Ohio State University Extension was founded in 1914 and since then has attempted to apply and what students learn in the classroom to real life situations. Each county has an office, out of which multiple programs operate, all from different funding streams. This includes 4-H, EFNEP, SNAP-Ed and Horticulture. Every county is different in its amount of funding for the office and for each program, meaning that most of the time the people who work in the office together don’t actually work together on the same project. In Hamilton county, all these different goals and programs worked together to offer a program to the community.
On June 30th and July 1st, every person who was scheduled to be in the office those days helped to plan a program for about 30 kids each day that would take place at the OSU extension office. It really was a win-win for everybody in the office. Each station either highlighted a certain program or gave the participants a great learning experience and the program cost $5 a participant. So, each program got a little marketing and the office made a little bit of money.
There were five stations: the garden, snack time, exercise station, 4-H fun, and an indoor craft. Each one had a learning component and something for the students to make or experience. The garden station, run by Julie Crook a Horticulture program coordinator, had participants plant a seed in a cup and water it for them to take home. Then she gave a tour of the garden at the office, pointing out important plants and wildlife. The snack station, run by Jennifer Even an extension coordinator for EFNEP, had kids skewer grapes to build a caterpillar and learn about the different parts of a caterpillar. Afterwards they got a healthy snack of it, as well water flavored by cantaloupe, pineapple and honeydew melon. From there the kids would go to the exercise station, run by Sammie Chamberland a summer assistant for 4-H. At this station the kids got to do basic exercises by tossing dice deciding type and number of exercise. The goal of this station was to teach participants how fun it is to get up and move around. The next station was 4-H, run by Tonya Harvath and Tony Staubach both 4-H educators. At this station, the kids got to create and launch rockets high into the air using nothing but 2-liter bottles, cardboard, water and air pressure. The students learned about building aerodynamically efficient rockets and how to get involved in 4-H to do even cooler projects. Finally, the participants travelled inside to do a craft with Lisa Cox and Janan Rabi who are both EFNEP program assistants. Here the students produced a water bottle holder that they wear like a necklace or lanyard. When not making the craft, participants learned about healthy eating and how to make a healthy meal.
All in all, this program took about an hour and a half to two hours, each rotation lasting about 20 minutes. The participants left the camp with a full tummy, sore muscles, a potted plant, a water bottle holder, and inquisitive minds about 4-H and science in general. OSU Extension in Hamilton County came together across funding streams and programs to offer a comprehensive morning of learning to summer camps full of young energetic minds. The inaugural Innovation Station program was an overwhelming success.
