Now that the County Fair is over and the animals and projects have all gone home, what are your Extension people doing? Are they off for the rest of the year? Have they inventoried the ribbons, talked about what they might change for next year’s fair, and decided it’s vacation time until next summer? Um, no. We here in Extension are just warming up.
The County Fair is definitely one of the highlights of the year for me and the rest of us who work with Youth Development and 4-H. I love watching our 4-H members bring their projects to the fair and seeing all that hard work come together. It is pretty special when you get to see a 4-H member interviewing with a judge about a project they worked so hard on or even a younger member with their first livestock animal. But the County Fair is only one small part of what we do.
As a 4-H Extension Assistant in Buffalo County, I wear a lot of different hats. During the summer, there are workshops to teach, programs to plan and, of course, plenty of fair preparation. We offer workshops for our younger 4-H members and others designed for older youth. Sometimes they are learning a new skill, sometimes they are trying something they have never done before, and sometimes they are making a project they can take to the fair. But the goal isn't really about making something to put on a display table. My goal is learning.
The fair is just one way we get to see that learning come to life. Once the fair is over, we take a small break and jump into the next season with both feet. Fall brings school enrichment and afterschool programming. This is one of my favorite parts of the job because we get to take our programs directly into the classroom. We meet new kids and also get to see our 4-H members in a different setting. Right now, I teach an Environmental Education series to rural sixth-grade classrooms. We might talk about bats, Nebraska mammals, owls or even dissect owl pellets. Every lesson includes a hands-on activity, a little public speaking and a lot of teamwork. We work with teachers to develop programming that adds to what they are already teaching. We want to make it meaningful and, hopefully, make learning a little more fun.
Another area of my work that has really grown over the past couple of years is STEM and Environmental Education for homeschool students. Buffalo County is home to a large homeschool community, and these monthly workshops give students an opportunity to explore science and the environment through hands-on learning. We might study monarch butterflies and migration, investigate weather and natural disasters, learn about Nebraska wildlife, explore ways to reduce and recycle waste, or work together on an engineering challenge. These monthly workshops are a fun chance for homeschool students to meet new friends and learn something new.
And while it may look like we simply show up, teach a lesson and go home, there is a lot happening behind the scenes. We research curriculum. We look for ways to connect activities to Nebraska education standards. We listen to what young people and families are interested in. We develop new programs, prepare materials, communicate with families, coordinate volunteers and look for new ways to serve our communities.
And sometimes, we are already planning next year's programs before this year's programs are even finished! That is one of the things I enjoy most about Extension. There is always something new to learn, something new to create and another opportunity to make a difference in our communities.
So, the next time you see your local Extension staff after the County Fair and wonder what we are doing now, don't worry—we haven't disappeared. The County Fair may be over, but for Extension, we're just warming up.
If you have questions about what Extension has to offer, give the Buffalo County Extension Office a call at (308) 236-1235 or email me at hdarby2@unl.edu. We'd love to talk with you about what we're doing and how Extension might be able to help you, your family, your classroom or your community.