It Has Been A While - Internship Reflection

Hello, everyone!

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted a blog entry. I apologize. As soon as my summer internship ended, I went camping for a week end then had about a week to pack and get ready to come back to school. I had training for my position as  a Blue Key Tour Guide, then I volunteered for Welcome Weekend and then classes started. This semester is going well so far. I am taking Environmental Geology, Ecology, and Instrumental Analysis which is a 400 level Chemistry course. I love how I can find connections and overlap between my classes, especially Ecology and Environmental Geology, I won't talk about that overlap now, but maybe I will at another time.

So I didn't end up posting as much about my internship I thought I would. The day-to-day activities were not  very interesting and I had to write a journal every day in order to receive academic credit. The journal entries were too long to post here and focused on my daily tasks which wouldn't be too interesting for you to read. I have decided to post my final reflection however so you can know more about how my internship was. I had a really great experience this summer! I always enjoy my time with Roots & Wisdom.

            This summer internship was a great opportunity for me. I was able to try my hand in many different aspects of the Roots & Wisdom program. I really enjoyed working behind the scenes and being more involved in outreach. Debbie and I both agree I did much more than I thought I would be doing this summer, but I did more in a good way. I was exposed to many things and learned much about the program, non-profits in general, and about myself.            During the first week of my internship, I wasn’t really sure what I would be doing this summer other than helping organize and host events in the garden. I was just getting the feel of the office and the internship position. I started to learn slowly from the fundraising book, Fundraising for Dummies, and by going through Chris’s old documents. It was good to be familiarized with the program again and to have the garden party event to think about right away. During the second week, I learned more about fundraising, how to plan an event, and how to work on the presentation of a gift. I also learned that my networking background from the PSGE Center Link Programs is very useful and that I can mingle well. The biggest lesson I learned that week was that I could increase my attention to detail since I spelled some names incorrectly on the envelopes I was addressing.            I was very busy in the office during the third and fourth weeks of my internship, too. I learned how to navigate online newsletter templates and improved my design/presentations skills further. I also worked on advertisements for certain events and programs. One of the greatest experiences during those weeks was to take part in the Strategic Alliance for Health Coalition meetings. I learned more about my county and more importantly about other possible career opportunities related to the topics I loved learning about through the Roots & Wisdom program as a youth worker. I also practiced my attention to detail more with the start of donor list, and I was re-familiarized with the program through the crew leader training sessions I attended.            After the first four weeks of my internship, the youth program started. At first, I was still working in the office most of the time. However, as the summer went on, I was in the garden much more often for events and the planning processes for events and programs. We had many types of visitors and performed many types of activities this summer.            Through working with the youth, I learned to have patience. I also learned that I will always love working with people. I am a social person and I love talking about what I do and what matters to me. I enjoyed welcoming guests to the garden and also going out and giving flyers to people and telling them why they should shop at a farmers market. I now know that I can work well in an office setting but would prefer a mix of office work and some sort of field work/promotional work with the public. I also feel that working in a laboratory would be the wrong setting for me, but I enjoy knowing the scientific facts that support the arguments for certain environmental causes.
            Sustainable agriculture, food justice, and personal and environmental health through agriculture have always interested me. I know I want to do work along the lines of promoting sustainable food options or supporting, creating, and/or publicizing policies that can make a positive difference in our world. This internship has helped me narrow down my passions for a career. This internship has also taught me what workplace values are important to me. I like to keep busy, I like to work on the computer, I like to design outreach materials, I like to work with social media, I enjoy working in an office, but I also really enjoy talking to people. One-on-one, in-person communication can make a huge impact on someone especially when coming from young people.            I have many great foundations for skills including communication and networking skills. I can be adaptable in my day-to-day work. I also am very organized and get things done in a timely manner. The most important thing I have learned from this internship is something I have been slowly learning at school. What you learn in the classroom is just the beginning of your education. Being able to apply the knowledge you learn is the most important aspect of learning. I believe the most important aspect of college is to learn outside the classroom. I am glad I took advantage of this internship opportunity and the link program opportunities I have participated in so far. I believe the most important part of college is discovering who you are and taking advantage of every opportunity you have to do just that. Whether you are discovering what to major in, what career path to follow, or just what type of work environment is best for you, college is where you can discover who you are.
            I have loved all of my experiences with Roots & Wisdom and I am so grateful for them. I don’t think I want to work with a program like that again. Not right away, anyway. I wouldn't mind volunteering in a community garden, but I want to expand my knowledge and expand the experiences I have. I want to try new things within the environmental field and find the specific area that fits me. After interning with Roots & Wisdom, I believe the sustainability and policy areas are what will call to me and I now know what type of work environment would be ideal. This internship was an amazing opportunity for me and I hope that I do receive the EPA award and have another positive learning experience next summer.

Greenhorn Radio Interview

To anyone who has been following my posts, sorry it has been such a long time since I have posted. I have been busy with my internship and enjoying time with friends. As I have been working, I feel posting few larger posts about my internship may be a better choice. I don;t want to bore anyone with all the little details. In the meantime, I have a radio broadcast to share.

Back in February, I was interviewed for a radio broadcast for Greenhorn Radio.

Greenhorn Radio is radio for young farmers, by young farmers. Helmed by acclaimed activist, farmer, and documentarian Severine Fleming, Greenhorn Radio is a weekly phone interview session, surveying America's cutting edge, under-forty farmers." The interview was set up through Roots & Wisdom. I described the program, my experience with it, my recycling internship and pilot study, youth in agriculture in general, and my future plans to work with the environment.

You can listen to the approximately 25 minute interview here.

An Orchard in Schenectady?

Roots & Wisdom is looking to change the face of its Vale Cemetery garden site!

Summer 2011 Special Events Crew weeding at the 

garden site in Vale Cemetery, Schenectady, New York.

The Vale Cemetery site is listed on the National Historic Register and contains lakes, wildflowers, and a wildlife habitat in addition to our Roots & Wisdom garden. Vale is a wonderful green space that runs along 15 blocks in the middle of the city of Schenectady. The public uses it for running, cycling, family picnics, and other outdoor activities.

Edy’s Fruit Bars is sponsoring the Communities Take Root site (http://www.communitiestakeroot.com/). They want to bring fresh fruit to neighborhoods across the country. Five winners have already been chosen and they will be giving out the awards to 17 lucky organizations. Roots & Wisdom is trying to procure the resources to start an orchard in Vale Cemetery, but we need your help.

  

Please go to the site above and vote for Roots & Wisdom! You must register your email address to vote, but those of us who have already voted have not received any junk mail from the site or company. You could even receive a one-dollar coupon for Edy’s Fruit Bars. Anyone can vote multiple times just not more than once a day. Please help by voting when you have some free time. As always, Roots & Wisdom really appreciates any support!

Annual Roots & Wisdom Garden Party

The green roof pavilion recently construct with much help from GE 

employees who support the Roots & Wisdom program. The pavilion 

replaced the large white tent used during the summer to keep 

the youth and guests dry and out of the sun.

            The Annual Garden Party was last night. We were celebrating the seventh growing season of the Roots & Wisdom program and the construction of the new green roof pavilion. I worked during the afternoon and evening to set up for the party. On my way to the garden I picked up the balloon order and a bag of ice from Price Chopper. Debbie and I set up the tables, drinks, and decorations together. And I display for the thank you gifts. The gifts were for the six people who played the most important roles in funding and building the new green roof pavilion, which replaced the big white tent we used for shade and to keep the rain off during the summer program.

For most of the party, I worked the sign-in/registration table. I checked people off the guest list and asked them to make nametags. I also collected any donations people wanted to make. I mingled with people as they came in. Many asked why I was working with the program and how it had impacted me. It was great to see how excited they were to hear from a program participant.

When there was no one checking in, I passed the time talking to Sarah. Sarah was a youth participant with me during 2008 and 2009, she volunteered with us last summer, and she is currently the assistant grower and will be the Children’s Garden Director during this year’s summer program. She and I are examples of how the program just keeps bringing people back because of its great impact on the youth. Sarah is one of the life-long friends I have made as a result of participating in Roots & Wisdom. We both chose our career paths based on our experiences in the garden and were talking about different career plans and job opportunities we knew about. We can be great resources for each other.

Halfway through the night, we had the speech portion of the program. Debbie welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. She introduced Jenny who said a few words about the program and what it means to her and she discussed the importance of the college-aged leadership team. Then Jenny introduced Sarah who gave a great speech about listening to one of her ninth grade teachers talking about his perfect day. His perfect day would be spent in the garden, walking among his plants, and being able to eat an apricot off the tree. Sarah said she thought what he said was crazy when she first heard the story but, after working with Roots & Wisdom, she understood exactly what he meant and agreed with his idea of a perfect day. Then, Debbie talked about the new green roof pavilion and thanked those people who had a key role in funding and building the pavilion. While she spoke about each person, I handed out their gifts. We wrapped up the speech portion with a few quick words from Terresa Bakner, the Director of the Board of Trustees of Cornell Cooperative Extension, and Debbie gave a few closing words of thanks. Form the audience, Chris also had us recognize Debbie and all her great work.

The party was a great success. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we raised a decent amount of money. I enjoyed greeting the guests and talking to them. I love sharing how important the program has been to me. Roots & Wisdom helped break me out of my shell, exposed me to diversity, introduced me to some amazing life-long friends, one of them is my college roommate, and influenced my career path in a way I never could have imagined. If I had not worked at Roots & Wisdom, I really do not know what I would be doing with my life. I wouldn’t possess the same passion and ambition I have to work with the environment and to share my knowledge with everyone.

The gifts I designed for the key people in making the 

green roof pavilion a possibility whether it was 

through funding, organizing, designing, or building. 

Thank you so much to everyone for supporting Roots & Wisdom!

Internship Day Four -- Veggie Theatre Rediscovered!

I love Veggie Theatre. I have mentioned it in a previous post and I will definitely mention it again this summer. Today, I worked more on organizing Chris's old files for the Event and Outreach Binder I am putting together and I focused on Veggie Theatre resources for the day. I found some old raps and skit scripts so I decided to go through all of my old videos and type up any skits, raps, poems, etc. that were missing. I printed them all out for the binder and they can now be used again or as inspiration for new ideas for this summer and years to come. I believe the only act that has been repeated is the Veggie Rap which traditionally ends the theatre program. Veggie Theatre is a great way to promote sustainability and healthy lifestyles through entertainment mediums and the youth really enjoy themselves and have an opportunity to gain more self-confidence through the performances.

Several Veggie Theatre skits can be found on the Roots & Wisdom Youtube page. The video below is the Veggie Rap as perform in 2008. I love Eliah's commentary :)

And so the Internship Begins!

I started my internship with Roots & Wisdom (see previous post about the program here) yesterday. I will be working as the Events and Outreach Coordinator for 10 weeks. On my first day, Debbie gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to some people. The Roots & Wisdom office is part of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Schenectady Office Suite in Schenectady, NY. She and I set down together and she asked me what I thought this internship would be. I said I thought it would consist of planning the annual Garden Party for supporters, Open House, brown bag luncheon, and children group visits. I also thought the job would consist of guiding the events crew in workshop design and garden tours and how to work with children’s groups. I also would look for grants and other funding opportunities, and if I have free time, I would like to work on organizing the video clips from last year that mainly consist of interviews with youth and crew leaders about the program. The video in the making would be a great way for donors, supporters, and others interested in learning more about the program to hear about the program from the people it effects the most, the youth. Debbie thought all of those ideas were great and were pretty much what she was hoping I would work on. She also may enlist my help toward the end of the summer program to plan some fall events.

After we talked, I spent my time in the office reading Fundraising for Dummies by John Mutz and Katherine Murray, copyright 2000. I scanned through the book for ideas for the Garden Party and other fundraising tips and ideas. There were many useful looking sites listed throughout the many sections of the book, and I will be browsing those sites once I am able to connect to the internet in the office.

The big thing for me to work on this week is the Garden Party, which will be next Wednesday evening. The Garden Party will be held right in the Fehr Avenue Garden. It will serve as a dedication for the new Green Roof Pavilion that was recently installed. Any donations brought in as a result of the Garden Party go towards paying the summer leadership crew, which includes the Crew Leader, Children’s Garden Leader, and the Assistant Grower.

Today, Debbie and I firmed up some details for the Garden Party. We finalized the menu and constructed a tentative supply/things to buy list. Debbie will be checking on some of the supplies to let me know how much I need to pick up during my trip to the store on Friday for supplies. After our meeting, I made photocopies of the recipes I found in the recipe books here and I printed a salsa recipe from culinate.com. As a result of our meeting, I have some more tasks to do this week.

I listened through the old interview videos I have saved from last year. I found some quotes from youth and laminating them to display at the Garden Party. Here are few of the quotes I picked out for Debbie to take a look at:

•         “Oh, sure. Anyone that wants to make a difference in the community would be very good for this program. Anyone could do this but it’s something that you really gotta put your mind to. It’s something that not everyone else can do. Like we’re not making a huge difference, but we’re making a little dent. And it’s better something than nothing.” –Josiah M. (see Josiah's wonderful interview here)
•        “My favorite thing to do is I love water fights! No, I’m just joking. Shhh. You know what I’m saying? But nah, my favorite thing to do is like harvest and seeing our progress. You know what I mean. Like, once you harvest and see how well the plant has grown… and selling it. Being able to sell to people.” – Mike B.
•          When asked if she planned on staying involved with Roots & Wisdom. “I have only been involved for six years. So, yeah, as long as I can.” – Amata C.
•          “I’m more sociable working in the garden. I first came here I was shy, but then I broke out of that very easily. So I learned to work with people better.” – Lemia
•          “It’s good to have a big, green plot of land in an urban area.” – Matt
•          “Well, that is my favorite part of working here. You get to meet really cool people and work in the garden at the same time, so you’re doing something worthwhile and you’re meeting a lot of new people and making friends.” – Claire F.

I will also be keeping my supplies in a binder, which I will turn into an events and outreach resource binder for the program. I will be going through Chris’s old documents to see what is useful for the binder and for myself this summer. I will also be investigating some websites from Fundraising for Dummies and creating a list with summaries for anyone who needs resources in the future. I even confirmed a date with for the Carver Community Center group to visit the garden, today, but I forgot to agree upon a time. I will communicate with Ms. Hill again tomorrow to figure out a good time. It sounds like the Events Crew will have a large group to work with and educate! I had a very productive day and will probably work mostly on resources tomorrow. I am really enjoying getting a feel for the behind the scenes work that goes into a community garden program like this.

Veggie Theatre -- Roots & Wisdom

I will be working with Roots & Wisdom again this summer as the Events and Outreach Coordinator and I am starting to get excited for this opportunity. Most of my blog posts during the summer will pertain to my experiences in this position. I would like to give you a little taste of what those posts might be like. Veggie Theatre has been a part of Roots & Wisdom's open house and used for participation in Be Vocal, Eat Local Week. Veggie Theatre is comprised of skits, songs, poems, etc. performed and/or created by the youth workers and the crew leaders. Veggie Theatre is designed to be educate people about the sustainability and health of organic agriculture through entertainment. Below are two videos from last year's program.

The video above is a Harry Potter spoof about organic gardening written by Shannon Turnbull and myself. This skit had mainly crew leader involvement.

Above is video featuring Shannon, Catherine, Mike from the events crew, and Sarah, a volunteer. All four of them worked for Roots & Wisdom together in 2008. This video is a brief taste of the veggie rap. A full version can be found on the Roots & Wisdom YouTube page, along with other inspirational or informational videos.

Roots & Wisdom

Roots & Wisdom is where my interest in the environment started. Roots & Wisdom is a community agriculture program that focuses on youth, specifically teens. Roots & Wisdom brings together the diverse population of the county. Teen can participate in a six week job program during the summer. Not only do the teens work in the garden to grow the plants, but they participate in workshops on topics in sustainability and community building, team building exercises, work with six to eleven year old children in the children's garden program, sell produce at a road side stand, and facilitate events in the garden for visiting groups.

I was and remain the only teen worker from the rural part of the county. Working at Roots & Wisdom gave me the opportunity to be exposed to diversity and to the idea of sustainable agriculture. I formed great friendships, learned a lot, step outside of my comfort zone, learned life and work place skills, and met many amazing people. I even met my future college roommate in the garden. I was inspired to chose a career path that would lead to sustainability and/or the environment.

I enjoyed my experiences with Roots & Wisdom very much. I worked as a youth worker during 2008 and 2009. Last summer, I returned as a crew leader and led the Events Crew in daily garden tasks and in planning and running events in the garden. I taught the youth how to give tours, design and run workshops, and lead children's groups in the garden. This summer, I will return as an intern as the Events and Outreach Coordinator and will expand upon the role I had as the events crew leader. I will train everyone how to facilitate events in the garden, I will coordinate with groups who would like to visit, and I will search for founding opportunities for this nonprofit organization. I am very excited to be working on a different part of this program.

If you would like to learn more about Roots & Wisdom, follow this link to their website. I believe urban agriculture programs for youth can make a great difference in the community and in the lives of the people who participate in the program. I encourage everyone to get involved with agriculture in some way. Being outside, especially with others, can be a very enjoyable experience and gardening is a great pastime.