Interning for Champaign Young Life

Being the intern for Champaign County Young Life comes with many different responsibilities and projects.  Being a youth organization with only three staff members, no one does just one job.  So as the intern I took on a number of projects. My main project being the JR Leader supervisor and trainer.  Over the course of the semester I have trained about 15 high school students in being JR Leaders, which can be described as the high school student representatives for Young Life.  On November 9, under my supervision, the JR Leaders planned their first Young Life event.  The event was a picture scavenger hunt that spanned across all of Champaign.  The event was a huge success! Here is a picture of the group that I helped lead doing one of the challenges.

As the intern I have also done numerous office work.  We took over 30 high school students to Washburn, IL for a fall weekend trip in November, and I was in charge of all logistical duties concerning transportation and managing the students health and sign up forms.  Other events I have been able to impact and work on in my internship have been supervising JR Leaders volunteer for our middle school outreach and setting up the Young Life end of the year Christmas club!

AGED 260 Undergraduate Internship

As school starts back up, it is a great time to reflect on what was an exploratory and rewarding summer as the AGED 260 Undergrad Intern. Working with Lisa Burgoon was a great experience, and I learned a lot about the educational world.

For the most part, my internship was broken down into two sections. The first part was spent in the classroom with Professor Burgoon and her teaching staff. I got very familiar with 103 Mumford Hall (pictured below). In here, I had the chance to watch the class from a third party perspective, and give advice to the teaching team about what I thought was working or not working.

103 Mumford Hall: AGED 260 Main Lecture Location

The other portion of my time was spent at the Illinois Leadership Center, where Lisa Burgoon's office is held. This is where her and I met to discuss the other portion of my internship. Aside from helping to improve the class, I was also responsible for creating online content that Lisa could use in her summer AGED 260 class. This is something that I had never done before, so it was a great learning experience! Being thrown into a completely new situation is intimidating, but it is also a great chance to learn about a new field.

All in all, this internship showed me an entirely new career field that I did not even realize existed. Working in academia is something that I am now considering. Oh, and if this experience sounded like something you would like to do, contact me and I can refer you to Professor Burgoon!

AgriGold Internship: All other duties as assigned

This summer I had the opportunity to work with the Marketing Team at AgriGold.  AgriGold is a seed corn company based in Saint Francisville, Illinois.  Throughout the summer, my position was meant to assist the internship coordinator by processing the daily activities, expense reports, and coordinating contests for the field interns across the Corn Belt.  

As the summer progressed, my day-to-day activities became less structured.  The marketing team spent many hot days in the warehouse packing boxes, sorting promotional items, or assembling new items.  Before this summer, I had never put much thought into who did all of those tasks; they just seemed to be done.  

I was able to attend AgriGold's National Sales Kickoff in Sandusky, Ohio.  I only got to see a short window of the planning and preparation that went into the event, however I was most amazed by the willingness of the entire team to offer help in order to finish quickly.  No matter his or her title, everyone had the common goal of making the event run smoothly.  

From this experience, I learned the most by the example shown.  Problems are likely to arise in all workplaces, its how you take those in stride and problem solve yourself that proves your ability to others.  

Summer has Finally Come to a Close

It's finally that time. Summer has ended and school has begun, but we won't forget all of the fun and learning we had this summer!

The children learning about Pigs & Soybeans

We finished out our summer learning about Pigs, Soybeans, Sustainable Gardening, and Space (how gravity effects plants). The kids got to make pig puppets, soybean shakers, and they got to grow their own radishes! They also had a chance to try some tasty fruits and veggies while learning about sustainable gardening. Yum!

Check out the fun we had making our pig puppets!

Youth Cooking School

Hello! My name is Samantha McCann and I am a junior majoring in Agricultural Leadership Education.  This past summer I was an intern at the Unit 22 branch of Illinois Extension, which consists of Monroe, Madison, & St. Clair counties.  

While located in Monroe County for majority of my internship, my main project was to be in charge, with my co-
intern, of Youth Cooking School held in Monroe County.  Youth Cooking School is an educational program aimed toward teaching ages 9-13 about nutrition & meal planning, food preparation skills, the importance of physical activity, and healthy food choices.  By teaching youth about this, they can in turn help their families to make overall better health choices.

 The sessions were three hours long, for one week each (with eight sessions held throughout the summer in total). We taught the YCS participants about gluten allergies, raw eggs/raw meat, cooking terms, and the My Plate just to name a few things! As for recipes, we made items such as Spinach Smoothies, Gluten-free White Bean Brownies, Cheddar Biscuits, Ranch Porkchops, cupcake decorating, and many more!  This summer has been a  great experience as being in charge of a program, as my co-intern and I were the ones who oversaw and taught the whole four weeks of Youth Cooking School. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I haven't learned more about youth and Illinois Extension in general than I ever thought possible! Thank you Unit 22 for making my summer a great one!

University of Illinois Extension Internship

Throughout my summer internship, I got a chance to contribute to various different agricultural endeavors. The first component involved driving around to different CPS schools conducting garden evaluations. I filled out a three page survey for each school created by Drew Thomas, the school garden coordinator. I was asked to answer questions ranging from the number of total garden beds to the overall condition of the garden. The most effective way to fill out this survey was through my iPhone 6, where I could give feedback to the garden coordinators in real time. I took multiple pictures of each garden and dragged them into a google drive folder for all other contributors of the survey to see. In total, I visited 35 different CPS schools and completed surveys for each.

Memorial for student that passed away at
Mt. Greenwood Elementary School

For my Professional Development Experience, I worked hands on with my supervisor Zach Grant to build a high tunnel. Located at 50 W Madison in Maywood Illinois, the ReUseDepot provided us with a piece of land adjacent to the property for us to build. Extension agreed that by building on their property, both the ReUseDepot and Extension have co-ownerhsip of the high tunnel. This high tunnel structure uses solar heat to create a microclimate. Together, Zach and I assembled steel hoops, support boards, and garden beds day in and day out. I learned how to use power tools and how to create a high tunnel that is structurally sound. I learned the meticulous detail that goes into creating a large structure that is sustainable year round. Although completing the structure was cut off early due to my departure for school, I can safely say that I contributed to building a high tunnel that traps heat, allowing for year round growth. 

Zachary Grant using clamps, level bubble, and power tools to make sure steel hoops are level and equidistant

Myself, Jordan Horwich, using power drill to lock in support for steel hoops 

Interning in Indianapolis

School is officially in full swing. I am always excited to get back to school, but this year I have come back to campus with a renewed excitement.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to intern with FLM+ in Indianapolis, Indiana. FLM+ is a strategic consulting, marketing and communications company serving clients who specialize in the business of agriculture and the life of rural communities. In the Indianapolis office, I had the unique opportunity to work with Asurgo functions. Asurgo, an FLM+ company, is a strategic organizational development, learning services, and consulting group. Throughout the summer I was exposed to many different aspects of their business. I was able to gain experience doing market research, developing training and curriculum, attending client meetings, and observing the strategic planning process, among other things. I was able to observe how our functions in the Indianapolis office interacted with and even depended upon those functions of the company that are primarily housed in the Minneapolis, Columbus and Washington D.C. offices.

As a part of my internship, I completed a Capstone Project which was an assigned project that aligned to my interests while also adding value to the company. My Capstone Project consisted of three main components: 1) an assessment of an existing training program, 2) conducting research on digitally delivered training, and 3) designing, implementing and analyzing data from a survey of inexperienced agricultural retail sales professionals about their training experiences.

Throughout this experience, I learned a lot about myself – including my strengths as well as areas in need of improvement.  Before this internship, I had never experienced – and in some cases never even heard of – the type of work I was doing. It stretched me far outside of my comfort zone and challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before. All of my experiences during this internship combined with a great deal of reflection have led me to determine a more specific career path which is the source of this renewed excitement for the future.  

Diversity of a Company

My name is Andrew Nagy and I am a senior in the ALE program here at the university. This summer I returned to Bayer Crop Sciences for a second internship at the Midwest Field Research Center located in White Heath, IL. The previous year I worked as a research assistant under the Trait Development focus, absorbing as much "regulated" experience as I could. This summer I transitioned to an internship under the Crop Protection focus to experience more mainstream agriculture research practices.

At the beginning of this summer, I assumed that I would be learning some new practices and procedures for this different style of research; but I was not prepared for how vastly different the two areas are form each other while still feeding into the Bayer Crop science branch. The Crop Sciences research branch of the Bayer corporation compasses; early development, breeding, trait development, crop protection, turf and ornamental, as well as small fruits and vegetables. After finishing this summer under Crop Protection, my eyes were truly opened to how many different and unique areas there are under this single branch of the company.

A lesson that I was very happy to have learned this summer was to experience ALL a company has to offer. You may have not been fond of your internship or think a different area would be better for you, but that is no reason to dismiss a company all together. It is crucial to truly experience different/all areas a company has to offer in order to make sure you're not missing out on something you might truly thrive in or enjoy doing. Last year I barely scratched the surface of the Crop Sciences branch, let alone the entire corporation of Bayer. This year and in the future, I plan to truly embrace the company as a whole to fully experience not only my specific area, but also what the company I work for is doing for the community, industry, and truly the entire world.

Hello, my name is Chris O'Connor and I am a senior in Agricultural Leadership. I graduated last May with a bachelor's degree in Technical Systems Management. My internship for the summer was working with the Illinois football program director of football operations. I worked with the director of football operations, Tim Knox and helped reintegrate the team with the app TeamWorks. TeamWorks is a app that allows for fast and easy communication among teammates and staff. This app will help the program continue to develop and allow for easy access to important information.

Another aspect of my internship and a part that I really enjoyed was planning and going out on a community service opportunity in Monticello at the Piatt County Nursing Home. It was such an amazing time to go and put a smile on residents faces that are not always able to go to games. We played bingo and signed autographs. There is not a better feeling than making someone's day by just showing up and talking to them and showing that football players are regular people.

Above is the picture of some of the players and the residents. 

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

This summer has been full of adventure and discovery. For my summer internship I chose the Miller Park Zoo so that I could combine both my degree in Ag Leadership Education with my passion for animals. The majority of my internship consists of assisting a fellow instructor, Julia, with the teaching of summer camps. We teach children ages 6-16 on various topics in the zoo as well as giving them hands-on interactions with some of the zoo's inhabitants. Julia and I have also performed various zoo-to-you programs where we take a select few animals to various locations such as schools, libraries and summer camps to educate children there on these wonderful creatures.
I was nervous at the beginning of this internship because I had vary little experience working with large groups of children. They are a completely different audience then what I have worked with previously and I wasn't sure how I would do. This was my coworkers first year with the camps as well so we were able to learn together with this program. I couldn't imagine finding a better place to learn and grow as an educator and I have had an amazing time doing it. I have been able to meet so many wonderful people and handle animals I would have never thought possible. I was even given the opportunity to bottle feed the zoo's newborn Snow Leopard cubs! As my time at the zoo comes to an end I know I will leave with new tools as an educator and lasting friends.

Tables Have Turned

My name is Michael Smith and I am a senior majoring in Agricultural Leadership Education. This summer I will serve as the Leadership Course Director for the Research Apprentice Program (RAP). My role as the Leadership Course Director is to prepare an educational curriculum that challenges students to examine their characters, values, and learning styles. Also to allow the participants to examine different leadership styles and theories in order to enhance their overall leadership ability and their effectiveness when working in groups in teams. Finally, scheduling Academic Support Sessions for the YSP students which prepares them from the transition from high school student to undergraduate. As a former participant of the RAP program, it seems surreal that I am now instructing the Leadership Development course that I was once a student in, oh how the tables have turned. I look forward to this opportunity and I hope the students will have a great experience with the program.

 

Reading to the Rhythm

One participant shows off her hatching egg and
egg maraca crafts.

Hello!  I'm Jessica Biernacki, a junior majoring in Agricultural Leadership Education. My internship this summer is with the Cook County Farm Bureau in Countryside, IL. I am the Ag in the Classroom intern, coordinating the Read the Rhythm summer library programs.

I have had a successful first half of the summer. Children in grades K-4 have attended programs that have been offered at their local libraries located throughout Cook County. This year's Read to the Rhythm Program gives children a fun way to learn about agriculture. So far our topics have included chickens/embryology, popcorn, and pigs.

The children having fun making their corn shakers after
learning about their state snack. (Popcorn)

During our programs the children learn about the agricultural topic through stories, games, and completing crafts (including a musical instrument) using the agricultural products that were learned about. Afterwards, the children are encouraged to check out related books. 

Some of our stories have included, April Foolishness by Teresa Bateman, The Popcorn Book by Tomie DePaola, and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Our crafts have included, clucking chicken cups, egg maracas, hatching egg cutouts, corn shakers, and pig shakers. We have also played OINKO (piggy bingo) to learn about pigs and related vocabulary.

The upcoming program themes include pigs and space. We will be playing OINKO and making piggy shakers. The children will also sprout their own seeds in a CD case and observe how gravity effects their roots. 

Looking forward to my future programs!

Past the Halfway Mark

It seems like yesterday when I had my first day with University of Illinois Extension in Effingham, Clay, Fayette, and Jasper Counties. In reality I am already halfway done with it! I have learned a great deal during my time here and I am looking forward to what the next half of my internship has to offer.

My main responsibility here at the extension office is to help whoever needs help and to gain as much experience and knowledge about the work place that I can. All of the staff is very helpful with teaching me what it is like to work with University of Illinois Extension and they enjoy letting me tag along with them on their educational programs. I have attended numerous programs and each one is different yet educational in their own way. For example, I attended one program on cake decorating where the kids each had their own cakes and they were provided with special tools so that they could decorate the cake to each individuals choosing. The kids had a blast and they learned a cool new skill that they will be able to use in the future.

Cows being prepared for the 4-H show

I have also done a great deal with preparation in the 4-H department for the upcoming county fairs. I have always been familiar with the county fair but I have never really thought about all the behind the scenes work that goes into a successfully running 4-H program. My jobs have included delegating judges to events and setting up a schedule for them to follow, contacting sponsors for trophies, making sure each winner receives a ribbon, and many more tasks. Since I am stationed in Effingham County I have been focusing on the Effingham County fair more than the other counties. I had the chance to attended the Jasper County fair for a day to watch the Dairy Show and to help with organizing the livestock auction later that evening. It was very neat to see all the hard work put into action.

Effingham County Best of Show Ribbon

My project for this summer is to promote the 4-H program to kids all across these four counties. The 4-H member numbers have been steady for the past 20 years but I would like to see an increase in size and so would the 4-H coordinator that I work closely with. I will be making broachers and flyers that the 4-H program can handout to kids at schools or churches or anywhere they please. When kids think of 4-H they think of farms and livestock. They think that if they do not live on a farm or if they do not own any livestock then they wouldn't be accepted into 4-H. This is completely false. 4-H is so much more than what it is believed to be. It is about developing a great work ethic and imagination at a young age. It is also about friendship and fun. I don't want kids to miss out on such a great organization because they believe that they have to live on a farm to be included.

Even though I have only been interning here at University of Illinois Extension in Effingham, Clay, Fayette, and Jasper Counties for half of my term, I have already learned more than I thought I ever would when I applied for this internship. I have enjoyed each day and I am looking forward to what the next half of the internship will entail!

Sell yourself; Sell the product

It has been over a month since I started my internship with Bayer Crop Science. Since then I have seen more of the state of Illinois than my own back yard, I have ventured out to Raleigh, NC and I have been calf high in mud learning in the field.
  

Bayer Crop Science at Research Triangle Park
in Raleigh, North Carolina

My weeks consist of a lot of driving and meeting with retailers. More importantly, I gather data for field test plots with a product called Stratego YLD. This is a fungicide that helps with test weight and ant for corn at harvest time. My photography skills have been put to work with recording pictures of each field I am in. With all of the rain it has been more difficult to have plots put out at the right time. On corn the cut off to apply Stratego YLD is V5 and the rain made it too wet to get in the field for most growers.

I will be working on gathering information for a tent to be set up for Bayer Crop Science at the Farm Progress show in Decatur, IL. 

I am enjoying the growers and retailers that I have had the opportunity to meet. I met Dr. Powell with Growmark agronomy on a crop injury issue. I've learned more this summer then I would have ever dreamed of. 

I've been working on selling myself to the people I meet daily. Building relationships and putting my best foot forward are the two most important aspects of my job. I am confident that I can successfully accomplish every goal I have for this summer.

Transitioning to Extension

Hello!  I'm Molly Novotney, a junior majoring in Agricultural Leadership Education.  I'm a transfer to the U of I from Joliet Junior College, and my internship this summer is with University of Illinois Extension in LaSalle, Bureau, Marshall, and Putnam Counties.  I'm an intern in 4-H and Youth Development, and I'm very excited to see where this summer takes me.

My project for this summer is to plan, create, facilitate, and evaluate a youth education pilot program.   The pilot program, titled "Growing Futures in Agriculture," will teach 4-H youth, grades 6th-8th, about careers and jobs in agriculture, which will be taught by teen FFA members from local chapters.  This program will serve two purposes, as it will teach and develop 4-H youth more about the field of agriculture, as well as create a better bond between 4-H and FFA.

This has been a very interesting transition for me.  I have spent the last two years during the school year working part-time for my high school Ag teachers and FFA Advisors, and during the summers, I was a crop scout.  To go from jeans, boots, and no make up to khakis being my "dressing down" in the office is a bit of a culture shock.  However, it is a welcome change, and I'm enjoying my time so far!

I'm looking forward to what the summer will bring!

Here Comes the Horse Show

     This Saturday, April 25th the culminating event that I have been planning since January will take place. Part of my project when getting hired onto University of Illinois's Extension office in Champaign included creating Horse SPIN Clubs throughout the county. A second part of that original project was to eventually host a culminating event in the following spring to bring out the accomplishments of my past year. This Saturday, 27 youth will be participating in what will be the first for many of them a Fun Horse Show. 

Riders at Westbrook Stable - Mahomet

     The event will be held at Westbrook Stable in Mahomet, one of the clubs that I got started earlier this fall. There will be 8 events ranging from riding, to leading, to obstacle courses, to relays. All of the leaders from each club have graciously agreed to help plan this and have donated much of their free time by coming together and meeting every month since mid-January.

     This event is giving each of the youth currently enrolled in these Horse SPIN Clubs a chance to show to their friends and families what skills that have learned and been mastering since September. Many kids enrolled in these clubs have had no past horse experience until joining their respective clubs.

     Planning and seeing this event through is one part of my job I have been looking forward to all year long. With horses being my passion it was great to get to come together with amazing leaders that just want to see their kids succeed, and to help make this event something memorable for everyone. The hopes of this show is to become an annual event that will occur for years to come.

     The timing of this event could not come at a more bittersweet time. As my term with University of Illinois Extension winds to a close, this is the last time I will get to see many of the youth and leaders that have helped make my year at Extension an experience to remember.

Winding Down at Extension

     Today I officially went back to being the part time SPIN Club Intern for Champaign county's University of Illinois Extension office. My supervisor has returned from her maternity break and is resuming her position, which I filled in for during her absence.
     The rest of this semester will be fairly laid back for the both of us. My supervisor is preparing to move back to her home state of Wisconsin so she is only back in her position for a month, while I am preparing to graduate and hopefully secure a full time position in a related field. Since we are both preparing ourselves for leaving Extension we have concluded that it is best not to start and new projects that we won't be able to see through, as well as we do not want to overwhelm the impending new SPIN Club Coordinator.
     For the remainder of both of our work terms we have decided to split the load of the SPIN position and work on any tasks together since we have both been dabbling in the same projects now. I am wrapping up starting up two new clubs as well as hosting the Fun Horse Show I have been planning since January that takes place later next month, as well as various other minor projects I have been involved in during my supervisor's absence.
     Temporarily filling in for my supervisor gave me the great opportunity to see what it would be like to have a full time position here at Extension. It was very rewarding and very eye opening for me to see what day to day tasks entail. I was glad I could have been given such a learning experience and will use what I have learned to help myself in my future career path.

Taking Over

     Today marks the completion of my third full week as acting SPIN Coordinator for the University of Illinois Extension office for Champaign County. My supervisor has left for maternity leave and returns to her position at the end of March. I have been preparing for this role since mid August, making sure I knew all the ins and outs of SPIN to make sure I'd be successful once I was on my own.
     The first week of being left to my own devices posed a few challenges that I met head on. So far I had been used to only corresponding with the clubs that I had started myself. Now, I have to correspond with every SPIN Club leader as well as plan with potential new SPIN Club leaders. Keeping every contact straight and ironing out individual club needs was a challenge at first, but I quickly got used to each club, and have set up an organization strategy that helps me keep focused on what needs to be accomplished.
     Along with keeping up with daily tasks as the acting SPIN Coordinator, I also am planning a big spring event for our 3 Horse SPIN Clubs. That planning takes a lot of my time and energy and it has helped teach me that I need to create a balance among all of my projects to make sure each item is getting completed instead of only focusing on the success of one.
     While it has been a challenge to get used to working on my own and having to create my own work, it has also been rewarding. At first, I was very worried that without someone assigning me daily tasks I wouldn't know how to use my time at work. However, I have realized working on every aspect of one position has allowed me the ability to create work to improve or adapt what I have been working on since the summer.

Fall at Champaign Extension Brings the Launching of Horse SPIN Clubs

     This fall at the University of Illinois Extension office for Champaign County kept me very busy working on multiple projects. Fall is a busy time of the year for Extension in general because the new 4-H year starts September 1st, which gets a lot of clubs starting up again.

first club meeting for Golden Riders- Pesotum

first club meeting for Horsery- Mahomet

     This fall my two Horse SPIN Clubs, which were a summer project of mine both started in September. It was great to see all of my hard work from the summer pay off with the start of the clubs. It took major preparation in order to get these clubs successfully off of the ground. Before the first meeting I had to compile risk management plans, organize enrollment forms for members, promote the club to bring in  members, as well as keep in touch with our new leaders to work towards the start of the clubs. I also had to attend the first 2 meetings of both horse clubs to introduce myself, get to know the new members, as well as observe how the leaders interact with the youth, and to collect enrollment information. It was a great success to see how much the kids and leaders loved working together and learning about horses.

Golden Riders club member using grant items

     With the creation of these clubs we were able to apply for a SPIN Grant that would give us $1,000 to buy supplies for our horse clubs to allow our leaders to better teach the kids how to work with horses. Once we got this approved we were able to purchase supplies for grooming kits, as well as riding equipment for one of our move advanced horse clubs. The leaders and members were both equally excited to receive the equipment and get to really learn more about horses. As the clubs keep progressing we look forward to the Spring when we will hold a Fun Show for our 3 Horse SPIN Clubs that will allow all of the clubs to come together for a friendly competition to show off the skills they have learned and acquired during the past year. Planning for the Fun Show with the leaders of these clubs will be beginning soon.