It’s sometimes difficult to discern who is learning more from this summer’s Extension District programs: The teachers or the students.
That’s the benefit of life lessons. We’re never too old to learn.
As a recent graduate of Pittsburg State University, Abby McDaniel of Parsons will teach high school math at Labette County this fall.
So perhaps it’s apropos she’s working with elementary-aged children this summer. McDaniel is one of five interns at the Southwind Extension District this summer as part of a program aimed at reversing the learning loss incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I forgot how it is to be a little kid,” McDaniel said. “Getting to see their joy and experience that joy with them means a lot. Kids get so excited, especially with some of the activities we do. It rubs off on you.”
Most of the interns plan to teach or work with children.
Abigail Meiwes of Iola just graduated from Iola High School and plans to attend Kansas State University to study agriculture education. She’s also interested in becoming an Extension agent.
“I found out I enjoy working with children, so education could be a possible career in the future,” Meiwes said of her experience so far this summer.
Gwenyth Fry of Fort Scott returned to the Southwind district this year after working as an intern last summer. She’s attending K-State to be a speech pathologist.
“I loved my experience last year,” Fry said. “And as a speech pathologist, I have to work with a lot of age groups so I wanted to see if I got along with younger kids. I discovered that’s definitely what I want to do.”
Jodee Nickell of Chanute teaches family and consumer science classes at Humboldt High School. She’s married to Extension agent Hunter Nickell and they have a 5-month-old son.
“Extension pairs nicely with family and consumer science education, so this is kind of the other side of what I could do with my degree,” she said.
Berkley Wood of Fort Scott just finished her first year at Missouri Southern University. She’s taking a gap year to “figure out what kind of career path I want to take, so I’m taking interesting jobs to figure out what I want to do.”
THE INTERNSHIP program is funded by a grant and is in its third and final year, unless another source of funding extends it. The grant provides interns at K-State Research and Extension districts with materials and skill sets to provide hands-on educational opportunities.
“From a teacher’s perspective, there’s a lot of learning loss over the summer even if it’s not due to COVID,” Nickell said. “This helps keep kids engaged. They might not know they’re doing school work because it’s disguised in a fun way.”
