Full 4-H Summer, Welcome Interns!
Nickie Harding
4-H Youth Development of Douglas County
Extension Agent
As the busy summer season begins, families are looking to find creative and fun experiences to be a part of. K-State Research and
Extension Douglas County is hosting five summer engagement interns to provide fun and unique learning experiences for youth in Douglas County. Riley Coates, Halley Flory, Cody Loganbill, Claire Norris, and Hannah Riedy are completing an 11-week summer internship focused on reaching youth audiences by planning, coordinating, promoting, teaching, and evaluating summer programs. The Kansas 4-H Summer Engagement: Helping Youth Discover Their Spark to Increase Learning program is made possible through a grant from the Kansas Department of Education. The Kansas state 4-H office is serving as the host for the grant.
The summer engagement program has placed over 80 interns in local K-State Research and Extension units across the state. The program seeks to directly address the impact of learning loss as a result of loss of instructional time and to maximize efforts to reach school aged youth through direct delivery programs. The program will leverage the rich curriculum basis available through the Kansas 4-H and Cooperative Extension system. The evidence informed programmatic outreach is specifically designed to foster youth Spark through 4-H project-based exploration. K-State Research and Extension Douglas County will be partnering with local organizations and school districts to provide supplemental programs in the areas of S.T.E.M. and healthy living. Community partners for the program include Feeding Eudora, the Eudora School District, Baldwin Parks and Recreation, and Greenbush Academy. The Douglas County team will also be hosting a Field to Fork Day Camp experience June 27 – 29, Clover Camp July 6 - 7, and finally, Young Explorers Camp, July 12 - 13.
Hosting interns is a great way to build our staffing capacity and show prospective employees what it’s like to work for K-State Research and Extension. The summer engagement program will also allow our organization to reach youth who may not have otherwise experienced our variety of educational programs. For more information about upcoming youth programs follow us on social media and https://bit.ly/summer-camp-experiences .
