Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ogallala Commons Newsletter: June (Issue 1)

Tools of Your Internship: How to use the Work Plan & Time Sheet
By Darryl Birkenfeld, Director, Ogallala Commons

Now that your internship is off to a great start, interns and supervisors might wonder, “What is the purpose of the work plan?” Even though interns have hit the ground running with 3 or 4 projects, the work plan is still a handy tool—something that you want to take a look at least once a week for the following reasons.

First of all, your work plan should list a weekly schedule of activities from now until the end of your internship. It’s a reminder that what you are working on is not a sprint, but an 8-9 week marathon. Some activities will require a day or two to complete, but your main internship objectives need more time and planning to bring them to completion. Having a work plan will help you to divide up a big objective into weekly increments, so that by the end of your internship, you will have done enough work to wrap it up.

In addition, the work plan offers a way for you and your advisor to check in on the status of projects and activities—to discuss these projects and to make adjustments. It may happen that a task listed on your work plan can’t be completed in the week when it is written down. Reviewing the work plan allows you to move the activities to different weeks. Also, sometimes projects are finished sooner than planned, and once again, you can fill in your internship week with tasks that are listed further down the schedule on your work plan, so that you make effective use of your internship hours.

So this week, take time to look over your work plan with your supervisor, and use the plan as a gauge for what has been accomplished in your internship, and a planning guide as to how to proceed over the coming weeks.

Now, here are a few reminders on your time sheet. First of all, be sure to write down your internship hours and work description on a weekly basis. If you wait until the end of the third week when the first timesheet is due to send in for your stipend check, it will be very difficult to remember what you did in the first and second week. So again, start keeping your timesheet now, following the sample that is available in the Intern Guidebook. Also, you are to submit your timesheet on the Friday of your third and six week of internship (unless you are doing a 4-week internship), and the third timesheet when you have completed all the products required at the end of your internship. Finally, you will need to allow 8-12 days for your timesheet to be processed and to receive your stipend checks.


And the Blogging has Begun…
Julie Hodges, Education Coordinator, Ogallala Commons

Most of the 33 OC Community Interns posted their introductory blog on Friday, June 10th, providing great photographs and a nice introduction to themselves and the various projects they are working on.

Ogallala Commons would like to invite anyone interested in learning about grassroots community projects ranging from food bank gardens to hosting 800 bicyclists in Kansas to check out our intern blogs and leave comments to encourage, advise or ask questions of an Intern.
This year we have 6 OC Community Intern Blogs. They can be found at:
http://ogallalaintern1.blogspot.com/
http://ogallalaintern2.blogspot.com/
http://ogallalaintern3.blogspot.com/
http://ogallalaintern4.blogspot.com/
http://ogallalaintern5.blogspot.com/
http://ogallalaintern6.blogspot.com/

To leave a comment for an intern, simply click on the word “comments” at the bottom of the post you wish to comment on. A “Post a Comment” Box will appear for you to leave a message in. Once you finish writing your message, you must choose and option from the “Comment as” drop down menu located just below the “Post a Comment” box. If you do not have a profile, simply choose “anonymous” If you choose anonymous, you may want to include your name in the text you have written so the intern will know you are.

Intern Profile: High School Experiences Provide Background for Internship
By Catherine Jenkinson, Community Intern

This summer, I will be working for Ogallala Commons through my local community foundation. I will be working on fundraising, mailing lists, research, planning a community Christmas party, and starting an oral history project dealing with coyote hunting. Coyote hunting was a 'sport' very popular in the sixties and seventies in rural Kansas. 'Hunters' attached special boxes to old pick-ups to hold their greyhounds trained to track coyotes. When a coyote was spotted, a lever inside the truck was cranked, allowing the greyhounds to attack. Though this is widely known in my community, no one has ever documented its history or interviewed the 'hunters' themselves.
I am very excited for what I will learn this summer and I'm sure that my eyes will be opened to a huge amount of possibilities and opportunities. In my school, I am involved in several leadership organizations including 4H, Peer Helpers, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Teen Leaders, Wallace County High School Leadership Team, National Honor Society and Student Council. I hope that my experience with working with others has prepared me to intern in this job well. I look forward to a great summer full of great opportunity!

Ogallala Commons Internships Benefitting Greeley County
Christy Hopkins, Director, Greeley County Community Development Above: Greeley County interns at their finest during the Bike Across Kansas stop in Tribune

Greeley County Community Development is fortunate to host two Ogallala Commons Interns this summer. Shancee Howell, an agri-business graduate student at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, returned for a second-year internship. She has been joined by Katy Reynolds, a mass communications major completing her undergraduate degree at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma.

The foundation of the Ogallala Commons internship program is engagement in the local community. While no two internships are the same, each is focused on providing the interns with a deeper understanding and appreciation for their community and the assets that make it a special place. Undoubtedly, Shancee and Katy (and all other Ogallala Commons interns) will end their internships with a greater understanding of their local communities and the hands, hearts, and minds that make it work.

Katy and Shancee bring intelligence, drive, and a fresh perspective to our community. They tackle projects with energy and enthusiasm, whether it’s setting up a lemonade stand at the Biking Across Kansas event, introducing trivia on the Facebook page, designing a community brochure, assisting with the adult co-ed softball league, brainstorming interior décor for Tribune’s community-owned theater, or scoping out ideas for a complete website re-design. Our office is enhanced by their talents and passion; the community benefits from their creative ideas and new approach to old challenges.

As the local supervisor for our Ogallala Commons interns, I am constantly amazed by what these two young women see and how they respond to their experiences in the community. Hearing discussions after returning from an errand, reading their weekly blogs, and asking for their feedback is eye-opening. Their reflections on the community, the talented and friendly people who live here, the ongoing projects and the opportunities to get involved are insightful and thorough, and they help me to see and understand potential areas for improvement in communication, beautification, and additional opportunities to further our mission of stability and growth for Greeley County.


Intern Profile: Katy Reynolds
Hello! I’m Katy Reynolds, and I’m from Tribune, Kansas. I am finishing my bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications with a minor in English at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma. I am on the rodeo team at Northwestern and I am also the editor of the university’s newspaper. I will graduate in December and hope to move on to completing a master’s degree.

I found out about Ogallala Commons from Christy Hopkins and the Community Development office in Tribune. There was an advertisement in Tribune’s newspaper for the summer internship that Ogallala Commons and the Community Development were providing, so I called Christy, the director of Greeley County Community Development, and got some information about the internship. I was really interested, so I logged on to the Ogallala Commons website and learned what the organization was all about.

I expect to gain more knowledge in my field of study, Mass Communication, and how my major can be used to help rural communities. I really love and enjoy Mass Communications and the different facets of the field, but I also really love living in a rural community, so I hope that this internship can help me find possibilities to use my major to benefit a small town, as well as create venues and opportunities to work in Tribune and rural communities in the future.

In my spare time, I like to rodeo and work with horses and help run cattle. I am newly married, and I also enjoy doing things on the farm with my husband. I enjoy travelling, being involved in the church, and spending time with family.




Intern Profile: Shancee Howell Hello again,
I am Shancee Howell, I am originally from Greeley County, and I very excited to be back for the summer. I received my bachelors in Animal Science for Oklahoma Panhandle State in Goodwell, Oklahoma with a minor in biology, and I continued my education at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I am currently working on my Masters in Ag Business. I absolutely love the land of enchantment, but my roots brought me back to my rural community.

After being away, I realize how nice it is to come back where everyone knows you, and where you do not have to worry about locking your vehicles. I am truly blessed to call Tribune home.
I was fortunate enough to hold the Ogallala Commons Internship last summer, and loved it. When I found out there were offering it again, I jumped at the opportunity. The people I would with (Christy Hopkins, Carol Miles, and Katy Reynolds) are absolutely amazing, and this year we are privileged to have another intern in the office. I am excited to work with Katy, she is fun, creative, knowledgeable, and brings lots of energy to the office.

Working here last summer really broadened my horizon; I realized just how much this office does for our community. I am very thrilled to be a part of it again. This kind of work is not something I am used to, I come from a cattle background, and it is neat to be involved in a different field of work.

Spare time, well [it] appears I do not have a lot of it. However, I spend most of time dealing with horses, cattle, or family. My whole life has been evolved around rodeo, so it is kind of my building block. In fact, that is how I have paid for my college career is through rodeo scholarships. I rope, tie goats, and run barrels. In the past, I have qualified for both the National High School Finals, the College National Finals, along with the Kansas Professional Rodeo Association Finals. When I am not in the office, I am assisting my brother. He rides several colts, and runs cattle on the side. I am a very family oriented and enjoy spending time with them. I am looking forward to a wonderful summer :)

3 comments:

  1. Megan,
    Good job of shining a spotlight on Greeley and Wallace Counties in western Kansas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! This one was a lot easier since I knew more about what I was doing! :)

    ReplyDelete