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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2002: article | |
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Cooperative Extension offers new opportunities for Schreyer Honors Scholars By Celena E. Kusch | ||||||
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The mission of The Schreyer Honors College is to promote academic excellence, a global perspective and opportunities for leadership development and civic engagement. This mission makes the college a natural partner for Penn State Cooperative Extension, with its focus on building community-University partnerships and extending University knowledge and resources into communities through outreach teaching, research and service. In the past few years, that connection has grown into a formal partnership that involves students, faculty and extension agents throughout the Commonwealth. In spring 2001, Dr. Cheryl Achterberg, dean of The Schreyer Honors College, and Dr. Theodore R. Alter, associate vice president for outreach, director of Cooperative Extension and associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, committed resources to support a Cooperative Extension internship program for Schreyer Honors Scholars. The internships provide students with new opportunities to link academic excellence with civic engagement within the context of University outreach. Nine students from a variety of different majors enrolled in the program during its first year. Five more enrolled during the summer. “There are countless Cooperative Extension projects across the state that are appropriate for all different majors,” said Dr. Josephine M. Carubia, coordinator of student programs and service learning in The Schreyer Honors College and affiliate assistant professor of English. “The partnership with Cooperative Extension allows us to give the students internship opportunities near their homes and to design projects of mutual benefit to the students and the extension agents.” According to Carubia, the response from the student interns has been very positive. Students have remarked that people talk about engagement all the time, but through the internships they were able to see engagement in action. Schreyer Honors College Scholar Christopher Oster, a computer science major, reflected on his experience doing Web design and development for the Luzerne County Cooperative Extension office, noting, “Cooperative Extension takes knowledge and research from Penn State and makes it available to every resident in the state. It is a true integration of research, scholarship and community. ... So often you see a list of ideals and nothing to back it up. This time, I saw it backed up.” Oster added, “It wasn’t simply the work that impressed me, though, but more the people doing that work. The extension agents really care about making a difference, and as one of them put it early this summer, ‘When you have a gift, you have to share it.’” Although the majority of the interns, like Oster, shared their experience through intern projects related to their academic expertise, others challenged themselves to develop new skills during the internships. George Caruso, an industrial engineering major, completed his internship with the Montgomery County 4-H program. His goals were to gain experience in teamwork, increase awareness of children living in at-risk environments and to learn how to teach. During his internship, Caruso developed and evaluated lesson plans for character education and honesty. He then worked with other interns and 4-H agents to deliver lessons to children ages 5 through 12 who participated in 4-H summer camps in Pottstown, Rolling Hills and Green Lane. Reflecting on his internship experiences, Caruso noted, “I believe the experience really stretched me and broke down some unwarranted confidence I had. I even developed a greater desire to see how these children see. I wanted to understand their life and their needs.” Nancy Stevens, Montgomery County extension director, praised Caruso’s work. “George is an enthusiastic learner and took it all in, dealt with the issues he encountered and used good judgment. You could just see his confidence and skills grow right in front of your eyes,” Stevens said. Carubia said this enthusiasm carried throughout the internship program. “The students who completed internships had a fabulous experience. They learned a tremendous amount about their own communities—things they had no idea were going on in their area. They also learned about extension agents as another type of professional—one that does hard scientific research and applies it immediately.” Student Laura Keating, majoring in East Asian studies, explained, “Having never heard of Outreach and Cooperative Extension before May, I was amazed by the breadth and depth of extension’s work. This experience has opened new doors for me in terms of possible future avenues of employment.” All of the internships combined both community engagement and professional development experiences for the students, Carubia noted. Cristen Stephansky, a biology major, commented, “It was a good experience, and I learned many of the career-related skills you don’t learn in a classroom. I learned how to start to administer a program, look for funding and deal with the public. Mr. Miller, the county extension director who worked with me, made sure I attended different meetings and conferences, so I could see what work is in different jobs—everything from staff assistants to directors of extension and state agencies.” J. Lee Miller, Beaver County extension director, explained that Stephansky was assigned to be part of the staff and held accountable for contributing to the team. “Part of Cooperative Extension is about learning experiences and working with young people to encourage them to grow. One of the goals of the internship was for Cris to function as part of an educational team, and she worked hard to accomplish that goal,” he said. “The internship was beneficial for us and stimulating for her to see an ongoing research and education program,” Miller said. “We would welcome the opportunity to work with another outstanding student like Cris in the future.” “I think a Cooperative Extension internship would be valuable to all Schreyer Honors students,” Stephansky added. “It provides great experience for people who are exploring a variety of careers or interested in public education.” An outreach program of The Schreyer Honors College and Penn State Cooperative Extension | |||||
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2001–02 Schreyer Honors College Cooperative Extension interns |
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| Elizabeth Barrett, mathematics Project: Urban Youth Education Supervisor: Bob Leiby, county extension directory, Lehigh County
George Caruso, industrial engineering
Katrina Getz, horticulture
Charlie Hajzus, marketing and international business
Matthew Houle, engineering
Laura Keating, East Asian studies
Soma Kedia, English and psychology
Jason Lally, information sciences and technology
Amy Lucas, sociology
Even Neft, premedicine
Farzad Noubary, mathematics
Christopher Oster, computer science
Cristen Stephansky, biology
Leigh Zanetti, biology and anthropology |
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© 2002 Outreach Communications, Outreach & Cooperative Extension, The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108, fax: (814) 863-2765, e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu |
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