It has Been a project as well as a professional development week here in Region 2 From our experiences and meetings with community members from around the region, we started to work on our project proposals for our projects that we started formulating last week. This week our projects, as well as our ideas, have gotten larger and more defined. We are excited about our projects to unfold in the coming weeks and see the impact they have on the local communities in the region. This week we attended some intern skill-building events and meetings held by the Kossuth/Palo Alto County Economic Development. The sessions that were held that we attended included Seeking Professional Growth and an intern networking luncheon session. We enjoyed the workshops and meetings that we attended this week and learned a lot about how to present ourselves as Rising Star interns more effectively and gained valuable contacts that we will utilize during and after this internship is over.

This week Emma had meetings with the YMCA to start drafting designs for the educational garden. On Tuesday, she met with a Master Gardener for some help with picking which plants will be best to put into the garden. On Wednesday, Claire and Emma assisted with a Delayed Planting Workshop. Farmers were able to come in and get some advice from USDA representatives and crop insurance agencies on how to handle the damage from their flooded fields.

This week Claire did a radio interview for KLGA Hometown Radio for Kossuth Counties Extension update. In this interview, she went over background information about herself and then went on to discuss her ideas for a strategic plan for the Kossuth County town of Whittemore. As well as possible ideas for the town pool, and an open green space in their park. The radio interview was a great experience and she is hoping to go on the program again when she has more information about the project. She is very excited to be working with the people of the town as they are very enthusiastic about the plans.

Finally, this week Jamison had a meeting with the director of public works in Lake Mills, Ross Hanson. Jamison got a lot of feedback and information to move ahead on his project pertaining to businesses in Lake Mills. Jamison will be working with CD-DIAL on a professional survey pertaining to economic development in Lake Mills in the coming week. He is very excited about how community members and business professionals are helping him in his project and is looking forward to the weeks ahead.