Excited About Extension

For my senior capstone project this past summer I worked with the Utah State University Cooperative Extension Program in Salt Lake County.  Extension is a program that has been around for over 100 years and works to extend the university to communities throughout the state.  USU has an extension office in every county in the state of Utah.  The program offers educational classes and activities for little or no cost to the communities it serves.  The goal of these programs is to help enrich and improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.  Some of the projects I was able to help with over the summer included:

• A Money Camp for an elementary school in a low income area.  We taught the kids about earning, spending, saving, and borrowing.  Then they got to participate in a marketplace where they were given a career and an income and had to go to different stations and purchase necessities as well as entertainment and recreation while staying within their own income. 
• Aging Services Fair---Getting the word out to seniors about services and classes offered by Extension
• Babysitting Day Camp---A three day camp for youth that taught babysitting skills such as child nutrition, child development, safety and first aid, infant care, and games and activities to use with children when babysitting.  All of the kids got to make their own babysitter kit to take home with them. 
• Conflict Resolution for Couples Class---This was the class that I designed and taught in my own community.  It focuses on helping couples recognize that conflict within a relationship is perfectly normal and learn how to manage and resolve conflict in a healthy way.  

Extension also does nutrition and cooking classes, gardening classes, sewing classes, and much more.  
I was very impressed with the Extension program and loved working with them.  Before this past summer, I really had no idea that this program was out there.
Last week I contacted the head of the USU Extension program here in St. George to see if I could get involved in the program here.  As you probably know, I'm not in the market for a full time job, but I was hoping I could help them out on a sort of flexible, part time, volunteer basis.  
Yesterday I met with Carolyn, head of the program here, and she said she'd be thrilled to have me teach a marriage enrichment class once a month and help plan and teach a workshop at their marriage celebration day that they are holding in February.  She had contacted my supervisor up at the SLC Extension and apparently she had nothing but great things to say about me and the work I did with them this summer  (Phew! I confess I always worry about what others think of my work). 
The marriage class is held every Monday night and dinner and childcare are provided free of cost.  There are a few different people who take turns teaching the class, and I'm going to be put into the rotation.  I don't teach my first class until January.  Carolyn is having surgery on both of her knees around the first of November and so she's cleared the program's calendar from now until January.  How perfect is that?!  With our baby due in the next month or so, I'll have a couple of months to heal and adjust and then dig right in.  Plus I can just develop my curriculum from home and attend a meeting once in a while.  I will be compensated for the nights I teach, but not much, which is fine with me because I'm more interested in simply being involved and keeping my skills up to date. 
Anyway, sorry for the extra long post, but I'm really excited about how this is all working out.