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Summer Internship Program: Greene County

Greene County

Primary Program Area Focus: 4-H, ANR 

1. Describe your plans for this internship.  (i.e. What specifically will the intern be doing?)

As part of the VCE-Greene staff, the summer intern will work with Senior 4-H Agent Kathy Alstat and  Sarah Weaver Sharpe, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent and Unit Coordinator, as well as other Extension Agents serving Greene and Planning District 10.  

Primary 4-H responsibilities will include assisting with the preparation and implementation of 4-H Summer Camp, summer day camps or other educational experiences.  The intern will be expected to attend  Greene/Fluvanna 4-H Summer Camp and possibly 4-H Congress at Virginia Tech.

            The intern’s ANR Duties will include providing program support to agricultural events as well as assistance to agricultural clients. This may include visiting local farms and businesses, working with farmers markets and local foods networks, or assisting with other community programs.  

On a unit level, the intern will coordinate our Local Foods Challenge at the Greene Farmers Market (held in Late July or early August).  The Local Foods Challenge is a joint program that combines 4-H, FCS and ANR programming.  Responsibilities for this event will include planning and interfacing with members of the Greene Commons Board, advertising and promoting the event through various traditional and social media outlets, soliciting sponsors, recruiting judges, as well as organizing equipment and supplies.  The intern will also be responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the event by interviewing or surveying participants and members of the audience.  The intern will be responsible for marketing unit programs through conventional media such as newspapers, radio and television, as well as social media,

The intern will have the opportunity to  choose and develop a special project that would involve Agriculture, Youth Development, or Family and Consumer Sciences for the Greene Community. This will be under the guidance of the Extension Agents serving the unit. 

2. Describe the knowledge / skills you expect the intern to gain from this experience.

Interns will first learn day-to-day office and Extension programming procedures by shadowing and assisting agents and staff.  The intern will learn Extension program planning, implementation and evaluation through the Extension Programming cycle.  This process will include a needs assessment with, planning and resource management, advertising and promotion, implementing the program or activity and evaluating the program.   The intern will learn to find and use Extension resources and publications and evaluation tools. The intern will interact with Extension staff, volunteers, members of community organizations and both youth and adult clientele. The intern would gain experience by assisting agents, and  then choose one or more special projects to develop independently.  Skills learned would include planning a budget for an event, developing an marketing plan, time management, program planning and evaluation. 

3. How will the intern learn about the breadth of VCE and our various program areas?

Through 4-H, the intern will attend 4-H Summer Camp, as well as selectively work with summer programming and club management. The intern will attend and assist with ANR, and FCEs within the county and planning district. The intern would also be assisting agents with the unit plan of work.  In Greene this would mean working on interdisciplinary Farm-to-Table programs and increasing community awareness of Extension resources.