Oh. My. Goodness.

The internship is half-way done, and we still can’t wrap our heads around it. It feels like yesterday we said that time was moving slow and were wondering how we were going to reach 40 hours by Friday.

As always, our programs are going in full force and we wouldn’t want it any other way!  In Region 1, we are kept busy with PoP Club and Beginner Gardners programs. At PoP (Power of Produce) last week in Rock Rapids, we decorated rocks with glitter, paint, and googly eyes to put in the garden at home and tasted broccoli. The profound thing about this internship is the experiences I have gotten without expecting it. I thought the PoP program was going to be exciting, but I never thought I would have kids attend the programs and be ecstatic to come back every time. Each week we set up and within minutes we have kids running at us from all different directions, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach drawstring bags flying behind them. The three of us have created bonds with the kiddos, and we enjoy watching their knowledge grow.

Last Wednesday was a pretty dreary day, and we were not able to be outside at our Beginner Gardeners camp. It is always fun to watch their faces light up when they see us come to hang out with them. We made scarecrows and garden markers to put in the garden.  On Thursday, we all went to our producers. While I was at my producer, Cherry Lane Farms in Spirit Lake, I planted microgreen trays and made orders to be delivered that day. The most interesting day was on Friday; we ventured to Omaha, Nebraska. w ventured to Omaha, Nebraska. In Omaha, we toured various farms and gardens that in some way give back to the community or the local economy. We ended the day at the Omaha Extension office to learn about a

STEM summer program that is only offered in Omaha and two other cities in the country. While on this trip we got to visit with Region 5 interns and other staff working in their region. We had a chance to share our summer experiences and how the programs are going. Our planning for the programs is nowhere near complete but we are confident that our programs will be fun and educational experiences for everyone!

Jessica

It has been a work week here in region 2! This week Jamison met with Melissa Michealis who is the director of Winn-worthbetco. Jamison completed his online survey as well as sending out a personal mailed bio and a letter written by Melissa about the project and the survey link to all of the 150+ businesses in Lake Mills. Jamison has continued to work on the GIS map for his project as well as beginning to teach himself how to use spec design software.

This week Emma has been working on putting a portfolio together to give to the YMCA regarding the educational garden they would like to put on their property. The YMCA will be able to use this as a reference as they continue making plans for the garden. She has also been putting together a survey to give out to Buffalo Center community members. This survey will ask citizens of Buffalo Center and surrounding areas if they would be interested in having a Farmers’ Market in Buffalo Center. Once results of the survey are taken in, they will be used to attract potential vendors to the Farmers’ Market.

This week Claire Michelson and Emma Robinson visited the Iowa State Extension and Outreach Research Farm, unfortunately, the field was too wet so we were not able to do a tour of the research farm, but the Kanawha Fire department was nice enough to let us go there. Emma and Claire leaned about the benefits of sulfur with corn and cover crops for Iowa in avoiding weeds. Overall it was a fantastic opportunity and the interns learned a lot about the programs Iowa State Extension and Outreach puts on. We thank all of the presenters as it was very informational. Otherwise,   for the week Claire has worked on her projects for the town of Buffalo Center and Whittemore.

There is a point in a relationship at which you realize that you can communicate with the other person through looks, grunts, and general body language. We have officially reached that point here in Region 1. If you ever come to Sheldon to visit the three of us, here’s what you can be ready for.

Personality Differences

Not only have we learned how each of us interacts with the world through our experiences, but we have learned even more about each other by taking the MBTI, or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  Jane Goeken helped us to understand how each of our “types” influences how each of us reacts in scenarios and how we are perceived. Working and living together can be interesting at times and comprehending how we all have preferences has already been so helpful.

Looks of Joy

Between Power of Produce, Beginner Gardeners, and dinner at Cindy Gannon’s house, we were filled with joy. At PoP, we tasted kale and built potato people with the kids. Seeing the kids get so excited about sticking googly eyes and pipe cleaners on potatoes was a fantastic way to start off the week.  At Beginner Gardeners, one boy was beyond excited to plant the cockscomb flowers, and another boy literally ran to the garden when we were ready to plant. All of the kids’ faces lit up while working in the garden. We can already see the impact we are making there. That night, we were lucky enough to have dinner at Cindy Gannon’s house. Cindy works for Extension in Ames and is one of the funniest people you will ever meet! We met her friends, husband, and the ISU solar car team (Team prISUm) for a dinner that turned into a bonfire later that night.  I can honestly say that sitting around the fire with our new friends filled my heart with so much joy.

Look of Complete Exhaustion

Everyone was completely exhausted by Thursday night from a busy week and a “producer day”. I spent my day in the greenhouse with Vicki from Kentwood Farms, a hydroponic production that focuses on tomatoes, so I was ready for a nap when I got home. We had planned to go to Sheldon High School’s Summer Theater that night, but it just wasn’t going to work out unless we wanted to pay to take a wonderful nap! One look from each of us proved that the play, Death by Design, would have to wait another night.

Look of Contentment

Whoever said that anything other than ice cream is the key to a woman’s heart is wrong!  This weekend, we traveled to Le Mars, Iowa, the ice cream capitol of the world, for Ice Cream Days. Not only did we get to meet so many wonderful people while there, but we also ate some amazing ice cream at the Parlor. Each of us had a look of contentment on our faces the moment our ice cream was handed over to us and we took the first bite.

Every job has its highs and lows. Our “lows” are not even low, but our highs are the best feelings of contentment, joy, and pure happiness. When I wake up every morning to the grunts and casual hand waves from my roommates, I know that we have something truly special here.

Allie Faivre

I grew up in a town with less than 900 people in Northeast Iowa, the people that live there are always eager to catch up whenever the opportunity arises. I see community members, teachers, and past classmates. Some have/are pursuing degrees in the medical field, business, communication and the list goes on. One thing we always touch on in conversation is how the summer experiences are going. Some will tell me in the jobs they have/had entailed getting coffee for others, some tell me they make copies for presentations, and others share that they sit around all day begging for something to do to change up the pace of their summer job/internship.
Then they turn to me and ask, “Yeah, so how’s your summer been going?”
I always freeze and do a little nervous laugh.
How do I tell them that I’m having the time of my life?
How do I share with them the interesting people I’ve met in the short 4 weeks I’ve been here?
How I do begin to share about the awesome programs we are building curriculum for and implementing in the community?
Someone tell me how?!
I start little by little, I share a bit about the engaging programs we started just last week. We started our PoP (Power of Produce) in Rock Rapids and we had a fantastic turnout. The kids played a game of Vegetable Bingo while learning about the different nutrients that are found in each.

I tell them a little bit about the awesome kids we are working at Bright Beginnings Daycare in Sibley where we prepped, planned, and got ready for planting our garden together. I also share about what a neat experience it was to help plan a Bike-N-Bite bike ride around the Lakes, riders took a 17 mile bike ride and stopped at local vendors for a taste of their creations. We had right around 240 people participate, and we couldn’t be happier with how the event went.
The thing of it is, I often feel as though this internship has been more fun than work. Every day is new and different and incredibly exciting from the time we put on those red polos to the time we take them off at the end of the day.

Until next time,

Kassidy Kuhlmann

What a week it has been in Region 20! This week was the first week of our summer pilot program “Sharing from the Garden”. We will be traveling to 4 schools in our region to introduce new local produce to school-aged children. They will get the chance to prepare this produce in recipes and even have the chance take home a bag of local produce at the end of the program. Last week during a radio interview, the host asked us if we thought being flexible was going to be important this summer. We replied with “Of course!”. Nothing ever goes as planned, especially when working with children. 

First thing Monday morning, Kelley and I (Allison) had to think on our feet when some miscommunication occurred with a school we had scheduled to present at Monday morning. We learned that the school’s summer school program was not scheduled to start until the end June, but we had it scheduled to start Monday morning. After already cutting up produce early Monday morning, we called a local family treatment center with high school and middle school students and presented our program there. Since our program is geared more towards elementary students, we had to think on our feet and be flexible as we changed it to fit the different age group. The kids enjoyed our presentation and are looking forward to us coming back next week and throughout June! We’re excited to continue it with this age group as it will give us more experience.

We continued to learn to be flexible throughout the week as each school was a little different. After having an abundance of produce leftover, we decided to visit the Jefferson Street Farmer’s Market Thursday evening to give adults a chance to also taste test local produce, versus commercially produced produce from the store. This helped us reach another set of audience. It was interesting hearing many people be able to taste and see the difference between the store bought cucumbers and strawberries versus the locally grown!

This flexibility lesson is one that we will remember and use in more than one way throughout our lives. We are excited to have this program up and going and can’t wait to see the impact it leaves on the children and communities. Region 20 interns are having a blast working and learning this summer and can’t wait to share more with you!

– Allison Hadley 🙂

P.S. We missed our fellow intern Kelsey, as she spent the week at the Pork Expo!

Busy. Busy. Busy.

This word is the best way to describe the third week of this internship. We can’t believe how quickly time has flown by and how many incredible people we have met. During this past week we got to meet with other Rising Star Interns, put finishing touches on programs that are starting this week, and had the opportunity to get acquainted with other people in O’Brien county.  While doing all of this, we still had plenty of laughs and sang a country song or two. On Tuesday, we met with Region 5 interns and did a food safety workshop where we became acquainted with the necessities of how to conduct a food demonstration. After the workshop, we ate lunch, enjoyed ice cream and discussed what we are planning to do over the summer. Wednesday held a day of meeting other extension staff and learning about the role they play.

On Thursday, our week took a little turn. When we tried to leave the Dickinson County office, Kassidy’s car decided to not start. Her trusty car “Pria,” showed her stubborn side and we were stranded about an hour away from our apartment. We tried for a long while to get the old girl running but with no Uber drivers or taxi services in the area we gave called our trusty boss, Cheryl, a call. After we got home, we decided to go to our favorite place in Sheldon, Dairy Dandy, to get some ice cream to celebrate getting home!

Allie and I were very excited for Saturday because we got to do a food demonstration at the Lakes Area Farmers Market in Dickinson County. Although our day started rough with the spilling of our hand washing water, but luckily, we brought extra. The day ended up being extremely successful when the Summer Bounty salad was made, and people got to sample a recipe from Spend Smart. Eat Smart. Many people were amazed that we got all of the produce right from the market itself. This week may have been busy, a little exhausting, and without a doubt hectic, but we still ended up laughing through it all.

-Jessica