October News

Learning About Water

Ogallala Commons is conducting water education for schools in the Texas Panhandle and Eastern New Mexico with Playa Festivals – a hands-on environmental education program designed to illustrate the challenges of water in the Southern High Plains.  Participants learn about playa wetlands, the Ogallala Aquifer, soils, plants, waterfowl and other wildlife during the day-long event.  After a morning of activities, students visit a nearby playa, salina or river to explore, collect samples and make observations in their nature journals.  Playa Festivals are funded by several regional underground water conservation districts, The Dixon Water Foundation, and Xcel Energy Foundation.

Ogallala Commons’ very own Darryl Birkenfeld and Julie Hodges make presentations at each Festival; additionally, OC provides a unique cast of experienced presenters. Jim Steiert, an author and waterfowler from Hereford, Texas, demonstrate the effectiveness of buffers around wetlands to prevent sedimentation, as well as great information about waterfowl. Justin Trammell, an OC Community Intern, teaches about wetland macroinvertebrates and all tiny creatures that thrill Festival participants.  Gail Barnes, Education Coordinator at the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Lubbock, brings “wildlife ambassadors” --live animals used for educational programming that have been injured or orphaned, and cannot be released into the wild.  Robert Martin is a herpetologist for The Nature Conservancy and Jessica Kissner is a graduate student from Texas Tech University.  Robert and Jessica’s presentations shed light onto the mysterious world of reptiles and amphibians that inhabit playas and other wetlands.

Engaging Youth and Planning Internships

Ogallala Commons will be partnering with Rawlins County Schools and Rawlins County HTC, and Ogallala Commons for a Youth Engagement Day, to be held at Rawlins County High School in Atwood, Kansas on Wednesday, November 7th from 8:30am to 1:30pm.

With its theme, "A World of Ideas," our Youth Engagement Day is designed for 7-12 Grade students who are interested in community improvement, creating new enterprises and businesses, or building careers through entrepreneurship. It will be an exciting time for students to bring ideas and to grow them through communication and collaboration with others.  Ogallala Commons will conduct two sessions that will focus on creating Community Internships, and cover topics such as how to organize successful internships, how to finance them, how to build work plans, and how youth engagement fit with internships.  OC Board of Directors Simone Cahoj, Bobby Gierisch, and Tom Giessel will be assisting with the Community Partnering presentations.

Youth E-Fair Coming in November

Business ideas from over 60 high schools students are being entered into the 6^th Annual OC Regional Youth Entrepreneur Fair, set for November 13^th in Plainview, TX.  The Fair will be held at the Multi-Purpose Room on the campus of Wayland Baptist University.  During the lunch hour from 12noon to 1:15pm, the general public will be able to tour the booths that display both potential and already-operating businesses of youth entrepreneurs from the area. 

Entrepreneurs will be awarded points by a panel of three judges based on the following criteria: Business Plan, Interview with Judges, Booth Presentation at the Fair, Network of Support, and Financing Strategies.  Besides earning valuable experience in business planning, conducting interviews, and selling a business idea to the public, top finishers in the contest received cash prizes.  Keynote speakers at the 11am session will be 2 former winners of previous Fairs.

Presentations at the Texas Midwest Communities Network (TMCN) Annual Conference

On October 17^th, Julie Hodges traveled to Abilene, Texas, where she presented a “Solution Seminar” on youth engagement activities for communities.  Julie explained OC’s Youth Engagement Programs: Youth Engagement Days, Youth Entrepreneur Fairs and the OC Community Internship Program.  Approximately 80 people attended Julie’s sessions.

Intern Profile: Nellie Hill

Photo: Jade Comstock (DLC Photography)

I am a lover of sunflowers, fields of wheat, I-70 and the Kansas State Wildcats. I am a proud Kansas native who recently became a temporary Texan. My family lives in rural Marion County, Kansas surrounded by CRP grass and an hour from the nearest big-box store. Manhattan became my new home as I attended Kansas State until graduation this past May.   In pursuit of a Master’s in Agricultural Communications, I made the move this past August to Lubbock, Texas [Tech]. My passion for agriculture takes form in communicating with and educating the public about agriculture's impact on their daily lives.  I enjoy sharing the stories of producers and agribusinesses with consumers who have a growing interest in where their food comes from. My long-term goal is to help future agricultural communicators prepare to share the message of agriculture.  After completing my Master’s degree, I hope to work in the industry and later pursue a Doctoral degree and become a professor.  My interests in industry work include communications work for commodity groups, government agriculture agencies or event coordination for university colleges. The Ogallala Commons communications internship will help me reach these goals by keeping me in-tune and giving back to the lands I have always called home. My neighbors, new and old, are affected by the socio-economic, environmental and government actions associated with the aquifer and Great Plains.