Author: Amanda Sears
Planning Unit: Madison County CES
Major Program: Community Leadership Development
Plan of Work: Develop and Strengthen Leadership and Life Skills
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
The county fair is a hectic time for agents. There are a lot of different programs going on at the same time and volunteer help is essential. For example, exhibit take in uses over thirty volunteers.
Historically, a two problems occur with fair volunteers that assist with exhibit take in and judging. Often volunteers back out at the last minute. This led agents to scramble for more help. The other issue was poor communication between agents and volunteers.
The Madison County Horticulture Agent saw a need for better training and overall communication. As volunteers were recruited, their names were added to an email list serve which was used to share updates and communicate leading up to the event. This helped with retention of volunteers.
Every extension volunteer that helped at the fair received a matching shirt that had the Extension logo on it and the word volunteer on the back. Extension staff had the same shirt but with the word staff on the back. This seemed to unite the volunteers.
A volunteer training meeting was scheduled several days before the day of exhibit check in. The Horticulture Agent walked through the check in process and what would be expected the day of the event. Volunteers were able to voice their concerns and questions during this time as well. At the training, each person was assigned a specific job to do at exhibit check in.
Despite a 27% increase in exhibitors and in number of exhibits, check in was much less chaotic than in previous years.
After the fair, the Horticulture Agent sent out a survey to see how the volunteers felt about the training and other changes made.
100% of volunteers felt the training was beneficial
100% of volunteers thought the training helped to make exhibit check in and judging go more smoothly
88% of volunteers felt the training should be annual event
The county fair is a hectic time for agents. There are a lot of different programs going on at the s... Read More
Liberty Place is a womens drug rehabilitation center located in Madison County, Kentucky. Residents ... Read More
In the article, Benefits of Nature for Children and Families, it states that “As children grow to te... Read More
According to The Tech Edvocate, “By the time all of our students graduate in a few years or so, over... Read More
Diane Mason, FCS Agent in Boone County, is a leader in Kentucky Cooperative Extension international ... Read More
The Washington County Extension Service partners with Washington County Schools each year to plan an... Read More