Boyle County Blitz

Man oh man, what a couple of weeks it has been! Time is flying by, and I am having the time of my life! Here at Boyle County, they tell you to start your pushups way before the internship begins and, won't you believe it, that is the best advice I’ve gotten so far. Within an hour and a half on my first day, I was leading nutrition and exercise classes for Professor Popcorn to first graders at a local elementary school. Running around like a football player, swimming through the classroom, bouncing in the air like a basketball player, and dancing in circles around the tiny desks, all the while teaching these children to love health and to reduce the obesity risk in Kentucky! It was a blast.

From that day on, I haven't stopped running, that’s for sure. I've painted crafts with a low-income elementary afterschool program; helped unpack, organize, and repack a bazillion boxes for our annual yard sale; organize and deliver another bazillion boxes of toiletries for a children’s home; and held pizza and popsicles parties for the winning classes of our rub-a-dub community service project.

Having met my need to be crafty and clean, I’ve also been given the opportunity to get some mud on my boots at our goat, sheep, and pig KUIP tagging. Running up and down the huge hill delivering tag envelopes to every huge truck and trailer coming through our process (270 in all) was definitely my workout for the day.

After getting some dirt under my nails, I cleaned up nice and headed to several meetings, like our District staff meeting, 4H council meeting, County fair meeting, and the District horse meetings. Seeing that side of the job was a nice break. Being a sorority girl, I knew the parliamentary procedure well, and was amazed at how easy it was to keep up with all the important talk.

To top it all off and to make sure we all stay nice and knowledgeable in our health, our county held a county health fair. I helped alongside our local hospital community resources team, which ironically is where I interned last year. The tests ran in all sorts of areas like blood lipids, BMI, cardiovascular and stroke risks all enable our community to know their body.

All in all, I’m excited for the coming weeks which will include Babysitting Academy that I will lead, Teen conference, District Horse, and Bayou and Brass here in my favorite town of Danville, KY. Hope everyone else is having as much fun as I am!

2 Weeks down

I am working in Taylorsville at the Spencer County Cooperative Extension office in 4-H. On my first day of work, Bryce the agriculture agent gave me a tour and we hit the ground running.  I designed our 4-H camp T-shirt, rearranged my office and met some of the people in the town.  In my first two weeks I have driven alone on the expressway, graded tractor safety tests, scored shooting sports tournament scores and taken pictures of the winners from the tournament.   I went with Mollie the 4-H agent, and Allison the FCS agent, to STAFF held in Carrolton and met up with some other interns while there. I went to Taylorsville Elementary and presented with Mollie and Tonya, the program assistant, to a group of girls scouts about compost worms.  I got to see a Pear tree with Fire Blight and I also went to the middle school and taught the kids about healthy snacks.   So far I have had a wonderful time and cannot wait for the weeks to come.

Beekeeping, field day, and summer project underway

Hello all, my name is Sean Bessin, and I am interning with Brandon Sears, the Ag and Natural Resources agent for Madison County. This month has been full of excitement so far, the beginning of this month I offered a beginners beekeeping class for the county and had 45 people attend. I offered two classes one at noon and one at 6 p.m. each class was very different. In my noon time class I had 24 people there, all of which were beginners, the class went really well, they asked lots of questions and it ran for three hours. My 6 p.m. class was alot different, I had a few very experienced beekeepers there, and the majority of the class had a few hives of their own. The class also went well however there were not many questions being asked, and the class only went for an hour and a half. Later on that week brandon and I helped the cattlemens association set up for their field day, they had two specialists come down as guest speakers, and overall the field day went real well. So far in this internship I have attended many meetings with many different groups. All the meetings were good to sit in on and see how important extension is when it comes to interacting with the different groups in the community and developing program ideas.
This summer I am working on a project with cow calf producers around the county on a pinkeye study. I am hoping to work with around 40 producers on the pinkeye study, and see what on farm practices are happening around the county and see what correlation they have with presence of pinkeye. I am also taking into account treatment of pinkeye and how it clears up as well. I will make sure to keep everyone posted as to how the project is going. So far I have made 15 farm visits and have already learned alot about what practices are going on around the county. This Summer has been very exciting so far, and can't wait to see what else awaits.

Sean Bessin

The First Two Weeks...

I began my internship with the Shelby County Extension Office on May 6th. Since that time I have already learned so much about extension. I was born and raised in Louisville, KY and am very much so a "city girl." So, before applying for this internship, I had never heard of "extension." When I began the process of applying for the internship, I of course did some research to try and familiarize myself with the background of extension. But no reading can teach you the true meaning behind extension more than actually experiencing it.

The first few days after my arrival, my extension agent--Sheila Fawbush--made it her business to make sure I really understood the history behind extension. In reading the philosophy of cooperative extension, I uncovered a phrase that really stood out to me--"education for action." I don't believe there are any greater words to describe the purpose of extension. In only the two weeks that I have been here, we have served smoothies and parfaits to a headstart class to help encourage them to eat nutritious snacks; we have went to elementary schools and taught them about the benefits of fruits, vegetables, and physical activity; we have taught a body recall class for senior citizens with arthritis; and we have held a sewing circle complete with hand-made outfits and a spaghetti feast. These activities are only a brief overview of all that has gone on over the past couple of weeks, but I believe it is enough to stand as a testament to that defining statement, "education for action." Extension is all about going out into the community and offering the people education that can help improve their lives and the lives of those around them, and hope that they will then pass that education to someone else.

Admittedly, being the city girl that I am, not all of my experiences have been ones that I would have chosen for myself. For instance, I have no idea how to sew and never really had a desire to learn before extension. But, as Sheila says, "interns need new experiences." Now, sewing is still probably not going to be a new hobby of mine, but Sheila is right. Interns do need new experiences, and extension offers that at every turn! Extension is all about trying new things, learning new skills, and accepting new ideas. I am excited for the many new experiences to come, and the wealth of learning that I am sure will come with it.

 

Blog one: intros, promos, outdoors, and radio fame!

Hello blog readers!

 Day one of my internship

I started my Extension internship at the Grant County Extension Office on May 6^th and I have been very busy since! I am the 4-H intern this summer and will be working primarily with Lamar Fowler.  I am not from Grant County, so I am not as familiar with the layout of the county.  On the first day of work, Lamar and I traveled around the county; he introduced me to some people in the county, showed me the different schools and some local businesses in the county.  The first day was a lot of introductions, but Lamar and I had a fun day going around the county.  I also was introduced to the office staff; Grant County’s office staff is very fun to work with! They enjoy the work that they do and are very fun to be around.  The office has been very welcoming to me.. maybe too welcoming. 

 One of the agents decided to play a little prank on me!

               

                During my first week, Lamar, Chelsea Young (Grant County 4-H Program Assistant), and I taught a Dance Fit program with the Kindergartners of Dry Ridge Elementary School.  The Dance Fit program is designed to get kids moving and teaching the about 60 Minutes of Play a Day.  The kids really enjoyed this program and so did we! 

                As someone who wants to be a 4-H agent, Lamar has been very good with giving me little tid-bids of information that would be useful to a new agent.  Lamar showed and explained to me the volunteer packets and information that is collected from all extension volunteers.  Together, Lamar and I went through all the volunteer files to make sure they were updated.  Next, we sent out letters to anyone who was missing paper work.  I also began working on my “project” for this summer.  I decided to do a cooking class and have started gathering materials and sending out information about the class.

                During my second week as an intern, I have not spent much time in the office.  Lamar and I started out the week working with fifth graders at Grant County’s outdoor classroom.  This is located behind the extension office. We spend around four hours outside with fifth grades.  We were teaching them about nature and how pioneers would have survived in this area.  

  

This is where we spend the morning!

                

                I had my very first 12 hour work day (an an intern).  One day this week, we had a Teen Council meeting in the evening so I spend my whole day at the office.  I know there will be more 12 hours days to come (especially during fair week), so this was good preparation.  Lamar and I also visited the 8^th graders at Dry Ridge Middle School; at the middle school, we planted flowers and mulched the flower bed outside their classroom.  These kids were very enthusiastic about doing this project! 

               After planting flowers, in the afternoon, I also did an experiment to see how many rubber bands it takes to cut a watermelon in half.  This is going to be a "guess how many rubber bands" split the pot fundraiser and I decided to be the guinea pig. 

                This week I also experienced my first District Three Staff meeting.  Wednesday, I traveled to Carroll County to attend this meeting. As someone who aspires to be an agent, this was a good experience for me to meet other agents from around the district.  I also really enjoyed seeing some of the agents that I did know! 

This is my "twin" Krista, the 4-H Agent in Boone County

                I also became a radio star this week.  Lamar and I were invited to promote Grant County 4-H on 106.7 Classic Country Radio.  This was such a cool experience because I have listened to this radio station since I can remember.  On this show, we promoted all the summer programs that the Grant County 4-H Program is hosting this summer.  

                I ended this week by teaching a nutrition class with another worker in the office at Field Day at Sherman Elementary School.  We played a game to get kids thinking about the differences in healthy and non healthy food.  This was a great way to end the week. 

                So far, my summer as a mini 4-H agent has been really exciting.  Unfortunately, it has rained almost every day that I’ve been here, but hopefully this weather will hold off until July when we will really need it!  I am sad that this will be my last day for a while.  For the next three weeks, I will be on an education abroad trip in Prague, Czech Republic.  I will miss being in the office, but I know there will be a lot of exciting stuff when I return!

Hope everyone who read this is having a great summer!

Blessings, 

Kelsey Knight 

Big Project Under Way!

My name is Lauren Settles and I am interning at the Henderson County Extension Office this summer.  I have been interning at the office for two weeks now and have already learned so much and have already had so many opportunities.  Since I have been here I have been able to go on many farm visits around the county, attend many informative meetings with different groups, meet a tobacco specialist, attend Wheat Field Day in Princeton, KY, plant corn plots, and so much more.  While taking part in all of these activities my special project has also been in the workings. 
When I first started interning two weeks ago the first thing that Mike Smith, my supervisor and Henderson County Agriculture Agent, and I did was decide what our big project was going to be throughout the course of the summer.  We decided that we were going to conduct a project on irrigation with the help of Brad Hagan, the Daviess County Intern, and Clint Hardy, the Agriculture Agent in Daviess County.  We primarily decided to do a project on irrigation in the Daviess and Henderson County areas because there is a rising interest in using pivot type irrigation and fertigation.  It is also important that the County Extension Services and the University of Kentucky stay informed on the advantages and disadvantages of using current irrigation systems. Brad and I will be able to learn about all the features of irrigation and also be able to hone in on problems and issues with irrigation. By doing this we hope to be better able to accommodate the needs of farmers in the area and also be able to gather information to help compile and eventually create a guide book for irrigation here in the state of Kentucky.  In getting ready for this project, I have been finding farmers to contact to participate in the project, creating a survey for farmers to answer, and also creating a letter to be sent out asking farmers for their participation. 
As you can tell, I have been very busy the past few weeks with many different activities.  Overall my internship experience has been nothing but great so far and I am excited to see what is in store for the next upcoming weeks.  I am looking forward to having many more opportunities in the weeks to come and I am also excited to get my special project started!

Planting Crop Research Plots in Daviess County- Blog #1

Hey guys, my first couple weeks have been packed with things to do. My first week I became a certified as a private pesticide applicator, certified in the Beef Quality Assurance Program, and, although I wasn’t qualified, took the class and test to become certified as a Pork Quality Assurance Advisor training. Also in the first week I went to a couple different staff meetings, one was for the entire district 6 extension staff, the other was one for the agricultural and horticultural agents in the green river area.

Week one also consisted of a lot of farm visits, mostly to do with tobacco greenhouses and wheat fields. Preparing for summer projects and field days in the county have also been a large part of my first week. I am working with Henderson intern, Lauren Settles with a project on irrigation systems used in both Daviess and Henderson counties, so we’ve been coming up with letters to ask farmers for their participation and survey questions for our project.  Although I spent a ton of time outside of the office,  it hasn’t stopped me from getting to know people in the office as well. Since I am now one of the only 2 males in the office, I am often used for my lifting abilities. I’ve been moving boxes upstairs to the attic and downstairs to different offices. I like my role in the office so far!

Corn plots! Week two has been a complete 180 from week one. There have been no meetings, certifications, or classes to attend too. Since the weather has been great for farmers, and since Daviess county plants many corn and soybean research plots, a majority of my time has been devoted to planting corn and soybeans. I started Monday with my first soybean plot and by this Friday we have completed 5 more. One day I put in a 12 hour day planting 4 different plots around the county. We have plenty of help and I really enjoy the labor. Here is a photo of us planting a corn plot.

Along with the crop plots, I’ve been to Princeton for a wheat field day, helped spread fertilizer and taken soil samples for a forage field day Daviess County will host in August, and have worked to complete a letter to be sent to farmers regarding the summer project. Here is a photo of me taking a soil sample for the forage field day that will be held in august.