University of Florida

Success Stories

IFAS Extension: 2011 Northeast District

Video Transcript

Featured Story: Suwannee County Harvest Festival

Brian Estevez, 4-H Youth and Development Agent, Suwannee County:

"We had the fall harvest experience here at the North Florida Research and Education Center in Suwannee Valley where we highlighted crops grown here in the Suwannee Valley region, including corn, pumpkin, sorghum."

"Our target audience is youth in the Suwannee Valley region, and our goal is to teach these youth where their food comes from, how it's grown, and why it's so economically important to this region."

"Young people can come to this working farm, and they can pick their own pumpkin, they can walk through a corn field, they get to sit on a tractor and learn how a tractor runs, and they get to learn about how corn is grown and the many products that it's used in."

"This program has been a success. We've had over 1,600 young people come through in a little less than a month. All the kids have said that they've enjoyed it, and they loved it; and they can't wait to go pick their own pumpkin; or they want to go back through the maze, and they want to go run through it again; and they definitely want to come back next year and learn more about it."

"We've had nothing but positive feedback from our teachers. They said it's been an enjoyable learning opportunity. They've gotten to learn outside the classroom and also give their kids that hands-on, learn-by-doing experience."

"One of the added benefits of this program is that we expose a lot more kids to the benefits of their county 4-H program. We've even had a new 4-H club start as a result."

"This program has been a collaboration between multiple agencies, including many of the local county Extension offices in North Florida, our local Farm Bureau, and local farmers--have all helped out to make this program run smoothly."

"With kids so far removed from agriculture, we feel, as Extension agents, it's our responsibility to teach them about the agriculture that's grown in their region and to teach them about how food is grown and that it's not just something from the grocery store."

Short Stories

Narrator:

In the Northeast District, agents are meeting the diverse needs of their communities through a variety of programs.

The Urban Tree Care program in Duval County is a partnership between Agent Larry Figart and the Public Works Department of Jacksonville.  In just two years the program has educated over 100 county workers and is now included as part the orientation for all new parks maintenance employees. The program uses a combination of classroom lectures and hands-on learning to train attendees on topics like proper pruning techniques.

In Nassau County, Meg McAlpine’s Medicare Education program is empowering seniors and other Medicare recipients to make decisions about their benefits. This free program started five years ago as part of a grant to educate residents about Medicare part D. Through classes and one-on-one instruction, the program has educated more than 500 people.

And in Suwannee and Duval counties, the Pastured Poultry program is giving guidance to small-scale producers. In just three years, Elena Toro and Brad Burbaugh created numerous publications and presentations, a website, and a virtual field day that offers information previously unavailable to poultry farmers. The program has received three national awards and has been accessed by over 125,000 online readers.