My First Week

The first day of my internship was Monday, June 2nd. I fully expected a busy summer when I first applied for this internship, and it is obvious that this summer will be full of fun and adventures with Albemarle/Charlottesville 4-H!
I started off Monday, June 2nd with a lot of important internship paperwork, but when I FINALLY finished that, Karrin and I met with Ian and the Albemarle/Charlottesville FCS/ANR intern, Morgan, to discuss the upcoming presentation we had with Monticello High School AP Economics students on Friday. After the meeting I began researching the 5 day camp workshops I am in charge of this summer. The topics are Under the Sea for 5-8 year olds, Wacky Science for 5-8 year olds, Recycled Arts and Crafts for 5-8 year olds, Recycled Arts and Crafts for 9-13 year olds, and a STEM workshop for 9-13 year olds. Karrin and I will also have a hiking "workshop" in August but that one does not require tons of planning by me. I'm excited to be able to host these workshops and look forward to meeting the 4-H youth from the area!
After my first staff meeting, I spent Tuesday copying, organizing, and stapling together about 100 camp packets (about 13 pages in each packet...which equals 1300 pages total!) for the 4-H campers attending camp with us this summer. Karrin was at Holiday Lake so I took over her office and had a table, desk, the floor, and 6 chairs covered in papers! I cleaned it all up before she got back though! :)

Before: Papers to go into Each Camper's Packet 

After: 100ish Finished Packets

Wednesday I spent the day cleaning out the 4-H cabinet full of supplies from many different activities that had accumulated in the cabinet from previous years. The most interesting things I found in there were some old leaf stamps and a dog print stamp that were super sticky and falling apart. I also went to the Downtown Mall for the first time to attend a Main Street Ag Day Meeting. I met new people from around the city and learned about this event that is taking place in September and I am excited to come back in a few months and see how the whole thing turns out! There are going to be TONS of awesome exhibits and demonstrations and I am excited to see what I learn through working with this event and attending it!
Thursday, Karrin and I found a drawer full of old pictures, documents, and a journal from past 4-H agents. The journal dated back to 1922 and included the names of Bessie Dunn and many other women who greatly influenced Albemarle/Charlottesville 4-H. We set up a meeting with the historical society for June 11th to see if they can help us figure out ways to preserve and display the items we found. I can't wait to see what the Historical Society has to say about the things we found.
Friday was a fun day! Karrin, Ian, and I went to Monticello High School and talked to 3 different sections of AP Economics students about online banking and entrepreneurship. It was the students' last day of classes before exams and I was impressed with the level of interest they showed in what we talked about. I was able to include some student information and experience because I was familiar with the content we talked to them about. Friday evening we had a camp class sign up night. This was where campers came and filled out the sheet of camp classes they want to take at camp. I never realized how big of a deal camp classes are, but we had a good turnout and it made me even more excited for summer camp!
My first week was a success and I am excited to see what the rest of the summer will bring! :)