At the start of our internship, Natalie and I (Taylor) were introduced to an opportunity called College Connections, a program hosted weekly during the summer by the Mason City Chamber of Commerce.
Today, June 4th, marked the first session of College Connections. We met several other interns from a variety of majors—many of whom are from North Iowa and are currently attending Iowa State University.
The session began with a couple of icebreaker activities. In the first, each participant received a card with questions and was asked to speak with at least three other interns. For the second activity, we paired up with someone and then introduced our partner to the group. This allowed us to learn where everyone is working this summer, along with a fun fact about each person.
Today’s topic focused on networking. We discussed its importance in both personal and professional development and how to make meaningful connections during our internships and beyond.
On Friday, May 30th, Taylor and Natalie had the opportunity to go out to Art Farm Iowa in Worth County. When we first arrived Steve and Merle gave us a tour and shared information about the different exhibits, artists and events that are featured at the Art Farm.
During our visit we helped plant the ‘Rising Star Garden,” where we planted a variety of tomatoes, peppers and broccoli. These vegetables will later be used to make salsa, pasta sauce and pizza sauce for the Art Farm. We also helped weed around one of the exhibits called “The Crib” which was created by a group of Iowa State students using an old corn crib and used to showcase different pollinators in Iowa.
We cannot wait to go back to the Art Farm and see some of the amazing events that they offer!
This week, we continued learning what the Black Hawk community knows about ISU Extension and Outreach and how we can best serve them. On Tuesday, we recorded three thirty-second commercials for local radio stations, 106.5FM Corn Country and 93.5 The Mix. We will be back at the radio station in week 4 as guests on Vicki Chats, a radio show/podcast hosted by Vicki St. James.
There are 48 languages spoken in the Waterloo school district alone. In order to make the survey more accessible, we are translating them into prominent languages spoken in Black Hawk County. So far, we have translations in Spanish and Swahili and are working toward translations in French and Arabic. ISU Extension and Outreach staff have been of great help!
On Thursday, we met with Karen Hart, the Advancement Specialist for our region, and learned how MyExtension and the Advancement team can help us succeed. We scheduled events with our community partners at the Waterloo Public Library, Single Speed Brewery, and two festivals hosted by the Waterloo Center for the Arts – Chroma 63 and Fiesta! On Friday, we walked around Downtown Cedar Falls talking to business owners about ISU Extension and Outreach and asking them to take our survey. Finally, we attended our first Waterloo Urban Farmer’s Market and handed out ISU Extension and Outreach sunglasses while people filled out the survey.
Looking forward to an exciting Week 3 in Black Hawk County!
This week in Region 17, we started the week off strong with our weekly visit to the Beloit Garden where we planted Mini Melons and Okra . We then took a tour of the Story County Fairgrounds to familiarize ourselves with the surrounding area before we started planning for events happening in July. We got to see the horse, swine, beef, and sheep barns, the arena, the camp ground, and explored the West Indian Creek surrounding the outside of the property. Finally, we finished up our week with planting herbs and flowers outside of the Story County Extension office and planning for the Nevada farmers market.
This summer in Black Hawk County, there are two Rising Star interns. We are excited to introduce ourselves and our project!
I am Miles, and I am a sophomore in Hospitality Management. I am from Marion, IA, working in Black Hawk County this summer! In my free time, I like to read and spend time with friends and family.
My name is Willa, and I am a senior in Dietetics at ISU. I am originally from Colfax, IA. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, learning new recipes, and riding my bike. I am excited to get to know the community in Black Hawk County!
This summer, our goal is to increase visibility and accessibility of relevant resources for untapped populations here in Black Hawk County. A major issue is that many people in the community are unaware of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (ISUEO). Therefore, ISUEO resources are not being utilized. Our first task is to identify the untapped population in Black Hawk County, then find the best ways to connect them with ISUEO programs.
We spent the week meeting the Black Hawk County Extension and Outreach office staff and coordinators. We learned everyone’s role and how they serve the Black Hawk community. On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to meet the former Black Hawk County Regional Director, Michelle Temeyer, and talk to her about our project. She provided great feedback and suggested events for us to meet community members. Afterwards, we hopped over to We Arose, an organization providing community wellness programs focused on local food systems. There, we met with Kent Shankle, who runs the Waterloo Urban Farmer’s Market. This summer, we plan to attend the market a few times to gather insight into community needs. Following our meetings, we compiled a survey in both English and Spanish, which we will use to identify the untapped population. On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to complete our first surveys at a Tri-County HeadStart. We ended the week as guests on Rocki N Friend’s North End Update, a local podcast highlighting good things, events, and people in the Waterloo community. You can watch the episode on Facebook at Rocki N Chaveevah.
From staff meetings, to shoveling a dead bird off the entrance, to more meetings, it’s been a heck of a first week here in region 17. This week we hit the ground running by meeting the members of the Story County Extension staff, and working with them to meet community partners. We built our own office chairs (lucky us), and rearranged the office to better fit the three new interns.
Friday we spent the morning in the Beloit Garden, heroically weeding the thistles from the garlic and beet patches. Afterwards, we delivered 2 boxes of lettuce and a bag of rhubarb to Food at First. This week was packed with adventure and we’re thrilled for next week’s escapades.
Week 1 of the Rising Star internship is officially underway, and we are excited to introduce ourselves and share what we will be working on this summer!
Taylor is originally from Waterloo, Iowa, and will be a junior at Iowa State University this fall, majoring in Agricultural Communication and Dairy Science. This summer she is looking forward to learning more behind the scenes operations of Iowa State Extension and Outreach, as well as exploring wide range of career opportunities it offers. A fun fact about Taylor is she currently serves as the National Milking Shorthorn Queen and has traveled all over the county this past year.
Natalie is from Iowa City, Iowa, and will be a junior at Iowa State University this fall, where she is studying Graphic Design. She is looking forward to stepping outside of her comfort zone and continuing to grow artistically. A fun fact about Natalie is she is an avid rock climber and hiker.
This summer, Taylor and Natalie will be working in Worth and Cerro Gordo Counties on a variety of projects. In Worth County, they are collaborating with the Waking Miss Winifred group by creating marketing opportunities and assist with landscape design planning. In Cerro Gordo County, they are focusing on youth engagement by hosting a livestock skillathon during the North Iowa Fair and leading various workshops throughout the summer. They are also working with the Master Gardener Program to help increase community engagement across the county.
We had an amazing week in Worth County, and a visit to Cerro Gordo County on Friday. We spent a lot of time finishing up our projects at Art Farm Iowa. We spent time preparing for the Tree Selection and Demonstration Workshop.
For Art Farm, Lauren worked on displaying the origami butterflies from Monarch Moments as a sculpture and Taylor worked on putting up the Rising Star Garden sign. Taylor also spent time in the garden removing weeds and dead branches. The majority of the week was spent preparing for the Tree Selection and Demonstration Workshop hosted at the Worth County Fairgrounds. We spent time cleaning up the landscaping, setting up tables, and picking up items for the meal. At the event, we helped set-up and serve the food. There were over 108 people at the event, so it was a great turn out. We learned a lot about tree care and met many members of the community!
In Cerro Gordo County, we attended Fresh on Fridays at the Central Gardens of North Iowa. We brought our Monarch Moments project along with us. We taught youth how to make an origami butterfly and about the significance of butterflies in our area. Overall, it was another great week!
In Region 13 this week we started wrapping up all of our projects into our report! We began by writing out what we did and compiling all of our blogs and notes from the past summer into a document. Then, we looked back on all of our photos and started pulling together all of it into our final report. We were also able to take a look at the Harrison County Fair to round out all the fairs in Region 13! As we are finishing our internship, we would like to thank everyone who helped us in our projects. The Extension staff from each county, the Carroll County Solid Waste Management, and everyone who took the time to teach us and help us.
Hi everyone, welcome to week 9 of the blog!📷 Rising Star Intern Jasmine Williams started off last Friday by volunteering at Beloit Donation Garden by harvesting and taking squash, kale, broccoli, and garlic to Food at First. From Monday to Thursday, Rising Star Interns worked on their final document and presentation to prepare to present to the Deans of their colleges. On Tuesday, Jasmine and Emily went to Beloit Donation Gardens to harvest strawberries, green zucchini, and yellow zucchini, but were sadly pushed out by the rain, but they persevered! Jasmine and Emily ended the week by providing an educational program at Cultivating Hope Farms, teaching the youth about the importance of healthy hydration💧and exercise 💪. Lastly, we want to give a special shoutout to Jasmine Williams, Emily Plagman, Colter Lauersdorf, and Donovan Olson for receiving pre-application approval for the 4 H forward grant!! 🎉🥳They will all take the next steps into writing out the full grant for submission and wait for the final results. Wish them luck 🍀!
