In a blink of an eye, week three has already come to end, as we completed another busy week. It has been a whirlwind first few weeks. It is only week three, and I already love being a Rising Star. I never realized how many projects were run by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach before starting the Rising Star Internship. A special shout out to all extension offices and your hard work, it has been amazing so far working alongside you and learning from you.
This week was our first week implementing garden related lessons in Spencer, Orange City, and Sibley. My favorite part was seeing the kid’s faces light up, as their hands shot into the air when they made a connection with the information we were teaching them. I loved hearing all of the kid’s former experiences with gardening. I am looking forward to returning each week to continue to get to know all of the kids and broaden their knowledge of gardening!
Another first was PoP club. We ran a booth at both the Sheldon and Rock Rapids Farmers’ Market on Monday. Both locations had the kids taste test spinach. All the kids tasted the spinach, but lets just say not all of them swallowed it. All the kids were eager to start the activity and receive a $2 token to spend on any fresh fruits or vegetables. The activity for the week was bingo that required the kids to interact with not only other kids but vendors too.
This week also included lots of gardening (one of my favorite parts) in the Rock Rapids Demonstration Garden and Sanborn’s Donation Garden. It is exciting to return each week to see how the plants are growing and developing. I love gardening, and I am very excited to be able to put my hobby to use by helping the communities around the donation gardens.
To end our week, we will be in Dickinson County on Friday and Saturday to help set up and run Bike-N-Bite. If you haven’t already, check out Dickinson County Facebook page to learn more about Bike-N-Bite and see the promotional videos we personally made for all of participating vendors of Bike-N-Bite. It was great getting to meet and interact with all the vendor’s locations last week. We are looking forward to the actual event!
– Alyssa