Northwest Iowa — Local foods, farmers markets, gardens, camps and lots of kids. That description – plus economic development – sums up the summer so far for a trio of Iowa State University students who are Rising Star Interns here in northwest Iowa.
The three-person team of interns, began their adventure in mid-May and continue through early August. ISU Extension and Outreach sponsors the program in partnership with the Colleges of Design, Human Sciences, and Agriculture and Life Sciences. ISU Extension and Outreach regional director Cheryl Heronemus supervises the students.
As the interns live and work in local communities, they are experiencing what their future could hold as extension professionals. They are writing about their experiences on the Rising Star blog.
Intern Kassidy Kuhlmann, a senior in agriculture and life sciences education, wrote, “I often feel as though this internship has been more fun than work. Every day is new and different and incredibly exciting from the time we put on those red polos to the time we take them off at the end of the day.”
Kuhlman wears her red ISU Extension and Outreach polo shirt as she serves extension region 1, which covers Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Sioux, O’Brien and Clay counties. Also serving region 1 are Allison Faivre, a senior in agricultural and life sciences education, and Jessica Gale, a junior in dietetics.
The region 1 interns are working with youth at beginning gardener camps and in Power of Produce clubs at farmers markets. They also are helping support several donation gardens around the region and are creating an “Ag Citing” program for adults, which will debut at the Clay County Fair.
