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Summer Internship Program: Warren County

Warren County

Primary Program Area Focus:   FCS, Financial Management  

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

Role: Assist the Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agents in planning, implementing, and evaluating research‐based Extension educational programs for diverse audiences with primary emphasis on family financial education for adults and youth; secondary emphasis on food, nutrition and health programs for adults and youth; and additional emphasis on supporting the activities of the VCE‐Warren County Office.

Location: The base office for this position is VCE‐Warren County; however, programming will occur in the entire Northern Shenandoah Valley (Clarke, Frederick, Page, Shenandoah, and Warren). Mileage reimbursement will be provided from the Warren County office to program locations.

Qualifications: In addition to meeting the state‐level requirements, preference will be given to a current student or recent graduate with an FCS major and/or knowledge of personal finance and consumer issues.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Assist with and participate in Master Financial Education Volunteer training.
  • Plan and conduct financial education programs offered for youth in schools, at 4‐H Residential Camp, and 4‐H Day Camp.
  • Create Interactive financial lessons for limited resource audiences.
  • Teach financial lessons for limited resource audiences at local Super Pantry programs.
  • Assist with and participate in marketing financial education programs, including writing blogs, working with social media, writing newspaper articles, and possibly participating in radio and television interviews.
  • Assist with program evaluation including conducting and tabulating evaluations, as well as conducting phone interviews.
  • Conduct volunteer management activities such as reviewing volunteer files, communicating with volunteers about program opportunities, working with the online volunteer management system, etc.
  • Assist with local food, nutrition and health programs.
  • Use computer skills for programming tasks such as creating publicity, working with Excel files and working with Access databases.
  • Assist with day‐to‐day office work including program registrations, subject‐matter questions from the public, and preparations for events involving all program areas.

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

  • Increased Knowledge of Financial Management and Food, Nutrition, and Health
  • Experience Working with Diverse Audiences
  • Improved Communication Skills, Including Presentation/Teaching Skills
  • Experience Working with Volunteers
  • Practical Application of Computer Skills with Word, Publisher, Excel, and Access
  • Experience Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Programs for Adult and Youth Audiences
  • Improved Organizing, Time‐Management, Decision‐Making and Problem‐Solving Skills
  • Experience with Teamwork and Collaboration (Both Within and Outside VCE)

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

The internship is primarily focused on Family and Consumer Sciences financial management and food, nutrition and health programing, including 4‐H Youth programming in these subject areas. The intern will also be involved with the day‐to‐day office operations, which will expose them to programming related to water quality, indoor pest management, soil testing, home horticulture questions, and the myriad of other concerns and questions clientele bring to the office each day.