Rising Star Intern Report

Region 4

Counties of Worth, Cerro Gordo, and Franklin Regional Director Donovan Olson

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Rising Star Internship

www.extension.iastate.edu/risingstar

PROJECT SUMMARY

Introduction

Region 4 Rising Star Interns spent their summer based in Ames, Iowa and traveling between Worth, Cerro Gordo, and Franklin counties to gain an understanding of their community dynamics. From May 11 to August 5 the interns focused on implementation plans for four different local foods and community enrichment projects. The goal was to promote growth of established initiatives across rural northern Iowa. The valuable knowledge and experiences that were acquired throughout the summer are unmatched by other internships. The Rising Star Interns are prepared to continue building onto the skills developed this summer to prompt future endeavors. The interns would like to deeply thank all the individuals they worked with this summer for their support, generosity, kindness, and guidance. None of this work would have been possible without support from participating counties of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Ag Ventures Alliance.

Belinda Hoffman William Howell Kaylee Cornwell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Global Resource Systems and Dietetics West Liberty, Iowa College of Design, Architecture Chicago, Illinois College of Design, Graphic Design Bettendorf, Iowa

Project Overview

The Rising Star Interns in Region 4 acted as consultants. For all the projects interns completed this summer, they followed a general structure: background research, problem identification, community assessments, plan development, and initial implementation. At the conclusion of the four projects, in-depth reports are submitted to respective counties that include helpful materials and recommendations for moving forward. Across the four projects, over 25 meetings and tours were attended to gain insight into the issues at hand and to provide updates for project development. All three county directors were contacted bi-weekly and were integral in the direction of the work. Working with 15+ community leaders this summer serves as evidence that these projects have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact when fully implemented.

This serves as a summary to the Region 4 comprehensive document.

Find comprehensive documents: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/ countyservices/rising-star-internship

Lincoln Intermediate Greenhouse Action Plan

Lincoln Intermediate in Mason City, Iowa had a phenomenal greenhouse constructed in 2017, but has yet to be used to its full potential. Throughout the last four years, various individuals and groups have used the greenhouse for projects such as plants for landscaping the school grounds, and club projects. In Fall 2019, the Green Thumb Club (a 4H club administered through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach [ISUEO]) began meeting in the greenhouse weekly to grow different types of plants and to learn about gardening.

The purpose of the project this summer was to work with students, faculty and staff to develop and institutionalize educational programs in growing foods at the greenhouse and expanding the school garden initiative. The Rising Star Interns developed an implementation plan for integrating the use of plant production into the 5th and 6th grade curriculum. Throughout the summer, the interns initiated the use of the hydroponics system, developed lesson plans, and worked to create a sustainable growth & maintenance plan for the greenhouse, which was the biggest challenge faced with this project.

Community Research

Administrative support in regard to integrating the use of the greenhouse into classroom curriculum has varied throughout the last four years. There is no agriculture education program in the school district and teacher involvement has been limited to this point. However, Teresa Schlichting, Lincoln Intermediate’s Principal, shared her desires in relation to the growth of the greenhouse in upcoming years, including:

• All students in the greenhouse within the first week of school.

• Teachers that are willing to work in the greenhouse throughout the academic year.

• Food grown in the greenhouse be supplemented into school lunch.

An anonymous survey was created with the intent to distribute amongst Lincoln Intermediate faculty and staff (via Qualtrics) to collect feedback. The survey was designed to establish the objectives and deliverables that would be beneficial to provide at the end of the summer. However, many of the faculty were gone for the summer and administration was hiring a few new teachers throughout the majority of June. For this reason, Sarah DeBour has been granted access to the survey and will distribute the survey upon request in the future. We used feedback from conversations with a select teacher committee and Teresa Schlichting to guide the direction of our project goals and objectives.

SPOTLIGHT: PROJECT 1:

Objectives

Physical Space Preparation

For large scale horticulture and floriculture production during the next academic year.

Develop an Action Plan

With recommendations to implement projects and lessons into classroom curriculum.

Harvest Options and Sustainability

Use plants and produce grown around the district and invite community members to partake in experiences.

Solutions and Materials

Physical Space Preparation

To prepare the greenhouse for use, interns organized the materials to create a more inviting environment through general cleaning, taking inventory, creating a classroom layout, and hanging visuals for general guidance. Additionally, we thought that it would be beneficial to arrange the long tables in a lab style. For future expansions, it would be useful to add additional tables to meet the needs of the number of students working in the space at one time.

One of the major greenhouse preparations was setting up an 84-plant hydroponics table that is roughly 8 feet by 12 feet long. It is a system that was sitting idle and is now ready for use and has the capacity to produce plants every 12-weeks for the entire year.

Developing an Action Plan

Materials Delivered

In essence, this project was designed to equip the beginning endeavors in greenhouse production at Lincoln Intermediate. Materials that have been prepared as a guide to start with are:

Signage for the Space

• Welcome poster with general rules

• Plant identification cards with general information

• Project timelines to aid in planning

• Templates of the signage listed above for future development

Project Suggestions Materials

• Step by step guides for projects

• Standard operating procedures for hydroponics

• General budgets (to gauge general cost, not definite)

• Identification of curriculum and lesson plans

• Templates of guides listed above for future projects and record keeping

Materials continued on the next page.

These are general steps for an action plan that teachers can follow when choosing to try something new with their classroom this upcoming year.

9 Identify operation possibilities

9 Choose a project to complete

9 Set goals for the project

9 Decide on the timeline (when you would like to harvest and then work backwards)

9 Select coordinating curriculum

9 Plan lessons throughout the growing seasons

9 Complete the project

9 Reflect on the project

Harvest Options and Sustainability

With anticipated increase in output, interns suggest a distribution plan is developed. Interns brainstormed a few suggestions of what would work well for distributing the plants and produce.

School Lunch or Donations

In order to donate the food grown, there are a few federally required food safety standards. The required standards are: the list of standards, frequencies, and descriptions below are all taken from the Food Safety Modernization Act.¹

Annual Plant Sale

Having an annual plant sale would require more research and growing more plants, but would be a great opportunity. Students could set long term goals of what they want to sell, measure them mathematically by whether they were met, and learn project management skills. Here is a complete manual to host a school plant sale from ISU to get you started: Complete plant sale manual.²

Materials Continued

Delivery Method of Materials

• Google Docs

• Physical copies

Resource Guides

• Two manuals other schools have used

• Food Safety Modernization Act Guide

• Customized beginners guide for Lincoln Intermediate

Objectives

Branding

Brand the market and create intuitive templates for all users.

Pick a Better Snack

Iowa Department of Public Health initiated a “pick a better snack” program that incorporates fruits and vegetables into the classroom. It was originally designed for younger children, but a lot of the lessons can be adapted to meet any classroom needs. Educator lessons and suggested schedules are listed in this resource: Educator Lessons.³

Future Recommendations

Moving forward, this greenhouse has so much potential for growth and involvement. As a team, the interns identified three key areas of focus when utilizing the space.

Personnel Commitments

An internal committee working together to maintain logistics and plans for the space will alleviate the weight of the to-do list falling on a single person and increase overall ownership.

Community Involvement

Calling on experts in the subject (i.e. Master Gardeners and ISUEO Specialists) will lead to a fruitful experience and promote personal connections that can lead to success of the space.

Strengthen Administration

Record keeping and communication are imperative to keep the use of the greenhouse steady. This will make the transition easier from year to year, and promote more comfort with the systems.

PROJECT 2: Hampton Farmers Market Marketing Plan

Hampton Iowa’s local farmers’ market has been a part of the community for several years. The farmers’ market has been looking to increase involvement with the market by trying to increase the number of vendors and customers. Efforts have been made to increase awareness of the market through the social media platform Facebook. To increase awareness, their goal is to create an identity for the farmers’ market and an in-depth marketing plan to reach more people in the community.

Create a marketing plan to use for this season and future seasons.

Marketing Sustainability

Develop a plan for long-term marketing sustainability.

One of the Hampton Farmers’ Market’s central objectives is to add more vendors to the market. They have struggled with this goal. Many vendors outside of produce do not find success. Their hope is to promote the market to gain new customers and from that growth, gain more vendors. In order to build a successful market their social media promotion must reflect the heart of the market which is fresh, local, and high-quality food with a team of knowledgeable and friendly vendors. These ideals were kept in mind throughout the project.

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Throughout the summer, the Rising Star Interns helped the farmers’ market through delivering a sustainable plan to make consistent use of their social media accounts while maintaining a new branded identity. This plan included creating easy-to-use graphics for social media use, developing an intern position in order to maintain this presence online, collecting statistics of the accounts, and making suggestions for attracting the attention of young families in the community.