Whew! What a summer it has been! As an intern for the Illinois Corn Growers Association, I have traveled near 3,000 miles this summer sharing new ideas on how to incorporate agricultural lessons into classrooms across the state.I have been fortunate enough to work alongside many other interns from IL Pork, IL, IL Soy, Midwest Dairy, and IL Beef throughout the summer. Although I have spent a lot of time driving, I have met some tremendous educators in Illinois that are eager to learn about agriculture.
There are A LOT of differences between teaching educators and teaching children. Teachers have loaded questions, and sometimes prior knowledge on certain topics. As a small town farm kid and college student, I learned that we simply do not know everything. Being honest and open with educators about any given agricultural topic has been highly important. They will ask anything of you, after all you are the expert.
This summer internship has not just been a summer job. I have opened so many doors that I can use in the future. For instance, working alongside an Illinois Pork Producer intern this summer gave me the opportunity to travel to Chicago with IL Pork for the annual Pork-a-palooza. Serving as a face of agriculture at the Lincoln Park Zoo for a day, what an experience! I have never had so many questions about Illinois agriculture, and I love it! While visiting Pearl City, IL I was able to tour an ethanol plant with 20 educators. Little did I know, I would be testing my knowledge as educators asked questions of me the entire tour. These two experiences have taught me how eager people are to learn about Illinois Agriculture.
As the summer is quickly coming to an end, I would like to share with you two blog postings that I have written on the IL Corn blog:
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