Farm Safety Days

Throughout my internship at Carle, I have been working all semester for the Progressive Ag Safety Days events put on by Carle.  This spring there were three safety days.  These safety days were in Gibson City, Piatt County, and Vermilion County.  These safety days range for students in 4^th to 6^th grade depending on the school.  According to Carle, 

“each year, more than 100 children are killed in farming accidents nationwide.  These hands-on safety days teach children how to accept responsibility for their own safety, how to deal with farm emergencies and what it would be like to live with the consequences.  School staff and community leaders help select topics that are most appropriate for their community.”

Part of my job relating to these safety days has been many different tasks.  I have contacted schools to verify classes attending, teacher names, and phone numbers.  I have created excel sheets with each teacher and his or her class.  After creating the excel sheets I organized classes and teachers by schools and then by each safety day.

Another part of preparing for the safety days is creating nametags for each student and teacher.  A student and teacher each get a nametag, lanyard, and goodie bag.  Stuffing goodie bags and teacher packets were long days of organization, attention to detail, and volunteers who came in to help.  Without volunteers and organization the process of preparing materials for the safety days would take much longer. 

Students and teachers also get a safety day t-shirt.  This year there were close to 900 hundred t-shirts.  Amy, my supervisor, and I spent a couple days sorting through them and putting them into categories by class and then by school.  Below is a photo of the sorting day. 

This past Friday was the first safety day.  I helped with the set up, took photos for Amy and led two different stations.  I taught students about chemical safety and water safety. Below are some pictures of the safety day.  This coming week I will be preparing for the Vermilion County safety day, which is May 16^th.  This will be the last day of my internship and I couldn’t think of a better way to leave! I am excited to see the final product of my internship.   

This is a picture during the chemical safety station.  Here the students learned about chemical look-a-likes by guessing which was the chemical from each pair. 

Here, Blaire and I taught students about water safety, giving personal experiences of water safety.  We also did an activity using life rings.  We had students practice tossing life rings to a safety cone, pretending the cone were a drowning victim and helping them when they were in need.

Ending the Year at DMBGC

So as the school year comes to a close, and I am finishing my time here at the Don Moyer's Boys and Girls Club, I am a little sad to go.  The Club has definitely grown to have a soft spot in my heart for many reasons.  I have been exposed to all type of experiences dealing with education, youth, and leadership, just in this one internship at DMBGC.  I have grown and learned a lot, and I have to give a big thanks to DMBGC for allowing me to intern at their club.

A very big task I worked on while interning at the club, was the SmartGirls program.  This program was started by my supervisor Debarah McFarland.  When I joined the team, Debarah and I worked together to create a program that was very beneficial for the girls.  It was more than just meeting once a week to talk about self-development in teen girls, it was about changing their lives for the better.  Creating a positive environment for the girls where they can be themselves and gain whatever it was they needed to gain to better their lives, was our first and only priority with this program.

An event that SmartGirls was apart of was an all-girls lock-in at the club.  The theme of the lock-in was "Being a Queen", and it was a success.  In the lock-in, we engaged in all types of activities from panel discussion, group talks, red-carpet fashion show, and even making care packages for a local women's shelter.  I will say that all of us (me) did not make it through the whole night! Zzzzzz

However, through the whole experience, I am pleased to say that I did it and I would do it over and over again.  My time at the club was great and I hope that they continue to grow, and remember me!!!

Reaching the Community about Rural Health and Farm Safety

This semester, Spring 2014, I have had the privilege to complete an internship at the Carle Foundation Hospital.  Here at Carle, I am in their Public Relations Department and an intern for Rural Health and Farm Safety. 

The Carle Center for Rural Health and Farm Safety’s mission is all about keeping families and farms safe.  Below is the mission statement and what Carle believes.

“In 1991, Carle Foundation Hospital recognized the need for education in agricultural safety after the devastating loss of Clifford and Dean Roberts, father and son who died in separate farming incidents. The Roberts family, in conjunction with Bernice and Zelma Holl, established the Roberts Memorial Fund to help support the Center for Rural Health and Farm Safety.”

“Today, the Center continues to promote agricultural health and safety to our rural neighbors and to prepare pre-hospital and emergency medicine providers to respond quickly and effectively to farming incidents and injuries.”

During my time spent at Carle I have gotten to be a part of many different projects and events.  A big part of my internship has been processing, registering, and evaluating Carle’s Community CPR and First Aid Class through The American Heart Association.  Carle provides these classes to the community for free.  These classes are important especially to the rural community because it can take as long as 10-15 minutes for emergency response teams to get to a farm family or small community.  The courses provide the proper instruction for people to learn how to save a life.

Another big part of my internship has been my involvement with Carle’s School Programs.  My supervisor, Amy Rademaker, and myself go into schools in the area and cover topics relating to farm safety as well as other safety topics that children could face each day.  

This picture above is of a day that I went to Monticello Junior High and talked to two health classes about food safety.  Each time we deliver a presentation we have hands-on lessons and take-home handouts to help them hopefully minimize the risks.  Food safety is just one of the topics I have presented.  The topics we have covered are environmental emergencies, tractor safety, and more.  

Starting next week, Carle will be working with Progressive Ag Safety Days.  Topics like animal, chemical, grain, water, weather safety, and more will be covered, teaching children about how important safety is and how to accept responsibility for their own safety. These safety days reach grades 4th through 6th and Carle will educate almost 1,000 kids through these Safety Days!!

Stay tuned for a blog next week about Safety Days and the preparations that I have been doing for them! 

Lastly,  I wanted to say that this internship has been a blast and I highly recommend it! Each day is a different day and a busy day.  It has been an exciting internship and I have definitely been learning so much, new skills and enhancing skills I already have.  Below is a picture of a calendar in Amy and I's office.  It may look overwhelming, but it helps us know what events are coming up, important dates, and colors to match the different sections of each event that the Rural Health and Farm Safety Center leads throughout the year. 

For more information, call (217) 326-8506 or email farmsafety@carle.com.

Adventures with Ag in the Classroom

Last summer I had the opportunity to work with the Illinois Corn Growers Association as the Ag in the Classroom Commodity Intern.  After traveling over 3,000 miles throughout the summer working with educators, I decided to take another internship opportunity related to Ag in the Classroom. This semester I have been working with the University of Illinois Extension: Ford-Iroquois Ag in the Classroom program in Onarga, IL.  This has been such a rewarding experience, and all of the projects and contacts I have experienced will definitely be helpful in my future career.

As an intern, I have been able to create lesson plans, attend a High School career night, give presentations to students K-4, and much more.  The county coordinators meeting in February was so much fun.  I was not only able to connect with other county coordinators, but I was able to learn more about Illinois Ag in the Classroom.  Implementing a poster contest for students K-12 grades has been a large task, but a great learning experience on how to improve in years to come. I have learned that my passion for agriculture and teaching young children continues to grow everyday. Throughout my internship thus far, I have formulated my top five reasons I find it important to teach youth about agriculture.

My five reasons to Teach Ag!

1. They are interested. 
Younger students always as awesome questions. (Sometimes off the wall questions too!)  If we allow students to form opinions about the agriculture industry through Ag in the Classroom, we will be able to hopefully help them relay that message to mom and dad too!  Students love having a guest educator in the classroom.  They ask a lot of questions, and are always listening to what you have to say.

2. It helps them connect to the food they eat.
When teaching agricultural lessons in relation to dairy, pork, beef, etc.  students will hopefully be able to identify these products at the grocery store and know that each product had to travel a long distance to get there.  It is exciting to me when children get the "ah ha!" moment when they discover there food didn't just appear on the grocery store shelf. Showing how food is produced, packaged, and shipped shows students just how much work goes into something that seems so simple.  

3. It helps them connect to the land. 
Not all students K-4 understand why we have corn and soybeans growing everywhere in Central Illinois.
There are so many things that we, as educators, can do to teach youth about the land, how it helps plant growth, and what agriculturalist do to maintain that land day in and day out.

4. They connect to the producer. 
When students get to read a story, watch a video, or actually meet a farmer, they are able to formulate a lot of questions to ask.  Putting a face on the farmer that is ultimately providing food, fuel, and fiber for each and every person on this planet can be very beneficial.  Allowing students to make this connection may also help communicate facts about farming that many youth may not know.  Connecting to the producer allows students to understand the hard work and dedication each farmer puts into feeding a growing population.  

5.  It helps them gain perspective on the agricultural industry. 
Overall, the goal of teaching youth about agriculture is to help them gain an understanding of all aspects of the agricultural industry.  There is no better time than now to start educating youth on the importance of agriculture in their daily lives.  The best part about it is, they love it!  Through interactive lessons, hands on activities, and much more, we are able to excite youth about the future of an industry that provides food, fuel, and fiber for you and me everyday.

Whats next?  I have been very busy creating lessons, organizing AITC Kits, and planning our Summer Agricultural Institute that will take place in June.  Stay tuned for more information about what the next few weeks will bring me as I continue to grow professionally and prepare many lessons for students throughout Ford and Iroquois Counties!

For more information on the Ford-Iroquois Ag in the Classroom Program visit: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/agclass/

For more information on Illinois Ag in the Classroom, please visit: http://www.agintheclassroom.org/

Interning at DMBGC

For my internship for the 2013-2014 school year, I will be at the Don Moyer's Boys and Girls Club located right here in Champaign, IL.  I do know that it is second semester, but my first semester here at DMBGC was a very fun, new, and great learning experience for me.  It also allowed me to even fathom the thought of taking my degree somewhere other than into a high school classroom (gasp)!

So why has this oppurtunity been so great? well, I've got to experience a lot of things that will help me to be a better educator, as well as a professional, regardless of career path I take on.

Because I'm interning at a club for children, I'm obviously around the kids.  My role is to mainly assist and observe during scheduled times.  The kids play a variety of games, complete their homework, and they even get snacks!

However, when I am not helping with the children, I am working on the new Ag program that I will be starting up with my supervisor, Ms. Debarah, this school year.  I have lesson plans and activities planned for the children and we hope to have the kids come out twice a month on saturdays to engage in learning about Ag!

In addition to the Ag Program, the club offers a program every thursday night, that is ran by my supervisor, called SmartGirls.  I help out with this as well.  For about 2 hours, my supervisor and I sit down with a group of high school girls and just talk about everything a growing adolescent girl should know about.  The girls are really engaged and they enjoy the space that has been created for them to discuss these important topics. Last semester as a final for AGED 421, I was able to do a soils lesson in one of our SmartGirls sessions, and the girls enjoyed it!  The boys even saw what was going on and wanted to join!  At the end of the lesson, it felt good to teach a topic and have the students engaged and actually learn something at the end of it.

So with a new semester ahead of me here at the club, I hope to grow and learn even more.  I am excited to see what new things come about from this internship!

Reflections on Summer

Summer is over, but my job definitely isn't.

I've been reappointed to work for the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition in the fall.  I think this speaks volumes about the work I was able to get done and how dedication and hard work can pay off in the long run.  The last part of my official summer internship was preparing and presenting at the Farm Progress Show, which truly tested my abilities during the first week of school.     

           The Farm Progress Show is an event put on every year in the Midwest which brings together farmers, educational groups, manufactures, seed dealers and more.  The Farm Progress Show is the oldest and largest outdoor agricultural equipment exhibition in the United States with more than 500 exhibitors.  In the course of the three day event, it is estimated that over 150,000 people will attend to see the latest advancements in agricultural technology. This event rotates between Illinois and Iowa every year.

The University of Illinois has a large display at the event which always showcases the College of ACES.  At this year’s event, Processing at Illinois and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition were invited to share with farmers what happens after they take their crops to the elevator.  Processing at Illinois had an extrusion machine on-site that converted brown rice into a brown rice puff/snack.  While it was on a much smaller scale than major food companies, it gave visitors a chance to see the extrusion process in action.  This process is the same process used to make pastas, Cheetos, breakfast cereals and more.

My job at this event was to create presentations that would loop at the display, create promotional literature, get a supply list organized and purchased, and plan the overall display.  I worked with many people in the department to get the job done and had to take several trips around the Champaign Urbana area to complete tasks.  In addition, I was present at the farm progress show for the duration of two days.  At the booth, I met with industry representatives, gave high school students a lesson in food processing and shared my knowledge with those who were curious about food processing.           I'm really glad to have had the experiences I did during my summer internship.  I'm also eager to see what the coming months bring for me, and I can't wait to take these experiences into my career in Ag Education.

my journey to banking industry and HR

I am really happy to get a chance to work in NYC! My internship was with Bank of Communications. It is a Chinese bank, where the headquarter is in China. Where I was working was right near to Wall Street. When I went to work around 9am and left work around 5pm every day, I always thought if a billionaire just walked next to me. I wanted to ask the billionaire how they become very successful in the world financial center! It was a pity that I did not ask them about those questions. But, I will definitely come back NYC for many other reasons.

As the summer intern, my main project was to create the training program, which was for two groups of leaders(students) from mainland of China and they were coming to USA to acquire some banking training. It was my responsibility to create the training program that will help those leaders to bring something new and different back to China. I was also implementing the training programs with them, which was a mixture of lessons and travelling. Upon completion of a week's training,  4 group leaders will write summaries and reports to a big leader in the class. Upon completion of the whole training, each leader will share his/her USA experience to their colleagues.

The main purpose of this training program is to let the leaders from mainland of China to learn about the financial systems, how to operate properly in US, how to be an international banker and how to comply with the rules about regulatory needs here as well as other human resources related rules and regulations.

My supervisor and some other leaders in New York branch have some connections to different elites in the the business fields. what I did for this training program was to write formal business emails to those elites and ask them to give lectures to our students(leaders).

My first step was to discuss with my supervisor regarding to which company or organization would give us lectures. After my supervisor presented our talk to the general manager of our branch, we revised our plan again. Then I started to write formal business email to invite different elites. This was not an easy task. I initially write a sample email and then fill in the names and titles. However, my supervisor said I need to customize the email to different leaders. After we completed the name lists, we need to make sure that all the lectures were scheduled into consecutive 3 weeks since those students were only in USA for a short period.

To be honest, designing the training program for the business leaders was a challenging task for me. Because I am not a business major and I am not familiar with banking industry. I am glad that I learned some training and development skills last semester to help me design the program. The skills I learned about how to write a lesson plan also helped me to make the training plan.

Besides designing the classes and trainings for leaders from mainland of China, my supervisor, another coordinator from NY branch and I also discussed about how to help them quickly adapt the English language environment and how to make their USA trip unique. I think we were very considerate about their visit because we even discussed about which restaurant to go and which landmark they are going to visit. What we want to do is to let those leaders satisfy their USA business trip.

This is the first page of the training program that my supervisor and I co-designed.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP gave us a lecture on July 9, 2013 and this is the welcome board.

After the lecture with HSBC, I took a picture with this cute wall paint.