It's my first week back! I am so excited to start working at the Extension Office again! I have hit the ground running on projects and paperwork for camp and even some early work to get ready for the fair in August. Now I now that most of you are probably thinking why is she doing the same thing again this summer and at the same office. Well, the answer to that is that I loved it so much last year that I just had to come back again. I enjoy the level of connection with youth that this Internship provides and I feel as if doing it again will provide me with an even better understanding of the requirements of the job. Hopefully, by the end of this summer, I can secure a full-time position in the field of extension and 4-H youth development.
Week 2 (June 10-14)
This week I did something I never thought I would be excited about, I went to summer school. The Program Assistant Bethany, a group of youth volunteers, and I went to Ashby Lee Elementary School to teach agricultural programs to kindergarten through 4th-grade summer school students. On the first day, the activity that I was in charge of was having the students make cows out of paper plates. Everyone seemed to have fun doing this considering it involved glue, markers, and cutting things out. There were definitely some cute cows that went home with the students that day, and I think that I finally got the message across to them that, in fact, brown cows do not make chocolate milk. On the second and last day that we went out to Ashby Lee, I was in charge of an activity that had the students matching up pictures of foods and the plant from which they originated. They got the more obvious matches right like a tomato plant with a tomato, but the one that they were all stumped on was probably one of their most favorite ingredients: sugar. They all thought that the sugar cane was actually bamboo and had never seen sugar cane before the activity. I had lots of fun and hopefully helped some students gain a better understanding of agriculture and where their food comes from.
Week 3 (June 17-21)
After my sister-in-law heard about the summer school program we did at Ashby Lee last week; she requested that we come to her school's summer program and do similar activities. I did the same thing on the first day that I did last week, and once again taught many of the students that all cows produce white milk. I was amazed by the number of students that thought brown cows produced chocolate milk. It is scary to think about just how many people are so removed from agriculture that they believe that brown cows produce chocolate milk. The second day that we went to school for our summer school program, I did the station of Farm Olympics with the help of a teen volunteer. The students had a lot of fun and got in a little physical exercise for the day. I think that having the local 4-H Program involved in the schools is a good plan for future development and enrollment in the program. It is always good to bring in new youth and help them understand how agriculture impacts their life, and also have a little fun at the same time.
Week 4 (June 23-27)
This week was the busiest of my internship. We had the Culpeper-Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Spotsylvania week-long overnight camp at the Northern 4-H Center in Front Royal, Virginia. I had so much fun going to this again! We had a re-introduction of the skunk pack's spirit stick, who we renamed Forky in honor of the new Toy Story movie. I got to help out with various classes and got to know some of the campers at camp. I made chap-stick and lotion with Jenny in the beauty class and had fun dying shirts at the tie-dye class. I even learned that apparently, when tired enough, I can take a nap on a couch in a room full of loud kids. (VERY USEFUL) Overall, I had such a fun time at camp, and I can't wait for the opportunity to go again in the future, hopefully with my own campers.
Week 5 (July 8-12)
This week I got to do something I have never done before... I interviewed at a radio station for a show that will be aired next week. I was really kinda nervous but not at the same time. I was more afraid of saying something that I shouldn't by accident than anything else. The lady that interviewed me and some of the other interns was super nice though and promised us that it wasn't live and that she had a week to make sure that we all sounded really good. Basically what we did was describe how each of our individual internships has gone, and talk a little about what our background/involvement was in 4-H. Luckily, I think I made it through sounding somewhat educated, but that's all up in the air until it actually airs on the 19th. (Hopefully, it will be okay)
Week 6 (July 15-19)
This week Carol is off adventuring with some 4-H'ers in the Dominican Republic. My project for the week is to work on the Yellow Cards that give the exhibitor name, town, club/chapter, species, and breed. It is pretty mindless work but critical for buyers to get a bit of information about the animal and exhibitor. As a distraction from all of the writing, Bethany and I started to make some of the crafts we had planned for the day camps starting next week. I made a lovely fishbowl out of cereal and a paper plate for our Cloverbud Camp at the end of next week and worked on a few other crafts we had planned to have examples for the campers to follow. We also made bouncy balls out of the ingredients of slime plus a little added cornstarch. The bouncy balls were messy but seem like the campers will be interested in making. I can't wait for next week to come to make all of these crafts related to the lessons with our campers!
Week 7 (July 22-26)
This week started with Bethany and I going on an adventure to Route 11 Potato Chips in Mount Jackson because they gave her a deal on some chips to provide to our campers. Of course, while we were there we had to taste test all the chip samples and buy some for ourselves to take home because it is not every day that you get to visit a chip factory. We also stopped at the local Electric Cooperative to pick some envelopes and letterhead for the sale buyer invitations. It is so good to see that local businesses are helping us promote agriculture to youth. On Thursday and Friday, we had the Cloverbud Day Camp for youth ages 5 to 8 years old at the County Government Building. We had 5 little ladies sign attend our camp that loved the coloring and crafts that we planned for them. My favorite part of the camp was a scavenger hunt that I created from scratch. I had to balance making the clues rhyme and still keep them at a level which would be easy to comprehend for them. They loved it almost as much as I did! I had them running around in the office looking for fish, outside looking for light sources, and even in the hall looking for a barn and animals. It was definitely rewarding creating this activity!
Week 8 (July 29- August 2)
This week we had our Monday to Thursday Agriculture themed Day Camp. We had to improvise the pre-planned schedule because the kids were much more energetic and ready to go up to the park during the cooler time in the morning. After that, a speaker would come to present to the kids about various agricultural topics. For the first day, we had a couple of 4-H and FFA kids come in and talk about their rabbit, goat, and sheep projects. The second day we had a couple of ladies come in and bring in a few of their horses and discuss the various ways that horses can be used. The third day was what I thought was the coolest because we had a mobile dairy come in and talk to the campers about cows and milking procedures. On the last day, we had a local farmer bring in some equipment and talk about crops and harvesting. The kids loved the tractor that he brought and couldn't wait until he let them climb up in the cab. On Friday, I spent the whole day with Lindsay, one of the other girls that work at the office for this summer, and we printed, folded, labeled, and assembled the buyer invitations for around 540 potential buyers, and I still have over 100 to do on Monday. It is very good to see that so many businesses support youth in agriculture.
Week 9 (August 5-9)
This week started with me finishing up the list of 637 buyer invitations for the sale at the county fair. I am pretty sure that I even dreamed about stuffing and sealing those envelopes the night after I finished doing them all up. I had to deliver them back to the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative on Tuesday so that they could be mailed out as soon as possible. On Thursday I had one of the best days at work, mainly because Bethany brought in her 3-month-old toy Australian Shepard named Spud. Spud had a Vet appointment scheduled so he came to visit for the day. I cannot explain to you all how small and adorable this little guy is. He is seriously the cutest thing ever. It was a welcome distraction for everyone in the office. Seriously, go and look at his cute nap picture in my photos.
Week 10 (August 12+13)
Well, this is it... the second round of the VCE 4-H Summer Internship has come to an end. I have had such great experience again this year. I can't wait to one day be involved in more of an administrative role in a 4-H program. On my last day, I got to go to the same radio station that I visited earlier in my internship and talk about our county fair. It makes me happy that on some level, even if only one person is listening, people in the community are becoming ever more aware of agriculture and its role in everyone's lives. I think that it is important for people to know that without agriculture there would be no us. I hope to be a part of the generation of people that become more self-aware and responsible for their actions concerning the agricultural community.