What in the world is the Extension office all about?

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When I tell people that I work for University of Illinois Extension, the most common response is, “What do they do?” It’s difficult to sum up in one newspaper column, but I will try my best to give you a summary of all that Extension offers our community.

University of Illinois Extension is a public outreach program administered by the University’s Urbana-Champaign campus. The Cooperative Extension Service is more than 90 years old and is based on federal, state and local laws and funding formulas. Extension provides educational programming to residents of all 102 counties in Illinois. More than 2.5 million Illinois residents take part in Extension programs each year, and our Web site (http://web.extension.uiuc.edu) draws more than 10 million page views each month from people in more than 200 countries. Extension service ensures that everyone can access the University research and services where they live and work.

So, what are these educational programs? The University divides them into five areas, which are presented on state, regional and local levels. Here are some examples of these programs in Bureau County:

Healthy society — Using the USDA’s MyPyramid Food Guidance System, Extension educates people of all ages on ways to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. On a local level, the Bureau County Unit provides daily nutrition education at the Princeton Elementary District’s Early Childhood program, Leepertown Grade School and DePue Elementary and High School, as well as the model after-school sites in Walnut, Malden, Ladd, Leepertown, Princeton and Manlius. We also provide nutrition education programs at Neponset and Spring Valley Elementary schools; at Head Start in Spring Valley; at our summer youth cooking schools throughout the county; and for adult clients of the WIC, TANF and Hall Township Food Pantry programs.

Food security and safety — Part of our nutrition and healthy lifestyles education includes elements of food security and safety. All of our nutrition programs include information on proper handwashing techniques and safe food handling skills; for our adult clients, we also present information on ways to obtain affordable, secure sources of food that provide a healthy, well-balanced diet for families.

Environmental stewardship — In a society where everyone seems to be going “green,” we all know that it is important to take care of our environment. Our Extension Master Gardeners assist with this by maintaining several community gardens that beautify our community as well as providing landscapes for plants and wildlife. Educators provide programs on environmental stewardship for local farmers. We also take time to educate our next generation of stewards, through natural resources education at Ladd and Malden after-school sites, in-school programs in eastern Bureau County, and Bureau County Soil & Water Conservation District’s fifth grade Conservation Day.

Sustainable and profitable food production and marketing systems — Extension is well-known for its connections to agriculture. Our educators are able to connect farmers with University research and provide them with the most current information available. This year, Bureau County held programs for private pesticide applicator training and testing, crop management, alfalfa production and harvesting, and soil conservation. Extension also provides numerous publications and materials to local residents, and helps identify plant pests and diseases through our distance diagnostics system.

Enhancing youth, family and community well-being — This is probably the largest of our program areas, due to the quantity of programs offered and also because it encompasses many of the other areas. Extension administers the 4-H program, the world’s largest out-of-school youth program. Bureau County is home to 17 4-H Clubs, including community clubs and special interest groups throughout the county. The Extension office also sponsors and supports the Bureau County Youth Development Coalition, which oversees after-school programs in Malden, Manlius, Ladd, Leepertown, Princeton and Walnut school districts, among many other programs.

Our staff and volunteers provide fun, educational opportunities for youth, as well as parenting classes and information for adults who work with youth. Through collaborations with the Princeton Theater Group and Festival 56, we are able to offer Camp 56, a theater camp for local youth. We also collaborate with local police and sheriff departments to provide drug and violence prevention education programs and school resource officers in 10 Bureau County school districts. In the summer, Extension offers many other youth programs, including day camps and the 4-H Fair. Our programs serve more than 4,000 Bureau County youth each year. We collaborate with local government officials, agencies, schools, and the Home and Community Education Association to provide educational programs for adults, as well as community and economic development programs that enhance the visibility and sustainability of our communities.

Extension is very involved in the community and serves people in a variety of ways. But we certainly don’t do it alone. It is through collaborations, partnerships, and support from our local donors and volunteers that we are able to accomplish what we do. We greatly appreciate the local support we have received for our programs, and the willingness of other agencies and community groups to form the necessary collaborations and coalitions that provide these much-needed services to the residents of Bureau County. I hope we will be able to continue providing these services in the future. For more information about how you can contribute to or participate in our programs, please call our office at (815) 875-2878.

Jennifer Caldwell is the program coordinator for 4-H and youth development at the University of Illinois Extension — Bureau County.