Summer Internship Program: Surry County

Primary Program Area Focus: 4-H

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

The summer internship for the Surry County will provide a great overview of Virginia Cooperative Extension, as well as valuable experience in developing, planning, and leading experiential education programs across 4-H and with community stakeholders. The intern will work under the direction of the 4-H Extension Agent. 

Programs the intern will learn about and attend include:

- 4-H State Congress (June 22-25, 2020)

    -Coordinating activities and general supervision of teen leaders and District
     Ambassadors from Surry (Jade Dickens and Toni Newby)

- 4-H Junior Camp at Airfield Center  July 8-12, 2020 

    - Plan camp activities

    - Prepare pre-camp paperwork

    - Plan and assist with pre-camp and camp logistics

    - Assist with camper check-in and check-out

    - Develop curriculum and possibly teach a class

    - Plan and assist teen and adult counselor trainings and maintain required training
      records

    - Supervise campers and teen counselors while at camp

- Collaborative 4-H Programming with Community Stakeholders 

    - Coordinate, plan and implement activities

    - Assemble supplies

    - Instruct classes and/or workshop(s)

    - Provide supervision and behavior modeling to youth

- 21st Century Program for Surry Elementary and LPJ Middle School

    -Health Rocks (with FCS agent)

    -LPJ School Garden (with ANR agent)

    -STEM Programming (with 4-H agent and volunteers)

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

The intern will gain knowledge/skills in:

-Decision making and conflict resolution

-Interpersonal and communication skills both within VCE and with collaborating organizations

-Organizational skills

-Curriculum development for youth

-Records management

-Risk management

-Working with youth ages 5-18

-Youth behavior management

-Computer skills (i.e. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel)

-Extension program evaluation

-Experiential learning and life skills models

-Working independently

-Facilitating leadership and life skill development among youth

-Time management

-Civil Rights compliance

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

Specific focus will be given to ensure the intern learns about and understands VCE as a whole. The intern will attend monthly staff and ELC meetings, where he/she will learn about other components of VCE. This intern will be involved in programming and will be gain experience in all program areas, delivery methods, and collaborations with outside organizations. This will be a hands-on internship from training to program implementation. The intern will also observe and participate in a variety of delivery modes specific to youth in a broad array of program areas. When appropriate, the intern will participate in webinars and conference calls with the 4-H agent to increase their understanding of Virginia Cooperative Extension and increase his/her professional skills.