Tazewell County
Primary Program Area Focus: 4-H/Agriculture and Natural Resources
Describe the plans for this internship. (i.e. What specifically will the intern be doing?)
This internship will be a partnership between Virginia Cooperative Extension and Tazewell County Board of Supervisors to further the mission of Extension in Tazewell County. The intern will be responsible for assisting Extension Agents and Staff in four program areas of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 4-H Youth Development, Family and Community Sciences and Community Viability. The program will begin on Monday, June 10, 2013 and continue for ten weeks until Friday, August 16, 2013.
The intern will be working in the Extension Office to learn the administrative functions of a government workplace, as well as, scheduling programs and events. The intern’s responsibilities will include field work on Tazewell County farms collecting agricultural samples and data to be analyzed by specialist in research labs on campus. The intern will develop and teach a-hands-on learning experience related to their undergraduate field of study at the Tazewell County 4-H Camp. The Tazewell County Fair will serve as a showcase for Extension Projects and Exhibits, where the intern will help committee chairs with organizing, entering, displaying exhibits and coordinating events.
Describe the knowledge / skills that the intern is expected to gain from this experience.
The intern will learn to organize educational programs. This will include working to coordinate volunteers and participants to engage in Extension programs and research. The intern will acquire knowledge of subject matter and experience conveying research based information to engaged learners. This experience will exercise verbal and written communication and improve presentation skills.
How will the intern learn about the breadth of VCE and our various program areas?
The ten week internship will expose the intern to diverse Extension programs that help place research based knowledge in the hands of the citizens of Tazewell County. The intern will learn about best management practices and current technologies of Agriculture through grazing livestock and managing forage crops and in the area of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences will learn to protect the quality of land and water resources through forestry practices and wildlife management.
In 4-H, the intern will learn skills related to educating youth in leadership, citizenship, and life skills through a variety of experiential techniques that encourage hands-on active learning. The intern will teach youth through delivery modes including residential and day camps, as well as, in working with 4-H members of special interest clubs.
In Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) the intern will assist with the delivery of programs to educate the public about food, nutrition and health. In FCS, the family unit is seen as the cornerstone of a healthy community and the economics of managing a household will be explored.
Through Community Viability, the intern will explore the economic viability of Tazewell County and its communities by delivering Extension programs that allow citizens and local governments to respond to their own local economic issues.