Extending Knowledge, Changing Lives. This motto from the University of Illinois Extension is exactly what Monroe County is doing. I have had the amazing opportunity to Intern with Monroe County Extension office this summer in Waterloo, Illinois. Over the past couple months, I have watched youth grow and learn in many different aspects of Extension.
My main project this summer was heading a program call Ag-Tastic Adventure in Edwardsville, Illinois. This program lasted the month of June and when I started work May 22nd, I thought for sure I would never be able to make this program a success. Ag-Tastic Adventure had been in the works for Monroe county extension for a couple months, but when I arrived my first day I was handed a file folder and told to “run with it.” The program was a partnership with Woodland Elementary School’s Kidzone that occurs throughout the summer. Through this experience I was in charge of creating lessons for approximately one-hundred students Kindergarten-5th grade for four weeks. Each week was a different topic and entailed a short lesson on an agriculture product with at least two activities to engage the students.
The four weeks included, crops, swine and poultry, beef and dairy, and gardening. It was amazing to see students that live in an urban area learn so much information about agriculture and have a great time while doing it. At the conclusion of the four weeks, I had the opportunity to grant the children with a field trip to the St. Louis Science Center to visit the new “Grow” Exhibit. Illinois Farm Credit sponsored this program and the field trip would not have been possible without the support from them. This field trip was fantastic for the students because they had to opportunity to take the knowledge they learned over the past four weeks and see real life displays of it. Ag-Tastic Adventure was a success and I could not have been happier to lead this program.
After June was over, it was time for cooking school! My colleague Megan and I were the teachers for these three weeks of classes. We created cookbooks full of recipes, took multiple shopping trips to Schnucks for groceries, and taught about 115 kids the basics of cooking. We made anything from grilled cheese, to smoothies, to baked pork chops! The food was great but I enjoyed watching the kids interact and learn throughout cooking school. It was wonderful to hear them come back the next day and say “I made dinner for my family last night.”
Once cooking school was over we didn’t have much time to breathe, because it was now time for the Monroe County Fair! Fair week was an exhausting but rewarding time for Monroe County. My responsibilities included helping with livestock weigh-ins, assisting with awards during the livestock shows, and always making sure the 4-H Ice cream stand was stocked and running smoothly. I enjoyed getting to meet different community members in Monroe County as well as many 4-H families. After many years in participating in 4-H and attending my own county fair, it was great to see behind the scenes of what makes a county fair successful.
Summer is now coming to an end, but the experience I have had here in Monroe County will last a lifetime. I have improved my workshop delivering skills, learned that teaching twenty kids with paring knives is not always the easiest, and have built more muscle in my arms from carrying so many three gallon ice cream containers. I have had the amazing opportunity to influence 4-H members and other youth through UofI Extension and hope that I have extended my knowledge to help change their lives.
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