Summer Internship Program: Henrico County

Primary Program Area Focus: ANR (Position 2)

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

The intern will work primarily with the ANR agent, but will also work with the 4-H agents and FCS agent to gain a better knowledge of the breadth of programming in Virginia Cooperative Extension.

The focus will be on the following tasks:

Environmental Education:

    ·  Help coordinate the SMART Lawns and the SMART Scapes program in the         summer.  These programs are client-visitation programs led by Henrico Master         Gardeners.  The intern would provide back office support and assist with         scheduling visits.

    ·  Assist with the scheduled Well Water Testing clinic collection and drop-off         events.

    ·  Coordinate with the Henrico Master Gardeners in implementing the new Soil         Testing Clinic program.

    ·  Assist with diagnostic work in the Henrico Diagnostic Clinic.

Master Gardener Support:

    ·  Assist Master Gardner efforts, especially summer events prep

    ·  Work with agent, staff and MG volunteers to market programs to the community

Communication:

    ·  Help the ANR agent in developing some focused social media/blog content for         the summer and fall.  These pieces would be on timely turf, vegetable, tree and
        disease/insect topics.

    ·  The intern will have the opportunity to answers calls related to ANR work from         homeowners and seek to answers the questions through research.

Collaborative 4-H Programming with Community Stakeholders

    ·  Assist with planned classes and/or workshop(s) programming

    ·  Provide supervision and behavior modeling to youth

Family Consumer Sciences programming:

    ·  Assist FCS agent with nutrition, wellness and food safety/preservation         programming

Other:

    ·  Learn about the work done by Soil and Water Conservation Districts since we         share an office with the Henricopolis SWCD.

    ·  Other duties as necessary.

As the internship progresses and new ideas or intern’s interests surface other projects may be included in the plan of work.

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

The intern will gain experience in marketing and communications; time management; public relations and customer service; youth development programs; designing, implementing, and evaluating educational programs; exhibit design; and a basic understanding of horticulture and youth development principles.

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

The Henrico Extension office offers the intern the ability to see the work done in all the programming areas of Extension.  The intern will be exposed to all of the programs that Extension offers in an urban setting in Virginia through working with extension agents covering FCS, 4-H and ANR.  Depending on programming, the intern may get hands on experience working with the agents to see the various ways programs are delivered and offered.  A written report will be completed by intern at the conclusion of internship period covering their experiences, knowledge gained, and skills enhanced.