continuing to do so. From Canning 101 to 4-H camp, I've immersed myself into the life of extension. Luci has been the mentor I've never had. Her quirkiness and fast-pace lifestyle has taught me to balance life and embrace your personality. It's truly an honor to be her intern.

I am with a group of lovely ladies and they have shown and taught me many things in their office. I work with Miss Bobbie Hancock in assisting her with her SNAP programs and conducting a partnership for my intern project, which I will go into more detail later in the post. Jessica Bessin, our horticulture agent, has let me help with her children's plant camp making food and teaching them the ways of proper nutrition. And with the Ft. Harrod Beef Festival, we all helped Miss Linda to have another successful year. The Beef Festival was fun and I got to experience a whole new different side to extension. It takes time and dedication to pull off a big festival, such as this one. And at 4-H, I've helped Miss Dana, Deanna, and the other intern, Jess wrangle and educate them about Dairy Foods. 4-H camp was an experience of a lifetime. I had never been to 4-H camp, and I'm glad I got experience for a couple of days, and know what it's like to be a kid again. Sallying to the all hours of the night and to waking up early in the morning to save kids from the pouring rain at outpost, it was an experience that I'm glad I had.

So I'm not only just Luci's intern, I'm the whole office's intern. It feels great to become a part of such a fun, loving office. It's never a dull moment at the Mercer County Extension
 Office. 

As for my intern project, I will be conducting and coordinating a Chef Day camp for two days, where me and Miss Bobbie will teach young teens on the importance of cooking and how to properly cook in the kitchen. I will hope to have some guest speakers to bring inspiration into the youngster's mind. I am very passionate in helping children and teens eat healthier, and by coordinating this camp with Miss Bobbie, I intend to make the camp fun, but also educational.

Thank you!

Denise Schaeffer

Fleming County Extension is a Happening Place

           On the first day of my internship my agent looked at me with a huge smile and said, “I’m so glad you are here, I hope you’re ready to begin!” Sure enough, I was working on a presentation that afternoon and I have not stopped since. I have assisted with multiple nutrition programs, worked with the Fleming County Chamber of Commerce and their programs, lead a class at the senior citizens center, assisted with a youth gardening program, helped quilting students, presented at a high school college readiness fair, worked with the Fleming County Tourism committee and their programs, helped with the preparation of 4H camp, and so much more. It has been wonderful to watch people learning new skills for life through these programs and through the work of those at the Fleming County Extension Office. Furthermore, I have loved that I have had the privilege of being a part of people learning the skills presented in each program.

What I am most excited about was the completion of my project this summer. I found my passion for Family and Consumer Sciences at the Extension Office and I knew I wanted to create an opportunity for others to have the same experience I had. That is why my summer project was a sewing day camp and fashion show. I was so excited that my class filled up after only two days of being posted!  The camp, which I called “Sew Easy” Sewing Camp, was three days long with the fashion show being on the last day. It was open for sewers ages nine through twelve who were beginners, some of which had never even touched a sewing machine before. They chose between pants, shorts, or a skirt for their project and had the opportunity to pick out their own fabric and notions. During the camp the campers learned skills in fabric selection, reading a pattern, using a serger, using a sewing machine, and many other skills essential to completing a sewing project. Watching the campers go from not knowing anything about sewing to sewing on their own was very rewarding. Each student completed their project within the three day period and modeled their garment proudly, some even wearing their creation home.  

I have enjoyed my experience as an intern so far and can hardly wait to help with the Fleming County Fair and 4H Camp! I am also looking forward to all of the new experience I am going to have that I do not even know about yet; you never really know what your day will hold when working in extension.

4H Camp & Kentucky Youth Seminar

As a member of 4H for 14 years and an intern in Scioto County, Ohio last year, I'm sure you will be surprised when I say this summer was my first time ever going to 4H camp. Everyone is always amazed when I say that and wonder why but its mainly because of my livestock projects. Summer is definitely crunch time when you have livestock to work with for the fair so I couldn't bring myself to miss out on days of exercising the lambs and training with the horses. With this being my first 4H camp and having to give direction and being in charge of a cabin, it was a stressful time to say the least but I made the best of it by helping with the swim class. Camp was definitely an amazing experience and I'm glad the internship allowed me to have the opportunity of going for the very first time.

I was also given the opportunity to go to the Kentucky Youth Seminar and I am so thankful for that. As a recent graduate of Morehead State, its time for me to decide what I want to do in the adult world and this has opened my eyes and showed me exactly what I want to do. Throughout the last few days I have had a blast working with the high schoolers we brought and received a phone call about a job opportunity teaching high school agriculture in my hometown. Attending the Kentucky Youth Seminar has assured me that I will love investing my time sharing my passion for agriculture with the high school students back home.

Project Update

    The count down is on! It is one week till my project "starts". For my project, I am putting on 3 day camps called "Fair Days". Under the guidance of my 4-H agent, youth will have the opportunity to attend these day camps where they will gain skills and create a project to be entered in the county fair. The days camps are on Thursdays from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm for the next three weeks.
     The first camp is geared to prepare students who will be competing in the state forestry contest in September. Given this, the youth will make a leaf collection and learn to identify trees, use a compass and identify wildlife. The leaf collection will be a first year collection and this is what will be entered in the fair in July is youth wish to enter it.
     The second camp is geared to pull in a slightly different focus group. Container gardening is something that several individuals in LaRue County have asked about saying that they do not have time to have a regular garden. With this being a rising interest of the community, the second day camp will teach youth about how to successfully grow vegetables in containers, they will take a trip to the farmers market and will hear about some fun ways to eat vegetables.
    The third day camp is probably the one I am most excited for, it is crafting day! Youth will be able to make scrapbook pages, a canvas (or two), and will learn etiquette at lunch followed with designing a thank you card. While this day will be fun, youth will not go without learning a few things.
     At this point, most supplies have been collected for all camps and Misty and I are close to ready. Cannot wait to get the day camps rolling!

Intern Project Update

When deciding on my project I wanted to incorporate my strengths in agriculture with the needs of the county, as soon as someone mentioned the county needing extra help with livestock showmanship I jumped right on it. Throughout my time in 4H I was very big in the showing aspect of it and have made a lot of connections within the industry so I felt I could use those to my advantage for this project. We decided to set the date for the livestock showmanship clinic for July 12th, the week before our fair. During the clinic all the kids will go to all of the presenters including beef, dairy, goat, lamb, and hog showmanship. I already have a group of champion showmen lined up to help the kids perfect their skills and now I am working on getting some show supplies to give away to the kids. At the clinic they will learn how to prep and show all of the animals properly, this will be beneficial for when they are about to compete in the round-robin showmanship where they compete with all livestock and it will help younger youth decide which project will be right for them. I cannot wait to share my love for showing with everyone that comes!

What is it like to be an Extension Intern?

Going into my first day of this internship, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I had different things about what they did in the school systems, and was even involved in a couple clubs but that was it. I never would have imagined that in just 5 short weeks, extension would have won over my heart completely. I am completely blessed that I have the opportunity to go back to my home community, and help educate and interact with them on a daily basis. Although I have to say they usually end up teaching me more by the end of the day.
On my very first day, I sat down with my agent and we wrote down all of the events, conferences, and meetings that had been planned for the summer. I could instantly tell that I was going to be busy, and that I was going to get more opportunities to get involved than what I had originally anticipated. I became overwhelmed and excited at the same time to see what the summer would entail. I also originally thought that I would only get to collaborate with the agent that I was assigned with, and boy was I completely wrong. 
I have gotten to go to a local wheat field and determine the yield loss that occurred when some kids drove through it with fourwheelers, believe it or not there is a formula to deter mine this. I had the privilege to attend a Louisville Ag Club meeting, in which I had the opportunity to meet many of the local and state faces of Agriculture. I taught an Ag Finance class, to teach local farmers how to record keep and its' importance. I collaborate with the Family Consumer Sciences Agent a lot, whether it is helping out with Homemakers or teaching a nutrition course. 
4-H has been a complete adventure all on its' own though! From teen conference to camp planning to state livestock judging to even more camp planning, there hasn't been a dull moment. I got to help teach a leadership class at teen conference, and got to experience 4-H for the very first time. The love that the kids I work with, as well as the rest of the state, have for this organization is motivation enough to want to be a 4-H agent. It was a blast. Camp planning has definitely been more than stressful, but I'm extremely excited to get to participate and see 4-H members of all ages work together. 
My individual project is going to be an enrichment day at both elementary schools, where I will educate the students on what animal by-products are and their importance. It occurred to me, when I was talking to my little brother and his friends that most younger don't realize that almost everything they use comes from an animal in some way. This was extremely eye opening to me, and I believe that I important that people of all ages understand not only where their food comes from, but daily household items as well. Students will have the opportunity to see a variety of different items that you wouldn't think come from an animal in person and try to figure what part of the animal they come from. Students will learn the by-products that come from cattle, swine, sheep, and even chickens. The enrichment day will take place on June 30th, and I'm excited to see what the students will learn and am hopefully that they will take information and share it with others.
I'm extremely excited to see what else this internship has to offer me as the summer continues!

Franklin County is FUN!

          So far my experience with my internship in Franklin County has been amazing. I was really excited about this internship since it is a county I’m not from and it’s a multi agent county. So far I have visited environmental camp, helped teach a rocket class at 4-H camp, worked with  a group of Cloverbuds campers, helped with a project days, learned all about horses at the district 4 horse show, planned project days, lots and lots more, and in general learned more about how different counties do 4-H. 

   

I have learned a lot in the short time I’ve been in Franklin County, not just about 4-H but also the logistics of everything, the budgeting, the insurance, and risk management. These were things that I was aware of but hadn’t really learned too much about. I have also learned a lot about how multi agent counties work as Franklin County has two amazing 4-H agents. Having two agents really helps with larger counties but it also requires a lot of communication and coordination. It’s also been interesting to see how they do programs as sometimes they do them together, other times they are split up depending on program area or location.

I’m really enjoying my time in Franklin County and learning a ton. I’ve had some interesting experiences so far and have really enjoyed getting to know the people at the Franklin County Office, and the community. My favorite experience so far would be the Project WET training I went to today in Newport because not only did learn a lot but I also got to pet a penguin, which I think is a pretty cool job perk. 

Making Healthy Happen

The Franklin County Extension office has two 4-H interns this year, me and Kerra Jones. We decided to take advantage of this fact for our special project, as two heads are better than one, and also we thought it would be a good idea to work on coordinating a multi person project and playing off each other’s strengths. We were both tasked with planning day camps for different elementary schools in Frankfort and so we decided to use these built in audiences for our program. Kerra is planning two days that will run from 1-5 I have planned three days that run from 1-3. We decided to do a comprehensive health program called Making Healthy Happen

After looking at the CEDIK County profile for Franklin we found that the major issues facing the children in Frankfort were health related. Franklin County is mostly urban/ suburban with some rural life, for the most part Franklin County is doing as good if not better than the rest of the state when it comes to income and employment.  The CEDIK report says that 11% of adults have diabetes, 33.1% are obese, and 27.6% are regular smokers. The statistics did not directly identify what the major issues for children were but it can be inferred that if these are issues for adults than children are also exposed and at risk for the same issues. Our program is going to focus on nutrition, exercise, making every day healthy choices, hygiene, and hydration.

We have decided to use curriculum from different programs including SNAP and Project WET. We also reached out to Public health professionals for guidance on the best types of interventions to do with children that are elementary school age. We decided that hands on lessons will work best. Kerra has created a My Plate icebreaker that requires kids to think and learn about what foods go in each of the food groups, this goes along with a lesson about portion control and reading nutrition labels. We will also be teaching a lesson about proper hand washing and how germs lead to the spread of illness. Kerra’s last day and my second day we will be doing a day all about physical activity. The kids will do an obstacle course and learn about burning calories, we will also have a short lesson about hydration and how it is important when doing physical activity. Every day we will be making a healthy SNAP recipe and explaining how easy it is to switch out a sugary unhealthy option for a delicious healthy one. For example when we do physical fitness we will be having fruit infused water to drink instead of a sports drink or juice which has a lot of extra sugar. Our hope is that we educate the kids enough so that they can make healthy choices and share with their families what they’ve learned.   

Our program will have a pre and post assessment so we can see if the participants learned what we wanted them to. The groups that we will be working with are general public school children so there is a mix of incomes, age, gender, and race, our target audience is children ages five to twelve so the groups we will be working with is perfect for our program. Kerra and I have collaborated and designed the program curriculum together, we are going to help each other present the materials at our respective schools but have changed some of the plans to best work with our audiences. We will have our first day at Good Shepherd on July 1^st and be working with 25 kids, the last day of our program will be July 26^th at Elk Horn and reach 50 kids. We are both very excited to see what kind of impact we will have on the Franklin County Community.           

Time flies when you're having fun.

            When I started my internship May 9^th I started writing my intern schedule into my planner. I was thinking about all the different activities I would be doing and the whole summer I had to do it. Well… It is already half way over and it has flown by. I got the opportunity to spend my internship in my hometown at the Bourbon County Extension Office. I got the opportunity to work with every agent in the office other than the AG agent in numerous events. From attending 4H events to volunteering at the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship at the Paris Stockyards. This blog will highlight some of the activities I have found important or just fun and show how diverse my internship has been so far!

Farm Week:

At Bourbon Central Elementary School, the last week of school when grades 1-5 are doing standardized testing the Kindergarten classes do a Farm Week Unit. The school contacts the extension office along with other agricultural groups. My first week into my internship, I helped plan lessons and activities for Farm Week lessons. The first lesson was a corn lesson where we showed the kids different products that corn makes, and then they got to have some popcorn as a snack. Another day we came into the classroom to talk about the Bourbon County Farmers Market and read the Farmers Market by Paul Brett Johnson that’s about a day at the Lexington Farmers Market in a kid’s point of view. With the Bourbon County Farmers Market under new management I found this very important to help the market gain more interest. After discussion we gave kids a sample of local apple butter and told them that it was one of many different items at the farmers market and to go home and tell their parents if they liked it to encourage a trip to the farmers market. The last in class lesson I did was about “pigs”, which livestock production is always a tricky subject to talk about to young kids. However, we talked about a pigs life from a children’s book and went over the different types of food that comes from pigs and the different breeds of pigs. Afterwards they got to cut out their own pig to color their favorite breed of pig. The last thing we did for farm week was bring animals in the last day of school and put them in pins outside of the school. Groups by groups they went around to each animal and we gave them information and let them pet the animals. We had hogs, chickens, a pony, sheep, and a calf. I was pleased to see the outcome and how the students could still recall some of the information at the end of the week.

The Bourbon County Elite Heifer Sale Work:

The Bourbon County Elite Heifer Program was formed in 1991 to provide a consistent, reliable source of beef herd replacement females. Rigid standards have been implemented and adhered to assuring that consigned heifers are reproductively sound with more than adequate frame and muscle.​ Pelvic measurements and reproductive tract scores along with minimum weights for breed types form the basis of qualification. Estrus synchronization in conjunction with artificial insemination and natural service of sires with approved EPD's for birth weight give added value to heifers offered in the Elite Bred Heifer Sale. The results have been that buyer demand has grown each sale. Satisfied customers have returned to Paris year after year on the first Monday in November to purchase replacement females because they have confidence in the Elite Heifer Program and the people behind it.

As a FFA member in high school I began helping with this event and now I have had the opportunity to help with this event in a more productive way. I have designed a whole new website for the event that is more user friendly and contains more apps to make the page more efficient in getting information from those who are interested. Check it out at www.eliteheifer.com! As the pelvic measures go, I have gone to a few farms of the sale consignors to help take the measurements for sale records. I have also went and took pictures for the website for people interested to see photos of the heifers.

The Bourbon County Fair:

This week I have been super busy with the county fair. This is another event that I have always helped out with the past few years. However, I have enjoyed seeing the hard work that goes into it from an agent’s point of view. We started taking fair entries the Saturday before Father’s Day and the Monday of fair week. I was one of four people that got to put the fair entries into the database. This takes a large amount of time and we entered around 1,000 entries this year. After entries I got to see how fair entries are judged. Another aspect of fair that I worked with the AG and 4H agent was with the livestock shows. I got to see the structure that goes into putting each livestock show on every night so far. I then helped with the burger contest sponsored by the Paris Stockyards, which I will not complain about at all because it was hard for the judges to choose a winner. I have noticed that all the agents stay busy during the fair and that working together is the key. Friday I will help with AG education night where the agents will bring in a agriculture bus and talk about agriculture and have activities for kids to do. I also got eggs from the University of Kentucky's Cold Stream Farm for our incubator/ chick hatching exhibit at the fair.

Kentucky Proud Food to Fork Dinner:

For my project I have decided to take on planning a Kentucky Proud Food to Fork Dinner. The purpose of this dinner is to increase awareness of the local food movement by partnering with organizations to benefit a charity in Bourbon County. These organizations can host dinners that will highlight local farms, farmers, producers, and Kentucky Proud products. The program will also promote local agritourism businesses and provide an educational background on locally produced agricultural food and products. The event will be July 7^th at 6:00 pm. Our venue will be The Farm at Land Works in Paris. The Farm is a awesome Kentucky Proud agribusiness that has farm animals for people to pet/look at, gift shop, a garden center, orchards where people can pick fresh produce, and is also a landscaping business. I have worked with three local restaurants and catering services to prepare the food. However, it is my job to get with local Kentucky Proud producers and purchase produce from them to take to the restaurants to prepare the food for this event. This way the whole meal will be Kentucky Proud products from the meat all the way to the drinks! I have loved doing this project so far because I get to work within my community and make contacts that I have not had before. I am also planning live local music, door prizes from local businesses, and work with the local public to bring everyone in to support a good cause. All proceeds will go to Operation Food Basket in Paris. Kentucky Proud will pay for 50% of costs for this event. I have had to go through an application process to receive the okay to put this event on. I’m excited to see how this turns out! I have been selling tickets at the fair this week and we plan on 100 people attending.

Everything that I have listed above is not even a dent on what all I have been doing. I have been a little of everywhere in a short period of time. However, like I once heard: Time flies when you're having fun.

Food in Fayette County

As I started my internship over five weeks ago, I did not know what to expect. Many previous interns had told me about everything they did and loved during their internships in other counties. At orientation, we were all warned to have an extra change of clothes in our car and to be flexible with the schedule. My supervisors, Liz Kingsland and Diana Doggett informed me about the different programs that they already had planned for the summer and how I could participate. I had a warm welcome in the office and was immediately able to participate in different areas.

4-H Camp

One of the main events of my summer so far has been attending 4-H camp for the first time as a counselor and leader of the foods class. Along with the other intern in the office, Tiara Fripp, we taught kids from 9-14 how to make smoothies, kale chips, yogurt parfaits and mini pancakes with items that most of them probably already have at home. We encouraged them to try new foods (many were weary of the kale) and most of them really liked the items and gladly took the recipe home. I have also gotten to assist Liz and Diana in food preservation classes and Food for Thought classes. I have learned so much about canning and ways to use other types of food such as Asian greens. One of the other opportunities that I have really enjoyed is working with kids during summer camps at some of free meal locations around Fayette County with the SNAP-Ed and EFNEP assistants. We have been able to educate kids about fruits vegetables, and the importance of physical activity. Recently, I attended a presentation with Diana about Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud and how the ladies of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) can use these recipes in their own kitchens. Outside of the food world, I have been able to assist at Job Club which helps people build their skills and look for new employers. Earlier this week, I was able to judge dolls and toys and needlework at the Bourbon County Fair. I helped at the 33^rd Annual Meeting the Challenges and Opportunities of Aging seminar in Lexington and attended a Better Bites workshop with the Tween’s Coalition in which the attendees learned ways of making children’s snacks healthier and how to incorporate more physical activity in their daily lives. I have also been able to attend Grandparents as Parents meetings that are held at our office.

UK Volleyball team volunteered at a
SNAP-Ed event we had at
William Wells Brown Elementary School.  

Throughout the rest of the summer, I have plans to go to 4-H camp again, assist more at Job Club, food preservation and Food for Thought classes, Grandparents as Parents events, etc. I am able to go to the Scott County fair next week in which I will be judging the baking, cakes and candies. Several of us around the office, include the SNAP-Ed and EFNEP assistants, Liz, Diana and myself, also have plans to attend the farmer’s market to give out samples of a dish and recipes to help people see all of the possibilities they have when they buy fresh produce. There is also a cooking camp scheduled in July that I will be assisting with throughout the week. Of course, I can’t forget the Fayette County fair later in July where I will also be judging items and assisting with other things that our agents need. I am looking forward to working more closely to our horticulture and agriculture agents because I am at a loss when it comes to their areas of expertise.

Making strawberry jam!

Although I have had a variety of opportunities this summer, many have revolved around food and what we can do for our community of Lexington in order to provide them with knowledge and the right kind of food. I have looked at the County Profile and as I expected, tobacco and other items such as hay are the most sold crops in Fayette County. However, I didn’t expect that fruits and vegetables are only 4% of the crop sales. I also looked at the Fayette County Schools website and found out that there are over 60 locations around Lexington that offer free meals to children under 18 years of age. I was appalled that there were so many! To get a frame of reference, I looked to Scott County where I am from and learned that there were only 8. There is quite a big size and population difference between the two counties, but the comparison helped to open my eyes as to how much Lexington needed more knowledge about food and the accessibility they have to it, especially fruits and vegetables. Through the knowledge that I have gained about Kentucky Proud products and the Plate It Up! recipes, I want to inform people about how to use fresh produce in a new way that create healthy and appetizing meals. I will be able to assist people of all ages as I continue going to the free meal locations and talking with kids, the cooking camp, my 4-H camp foods class and the farmer’s market. I hope that through my internship this summer, I can encourage more people in Fayette County to use their local crops in their meals. It is not only healthier, but it also helps support our local economy and allows people to have easier access to their local foods. I cannot wait to learn more about food in Fayette County throughout the summer!