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Thoughts from the Director

road in fall (via Free Images)

Friends,

It’s hard to believe that we are already entering into the final quarter of 2022! This year has literally flown by. This last month in particular has been especially jam-packed with lots of events and engagements. Our FCS professionals have recently returned from their national conference where they received many accolades for the work being accomplished in Ohio. Farm Science Review celebrated its 60-year anniversary with well over 115,000 participants; and, once again, our Extension professionals were able to highlight and translate so much of the research being done here at Ohio State with more than 200 distinct educational programs and activities. Many of our support staff were able to travel to North Carolina to participate in the annual TERSSA conference and network with and learn beside many of their national counterparts. Our 4-H team kicked off a new Google partnership to continue to build the workforce of the future in technology-related careers. Many of our 4-H professionals are headed this week to NEA4-HYDP for their annual professional conference. Each of these engagements represents opportunities where we share our expertise and leave having learned much ourselves. It’s one of my absolute favorite parts of being in Extension— lifelong learning for everyone.

We will have another opportunity to both share and learn with one another at our forthcoming annual conference in December. The call for proposals has been extended through this Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 11:59 p.m. Please be sure to get your submissions in, so we can learn from you as well.

I continue to enjoy my Lean-in county tour visits. It has been one of the highlights of my year, so far. In the last few weeks, I was in Cuyahoga, Erie, Paulding, and Defiance counties. On Friday, I was visited Columbiana and Stark counties. I have enjoyed engaging with all of the staff, stakeholders, partners, and commissioners. I have been able to participate in SNAP -Ed programs, elementary school STEM initiatives, farm visits, and meet-ups with volunteers and donors, plus hear and see instances where our work is impacting real lives each and every day.

I’ve also gotten to hear about the real struggles related to the ongoing issues with COVID-19, the impact of various policies or platforms on Extension professionals, as well as ideas and opportunities for continuing to make our lives and our work easier. I look forward to keeping the conversations going.

I hope that, as we enter the fall, each of you will think about how to block some time off on your calendars each day to enjoy the beautiful fall weather, and larger blocks of time through the holidays to spend with family and friends before the rest of 2022 races by.

Stay well, Jackie