Extension Online News

May 12, 2008

Program recognizes volunteer efforts

Nearly 50 women gathered at Piney Grove Baptist Church Thursday to celebrate more than 70 years of serving Surry County as volunteers, leaders and educators.

Both members of the Surry County Extension and Community Association and staff of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension attended the 71st Annual Achievement Program titled "You've come a long way ladies."

Read more from The Mount Airy News.

Posted by Suzanne at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2008

Aguilar named to 4-H Latino post

Cintia Aguilar, the College’s first Latino interests facilitator, is determined to serve new audiences, forge new partnerships and promote multicultural 4-H clubs.

For more, visit:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/winter08/college.html

Posted by Art at 10:19 AM

January 03, 2008

New Web site 'connects' textile companies in N.C., around the world

A new online resource launched by North Carolina State University in partnership with the N.C. Department of Commerce aims to bolster the state's textile industry by connecting North Carolina companies with each other and to other markets across the United States and around the globe.

N.C. Textile Connect (www.nctextileconnect.com) is a comprehensive Web site designed to foster and encourage business partnerships among textile companies within North Carolina and beyond. It also provides valuable information to prospective customers within the state, inside the United States and abroad.

Read more from the News Services' news release

Posted by Natalie at 02:23 PM

September 23, 2007

Bugfest draws crowds in Raleigh

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was well represented at Bugfest, an educational events sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. A number of college-connected faculty, staff and students presented exhibits in the "beneficial bugs" area of the event, held Sept. 15. In this photo, children enjoy examining a live specimen. Bugfest participants from the college included: Chrystal Bartlett, Cooperative Extension marketing director; David Orr, Mike Linker, Fred Hain and Jennifer Keller, Entomology; David Penrose, Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

Posted by Natalie at 08:04 AM

August 16, 2007

Union County hosts women's conference

Last spring, Monroe became the Emerald City, as the yellow brick road led to Union County’s Agricultural Services and Conference Center, site of the 2007 Union County Women’s Leadership Conference and Luncheon.

Hosted by the Women’s Leadership Coalition, the annual conference is an initiative of North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Robin Landsman, Extension Family and Consumer Sciences agent in Union County, worked with the Coalition in organizing the event. Dr. Deborah Crandall, director of Extension’s Southwest District, delivered opening remarks, and Monroe Police Chief Debra C. Duncan was keynote speaker, following a workshop called “Leadership According to Oz: Accountability Competence.”

Approximately 170 women participated in the workshop to gain skills in networking and diplomacy, relationship building and professional development, and leadership skills and mentoring.

Workshop participants represented “the diversity that is Union County,” Landsman said. “Our demographics include diversity in age, race and professions. We reached an audience of women in business; women employed in local government and public service; entrepreneurs, students and community volunteers. There were also a few at-home mothers considering their options for returning to the workplace.”

This year’s workshop theme was based on The Oz Principle, a business book about getting results through individual organizational accountability. Co-authored by a business writer and the cofounders of a management-consulting company, The Oz Principle uses L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz stories as metaphors for a journey toward greater accountability in business, with the destination of “home” as analogous to a focus upon results.

The luncheon was likewise an over-the-rainbow experience: On a stage full of Munchkinland blooms (scenery created by the Union County Master Gardeners), singers from area high schools performed songs from the 1939 “Wizard of Oz” film.

Dr. Wanda Sykes, Southeast District Extension director, suggested the Oz Principle approach during last year’s state FCS training, “and upon reading it, I agreed,” said Landsman, who provided copies of the book to the Coalition members. They unanimously decided to theme the conference around the book’s messages -- including the use of Wizard of Oz characters to illustrate the courage to See it, the heart to Own it, the wisdom to Solve it and the means to Do it in exercising accountability.

The event organizers included Coalition members Doris Belk, Kathie Easton, Holly McEachin, Julia Mitchell, Joyce Rentschler, Carol Tyson and Anne Velasco, as well as Landsman and Chris Austin, FCS secretary in Union County. Landsman also notes the support of Crandall and Jerry Simpson, Union County Extension director.

The workshop was led by Belk, McEachin, Mitchell and Tyson, along with Landsman, who said, “They were all volunteers who took the risk to learn about how to develop and present a workshop to their peers. It was extremely important to us to model what it means not only to be accountable but to set a goal, take risks and stretch ourselves to meet those expectations.”

The result? The audience gave the workshop leaders a standing ovation.

“Each year we get better by listening to the feedback of our participants,” said Landsman. In this year’s evaluations, participants indicated that it was time well spent, with 90.82 percent of them rating the workshop as excellent.

A similar high percentage – 94.74 – gave an excellent rating to the remarks of keynote speaker Duncan, who shared her experiences of being a woman in a leadership role. “As long as the job is done right, gender doesn’t matter,” Duncan told the group in her speech, “Holding Yourself Accountable and Succeeding in a Man’s World.”

Her message dovetailed neatly with the conference’s goals to inspire area women to accomplish change, empower one another and make a positive difference in the community.

The event was underwritten by the Real Estate Link of the Carolinas and sponsored by numerous local businesses, groups and individuals.

“Our sponsors include organizations that employ large numbers of women and have a high percentage of women in management and leadership positions,” Landsman said. “These businesses continue to support us financially, as well as by sending large numbers of their employees to our event.”

–T. Leith

Posted by Natalie at 11:21 AM

December 21, 2006

Oldest agent passes away

Elizabeth Poyner Sanderlin, the retired North Carolina Cooperative Extension agent for whom the auditorium of Extension’s new $6.6 million Currituck center will be named, passed away Dec. 20, 2006 at her home. She was 102.

Sanderlin, “Miss Liz” to her many friends, spent much of her working life helping her community grow from a rural, swamp-dotted backwater to a major agriculture- and tourism-supported county.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 23, at Moyock United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in the Moyock Cemetery. The family will receive visitors from 6-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22, at the church.

Memorial donations may be made to either the Currituck County Library or the Elizabeth P. Sanderlin Auditorium fundraiser by making a check payable to Currituck 4-H Foundation, c/o NCCE Currituck County, P.O. Box 10, Currituck, NC 27929.

To sign the online guest register, visit www.twifordfh.com.

In August, Cooperative Extension employees and residents joined Sanderlin and county officials at the 28,262-square-foot education and outreach center’s groundbreaking. The 500-seat Elizabeth P. Sanderlin Auditorium named in her honor and the new center will be available to the public when they open in late 2007.

Sanderlin smiled throughout the groundbreaking ceremony and stepped up to a shovel to have her photo taken with commissioners and others.

The new building, on U.S. 158 at Barco, will include four classrooms, two conference rooms, a demonstration kitchen, an Extension library and offices, which will allow Extension to concentrate many services and programs now offered by 14 full-time staffers from the county courthouse.

Landscaping will include water quality best management practice demonstration ponds and botanical gardens.

At the groundbreaking, Rodney Sawyer, Currituck Cooperative Extension director, noted that Extension’s Currituck operations began in the 1920s. He also recounted events in the life of Sanderlin, Currituck's home demonstration agent from 1951 to 1969.

“Miss Liz is an 'Extension icon,'” he said. “Her contributions to the citizens of Currituck County and North Carolina exemplify the Extension philosophy of helping people put knowledge to work to improve the quality of life.”

”During my career, her words of encouragement and support for our current efforts have fueled a desire to live up to her accomplishments,” Sawyer said. “She is like a guardian angel who looks over our programs and staff to herald the efforts and sing our praises. Miss Liz has inspired me to greater heights and gives credence to continuing the cause. She truly is a beloved citizen of Currituck.”

When Currituck County commissioners in 2004 declared Sept. 27 “Elizabeth Poyner Sanderlin Day,” speakers noted her longtime efforts to help rural women. One commissioner said he learned from her about 4-H, Extension's youth development program.

Sanderlin was born in Moyock, a village along the as-yet-unnamed Intracoastal Waterway, then edged by marsh-laced fields and woods. A 1926 Louisburg College graduate, she returned to Currituck, where she taught home economics, then worked for the Depression-era Works Progress Administration and later, the Farmers Home Administration.

She joined the then-North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering’s Agricultural Extension Service (now Cooperative Extension at North Carolina State University) as a home extension agent in the 1950s and ’60s.

When David Cecelski profiled Miss Liz for The News and Observer (Raleigh) in December 2002, she recalled her childhood one-room schoolhouse, socializing with friends at the Northern & Southern railway station at Moyock when trains came in, roads so horrible that people “stayed stuck,” closing the gate against free-ranging cattle between Moyock and Snowden, and families raising what they ate (although her father owned a grocery store).

She remembered the excitement of “company coming in and church meetings.

“You never knew who was going to eat at our house because people would come from up the creek and other places to shop, and there weren't any restaurants over yonder,”
she said in the N&O story.

Such sociability served her well in her generations of Extension and other public-spirited work in the county. Sanderlin, with other county ag extension agents and the Works Progress Administration, developed the idea of farmer-supplied and operated roadside stands on U.S. 158/N.C. 168, Currituck County’s linear main thoroughfare, to snare the ever-increasing Outer Banks-bound tourist trade. For most of Miss Liz’s career, that five-lane asphalt highway was at best a narrow, yet critically important concrete strip. But as the county grew, so did its Extension programs, and Sanderlin remained a critical component of that growth.

-A. Latham

Posted by Art at 01:37 PM

September 11, 2006

'Summer Salsa Sizzle' held in Guilford

Guilford County held its first-ever cultural awareness event called the "Summer Salsa Sizzle" on Tuesday, August 26. The event helped create fun and provide educational opportunities to unite the culturally diverse communities, in this case the Latino community.

Developing a sense of friendship and trust is important to this audience before they will work with structured organizations, and this event went a long way towards this goal.

The Guilford County Cooperative Extension staff and colleagues from the Center for New North Carolinians at UNC-Greensboro hosted the event. With this partnership, these groups hope to continue reaching the diverse audience of Guilford County.

Tours of the Extension gardens, which were coordinated by the Guilford Master Gardeners, took place with an overview at the Latin vegetable demonstration and our tropical plants collection.

In the kitchen, a salsa cooking demonstration was held. Members of the community and the Extension advisory board helped to judge a homemade salsa contest.

Youth activities were also popular, with hands-on crafts and games created with help from the Americorps Volunteers and the Guilford 4-H staff. The Spanish 101 class was also popular.

A Spanish-language interpreter was provided for all activities. To top off the evening, local musical and dance groups performed while participants mingled, and vendors sold ethnic foods.

Mary Holderness emailed in, "What great fun! A wonderful blend of diversity of people and activities brought four friends to this Extension event, and they were amazed and delighted."

Posted by Natalie at 03:04 PM

August 24, 2006

Extension center construction to start

Elizabeth Poyner Sanderlin, who turns 102 next month, has spent much of her long life devoted to helping her community.

Now, as a tribute to Sanderlin's many years of devoted public service, the auditorium of the new $6.6 million Currituck Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service building will be named in her honor.

On Friday, Aug. 11, nearly 100 Extension employees and residents joined Sanderlin and county officials in celebrating the groundbreaking of the new Extension Center next to Central Elementary School in Maple.

Read more from The Daily Advance.

Posted by Suzanne at 03:48 PM

August 22, 2006

Crossing Over: NC LOT tours Mexico

Faced with an unprecedented boom in potential clients due to continuing waves of immigrants, especially from Mexico and Central America, North Carolina Cooperative Extension is gearing up to better serve Latino and other underserved clients. A recent fact-finding mission to Mexico has provided some valuable perspective and insight for the effort.

Read more in Perspectives

Posted by Art at 10:16 AM

July 19, 2006

EDEN helps communities cope with disaster

Ah yes, it's the beginning of summer in the U.S. -- which means that, so far in 2006, sections of the Northeast have already experienced major flooding, the Midwest and South have coped with tornadoes, parched portions of the West and Southwest are struggling with another year of miniscule rainfall, and the Gulf Coast is casting a wary eye at what may be another active hurricane season.

In short, Mother Nature can be a real trip.

But USDA is assisting in a program designed to help reduce the impact of disasters at the community level. It's called "EDEN"--or "Extension Disaster Education Network."

Read more from USDA News

Posted by Natalie at 08:24 AM

June 16, 2006

Survey to gauge Extension's response to Latinos

Due to the burgeoning Latino population in the state, Cooperative Cooperative Extension’s Latino Initiative has developed a quick survey to gauge how we are doing and where we should go as a state in serving this population. In order to get a complete picture of how we can best serve North Carolinians, we would like to gather this information from all agents and county Extension directors in North Carolina (we will aggregate data per county and report this back to you).

The survey asks 15 questions and should take less than three to five minutes to complete. Personal information will be coded and will remain confidential. Please follow the following link to the survey or paste it in your browser.

http://ceres.cals.ncsu.edu/surveybuilder/Form.cfm?testID=2526

Posted by Natalie at 08:08 AM

April 17, 2006

EDEN provides West Nile Virus site

With all the news related to avian influenza, the Extension Disaster Educaton Network urges Extension professionals to remember the efforts being made to combat West Nile Virus (WNV). As a human health concern, it only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to transfer the disease.

Thanks to Kim Cassel – EDEN's point of contact for South Dakota State University – EDEN now has a complete Issue page on WNV: www.eden.lsu.edu/wnv. This is an informative page that provides an overview of the virus and answers the following questions:

* How many kinds of mosquitoes are in the United States?
* Why do mosquitoes bite?
* What disease-causing microorganisms can mosquitoes transmit?
* What is the most effective way to prevent mosquito bites and control mosquitoes at home?

A number of helpful and informative resources are accessible through this page, including a report titled "Public Health Confronts the Mosquito: Developing Sustainable State and Local Mosquito Control Programs."

As the summer season approaches and mosquitoes once again become the seasonal obstacle, this page may prove a valuable resource for Extension professionals.

Posted by Natalie at 08:02 AM

January 04, 2006

Franklin equine group assists hurricane victims

The Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee last month sent two $500 checks to Hancock County, Mississippi, to assist two Gulf Coast horse owner families affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The committee raised the donations at its 2nd Annual Educational Trail Ride in November at Double D Equestrian Center near Louisburg.

The North Carolina Cooperative Extension staff in Franklin County worked with the Cooperative Extension center in Hancock County, also known as “Ground 0” County, to locate two families who needed assistance.

One family had 33 horses. Seven survived the hurricane, but three later died. Nine are still unaccounted for. This family has Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers to “call home.”

The other family had six horses, and four perished in the storm. They also lost part of their barn, and their home was destroyed. Through the Extension Service, the families thanked the Franklin County group, saying, “you don't know what blessings we have received through this donation,” especially before Christmas.

Members of the Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee are John Daniels, Thomas Cofield, Karen Becerra, Irene Ayscue, Diane Hays, Don McKnight, Wilbert Perry, Yevette Rothgery and Henry Shearin. The advisor to the group is Martha Mobley, agricultural Extension agent, Franklin County. For more information on the Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee, call 919.496.3344.

Posted by Natalie at 09:06 AM

December 16, 2005

Extension greets Honduran students

For the third consecutive year, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has hosted senior students from the National Agricultural University of Honduras (Universidad Nacional de Agricultura or UNA) in Catacamas at agricultural sites in North Carolina.

In October, 35 Honduran agriculture students, including the university rector and several faculty, learned about our state’s agriculture from a variety of College-related sources.

After greetings by Dean Johnny Wynne and an on-campus orientation by Dr. Larry Nelson, assistant dean for international programs and International Programs Advisory Committee director, and Dr. George Naderman, associate Extension professor emeritus in soil science, the group visited the State Farmers’ Market hosted by Monica Wood, marketing specialist with the N.C .Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The next day, they discussed 4-H programs with Dr. Ed Maxa, associate professor and department Extension leader for 4-H youth and development, and Gina Garcia-Somuk, 4-H youth development Hispanic outreach director. Leadership development is of particular interest to the administration of UNA.

At the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab, Mark Rice, assistant director, National Center for Manure and Animal Waste Management, hosted their visit to the Waste Management Center and Dennis DeLong, Extension aquaculture specialist, discussed operations at the Fish Farm. Nearby, they visited air quality research facilities.

Denise Finney, Paul Mueller and Jean-Marie Luginbuhl did the honors at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems near Goldsboro and Sam Uzzell, Cooperative Extension ag agent for Pitt County, showed them around the Davenport Farms with Charles Davenport being their host. These sites were the high-points of their North Carolina visit according to the UNA students.

The next day, the group visited NCDACS’s agronomic labs, ending the day with a joint meeting and a hot dog and hamburger cookout with Jefferson Scholars on the University Student Center patio. The Jefferson Scholars enjoyed practicing their Spanish with the guests (although most of them carried their dictionaries). The following day they took in the State Fair.

-A. Latham

Posted by Art at 02:30 PM

December 15, 2005

Posada event demonstrates Cooperative Extension's cross-cultural outreach

Although they’re a long way from their original homes, Hispanic/Latino workers and their families in remote Tyrrell County have felt welcome for several years, thanks to North Carolina Cooperative Extension.

Since 1996, Dee Voliva Furlough, family and consumer sciences agent for N.C. Cooperative Extension in Tyrrell County, with a little help from the Latino community, has done her best to ensure that.

She’s seen results especially since 1999, when she helped form the 24-member Extension Hispanic/Latino advisory committee. Rosa Hernandez, now a year-round Columbia resident and a committee member, was especially helpful, Furlough said recently.

And since 2001, townspeople see a small part of those outreach efforts during the year’s-end holiday season, when Furlough helps her Latino clients reenact an historic Mexican cultural tradition.

La Posada (originally las posadas) is a procession – a large group of singers follows Mary and Joseph, who repeatedly are turned away from “inns” – in this case, local homes and businesses along Main Street -- until they finally find room; in this case, at Columbia High School. At each stop, enactors inside and outside the inn sing choruses to each other in Spanish and English, and children score treats that rival Halloween’s. The mile-long procession, which was featured in Coastwatch magazine, ends at the cafeteria with a fiesta of traditional food, upbeat music and games, complete with two piñatas.

This year’s procession included more than 100 people, many of whom would no doubt later shop in Columbia’s business district’s stores. More than 200, most of them Latinos, attended the fiesta.

Rhett White, Columbia town manager, helped dish out tamales and other Latino food during the fiesta.

Said White: “Cooperative Extension has always played a strong role in Tyrell County’s community and governmental affairs, so their involvement with the Latino community is nothing new.

“But without the efforts of Dee and the Extension staff,” he said, “the posada wouldn’t be the important part it is of our holiday activities. Extension deserves credit for their outreach to the growing Hispanic community in this town and in the county.”

The posada is not the only Latino-oriented project Furlough and the Extension staff have undertaken, and their successes didn’t happen overnight.

Furlough had to patiently build up her contacts with the Latino community. First, she staged educational displays in Spanish on the apartment building grounds in Columbia where many Hispanic women live. The demonstrations included nutritious food samples and interpreters on hand to answer question on topics from health and nutrition, parenting and housing to stress management.

As Furlough met more Latino women, the demonstrations progressed into more specific educational outreach projects, including creation of an advisory council.

“Extension in Tyrrell County and the advisory council have worked over the years as advocates for and sources of research-based information for area Hispanics,” Furlough said. The council, under Extension’s auspices, has initiated programs and outreach efforts based on local Hispanic residents’ expressed needs.

These include:

(Through a Cooperative Extension community development grant)
·Free Spanish classes for Tyrrell County employees and others.
·Spanish/English medical dictionaries for the Columbia Medical Center, the local Health Department and ambulances
·Spanish/English dictionaries for local businesses and county offices
·Rosetta Stone software (which teaches both Spanish and English) for the public library
·Sewing machine repair for Hispanics (and others) to use these machines at the Family Resource Center
·Translation/interpretation services

(Through community donations)
·Personal hygiene kits for incoming Hispanic seafood workers (a few kits were bought and distributed before a Chowan Baptist Ladies Association donation)
·Donation of educational videos regarding domestic violence in the Hispanic culture to the local women's shelter
·Accoutrements for a county-wide forum on Hispanic affairs, with guest speaker Dr. Nolo Martinez, former Governor's Director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs
·Bienvenido – Welcome – to Tyrrell County event. Speakers from the Council, as well as other community spokespeople welcome new workers. Refreshments, displays and educational materials available with interests of the entire family. Participants receive Food Lion gift cards. This has been done for the past two years

Extension-provided services:

·Needs survey of the Hispanic community
·Beginner and Advanced ESL classes taught through Beaufort Community College at the library (initiated through Extension and the council)
·Twice-weekly exercise classes at the Extension Office
·Health education classes taught by the county health department and Chowan Hospital
·Distribution of a Spanish/English newsletter focusing on such topics as health, nutrition, parenting, financial management and more
·Drivers education classes taught by Beaufort Community College
·Availability of a variety of Extension pamphlets in Spanish
·Donation of Spanish books and magazine subscriptions to the public library, which granted the council space for Spanish language material.
·Spanish displays and information at various community and health fairs

“We look forward to continued outreach in this area, and welcome additional resources and services for Hispanics from other sources,” she said.

Are such cross-cultural communication efforts difficult?

“If it can be done here in Tyrrell County,” Furlough said, “it can be done anywhere.”

-A. Latham

Posted by Suzanne at 11:00 AM

December 07, 2005

Extension helps with Eastern N.C. agri-cultural trail

North Carolina Cooperative Extension personnel and state Arts Council officials have introduced another in a growing number of Web sites in the HomegrownHandmade.com Agri-Cultural trails series.

These Web pages, part of a Golden LEAF-funded project to boost the rural economies of many formerly tobacco-dependent North Carolina counties, promote Internet-accessible, do-it-yourself car tour guides along once-anonymous country roads to ag and cultural sites, as well as helping farmers find new ways to market value-added agriculture-related products and services. The trails provide visitors with activities such as festivals, "pick your own" farms and art galleries, always combining the arts with agriculture.

The newest trail, unveiled in October at kickoff ceremonies before about 30 attendees at the Maritime Museum in Beaufort, is called “Coastal Treasure Chest.” It includes possible tourist destinations in Pamlico, Craven and Carteret counties. Membership listings on the trail page are free if participants meet stated conditions.

Coastal Treasure Chest is the eighth in a series that eventually will encompass 77 of the state's 100 counties, says Ed Emory, Cooperative Extension director for Duplin County and a force behind the steadily growing agri-cultural tourism business in Eastern North Carolina.

“Similar trails are being developed in the Eastern Piedmont, along the Interstate 95 corridor and the ‘heartland’ areas,” says Emory.

Cooperative Extension has been instrumental in developing agricultural tourism in our state. Agri-cultural tourism, an aspect of heritage tourism, promotes preserving cultural, natural and historic uniqueness, protecting resources through stewardship and sustainable use and promoting North Carolina as a top tourist destination.

“The demand for programming and technical assistance for new and existing agricultural tourism enterprises has been overwhelming,” Emory says.

In addition to media and museum representatives, joining Emory were county Extension directors Bill Ellers, Pamlico; Tom Glasgow, Craven; and Ray Harris, Carteret. Also attending were Regenia Bell, family and consumer sciences agent, Carteret; Barry Nash, N.C. State Seafood Lab and N.C. Sea Grant; and Lin Nichols, agri-cultural tourism secretary, Duplin.

Also present were local historic attraction personnel, such as Patricia Suggs, Beaufort Historic Site executive director and several business owners who had just joined or were intending to sign on for the trail.

-A. Latham

Posted by Natalie at 02:12 PM

October 04, 2005

Take bold steps to address Latino immigrant needs, expert advises

North Carolina Cooperative Extension “must be bold” in meeting the needs of its ever-growing Latino constituency, the state’s former Hispanic/Latino Affairs director told a group of Extension personnel at a recent three-day training session at the Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh.

“Extension is practiced in this kind of work, and is the best showcase for democracy we have,” Dr. Nolo Martinez said to 49 agents and specialists from around the state at the Creating an Understanding of the Latino Community Conference. “Extension is the gatekeeper, but some agents are like the Border Patrol, protecting the extreme positions. We need to act as bridges, not protectors.”

The N.C. Cooperative Extension Service’s internal reporting system indicates 23 of our state’s 100 counties engaged in some sort of Latino/Hispanic programming in 2004.

These numbers do not necessarily reflect all ongoing programs, however.

For instance, Extension and the Migrant Education Program partner with Ashe County schools to identify and serve migrant families. And in 2003-2004, there were 46 MEP sites in more than 40 counties statewide.

“Extension could start as it has in other states,” Martinez said, “first with bicultural, Spanish-speaking volunteers, then by hiring Spanish-speaking paraprofessionals.” Martinez, a former Extension specialist, is now assistant director of outreach and research at the Center for New North Carolinians at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and teaches classes at UNC-G and North Carolina State University.

Another speaker, discussing the wave of Latino immigration into our state, specifically from Mexico, said Extension needs to make up for lost time.

While NAFTA was implemented 11 years ago, U.S. Census data indicates that the Mexican immigration wave started more than 30 years ago, said Dr. Jim Johnston, Kenan Distinguished Professor in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Business School.

Rogelio Valencia, Hispanic ombudsman for the state Health and Human Services Department, pointed to an on-the-ground challenge of the sort Extension might be able to address.

“In Mexico, the custom is to leave the kids at home while the parents work,” he said. “Here, Social Services will come and take them.”

Said Dr. Wanda Sykes, Extension Southeast District Director and one of the training’s organizers: “Cultural differences, perceived or not, and the apparent lack of understanding of the Hispanic/Latino culture and identification of specific needs has created a challenge for Extension faculty.

“Cooperative Extension employees have a tremendous opportunity to program for this new and expanding audience,” she said.

Also speaking, in chronological order:

• Dr. Jon Ort, assistant vice chancellor and associate dean and director, N.C. Cooperative Extension


• Millie Ravenel and Melissa Edwards, Center for International Understanding.


• Sharon Rowland, Cooperative Extension Service executive director of development


• Axel Lluch, Governor’s Office for Hispanic/Latino Affairs director


• Ed Emory, Duplin County Extension director


• Nancy W. de Burrola, Department of International Studies, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico


• Clinton McRae, Hoke County Extension director


• Dee Furlough, family and consumer sciences agent, Tyrell County


• Damian Kelleher, 4-H program associate, Migrant Education Program, Ashe County


• Emilio Paredo, assistant professor, sociology, Duke University


• Yasmin Wurts Metvier, president, Panoltia


• Craven Hudson, Moore County Extension director


• Dr. Joe Zublena, Extension associate director and director of county operations

The conference was sponsored by the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service and the Center for International Understanding.

-- Art Latham

Posted by Art at 10:58 AM

September 12, 2005

Extension participates in National Preparedness Month

Dr. Ed Jones, North Carolina Cooperative Extension associate director, appeared recently with Extension's disaster exhibit in downtown Raleigh. Extension participated in a National Preparedness Month education event, which included participants from public and private agencies involved in disaster planning and recovery. The event took place on Centennial Mall, across from the legislative building.

The event took place just as the devastation from Hurricane Katrina was unfolding in the Gulf states, so citizens had much on their minds. Jones represents Cooperative Extension on the state's Emergency Management Team.

Other organizations participating in the event inluded the State Animal Response Team, National Guard, Citizens Corps, N.C. Community Emergency Response Team, Medical Reserve Corps, N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, N.C. Division of Emergency Management, National Weather Service, N.C. Division of Environmental Health, Amateur Radio, Center for Mission Persons, State Highway Patrol, N.C. Division of Crime Control and Public Safety and the American Red Cross.

Posted by Natalie at 02:09 PM

August 29, 2005

Latino initiative is focus of training

The Latino Initiative, a three-day training program with Cooperative Extension and the Center for International Understanding, will be offered in Raleigh Sept. 19-21. This program, offered to 60 Extension employees, will provide advanced training in working with the Latino population and a fresh approach to immigrant integration.

North Carolina has the fastest growing Latino population of any state, and most of the state’s newest residents are from Mexico. The Latino Initiative provides Extension employees with resources and information to create practical solutions for successfully incorporating immigrants into their communities. A CRD grant has been secured to pay for lodging and some meals. The training is open to agents, program assistants and associates, as well as Extension specialists.

Information about the training is available through Extension’s Learning Management System on the Web, http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/xlms/. Questions may be directed to Craven Hudson at craven_hudson@ncsu.edu.

Posted by Natalie at 08:30 AM

July 07, 2005

Operation Brighter Day nets 4,600 assistance applications

RALEIGH – Gov. Mike Easley has announced that more than 4,600 applications for individual assistance were filed as part of the Operation Brighter Day hurricane recovery program. The program began taking applications on April 22 and concluded on June 17.

Hurricane victims were encouraged to submit one application to cover all available individual assistance programs at Recovery Application Centers (RACs), which were located in North Carolina Cooperative Extension centers in each of the 50 disaster-declared counties covered by the Hurricane Recovery Act of 2005.

“We worked hard to reach storm victims and let them know that we were prepared to help with uninsured losses,” Easley said. “We will work to review applications as quickly as possible and get qualified applicants the funds they need to recover.”

A total of 4,627 applications were filed at RACs or by calling the Governor’s Hurricane Recovery Bilingual Hotline. The hotline closed June 30, and RACs are no longer taking applications.

Since April 22, a total of 2,221 requests were filed for housing damage, 1,372 for damage to private driveways and bridges, and 1,040 for agricultural loss.

Applications will be reviewed and claims verified during the next several weeks. The receipt of aid dollars for those who qualify should begin in mid- to late-August and probably not be complete for 18 months to two years.

For a county-by-county breakdown of the number and type of applications filed, visit www.OperationBrighterDay.org, look under "Press Releases" and select "Weekly Individual Assistance Report by Program" for June 24.

--Press release courtesy of the North Carolina Governor's Office

Posted by Natalie at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2005

Southern Fare

"Hushpuppies, Pimento Cheese and Sweet Tea" is the name of North Carolina's newest "agri-cultural tourism trail." It's part of the Golden LEAF-funded HomegrownHandmade project, a partnership of North Carolina Cooperative Extension, the state Arts Council and HandMade in America designed to boost rural economies. Read more in the Daily Dispatch article.

Posted by deeshore at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2005

Library gets grant to create 4-H and home demonstration history site

The NCSU Libraries' Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) recently won a grant to create a resource-based research and educational Web site entitled "'Green ‘N’ Growing': The History of Home Demonstration and 4-H Youth Development in North Carolina." The goal is to enable teaching, learning, and research by providing access to primary resource materials. Read more in the NCSU Libraries News story.

Posted by deeshore at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)