OSU Extension staff keeping busy
Educators have conducted 300 programs so far this year
Educator Morgan Domokos reports that the Ohio State University Extension Service in Medina County has touched 6,000 people this year. Photo by GLENN WOJCIAK
MEDINA – The staff at the Ohio State University Extension office in Medina has had a busy summer.
Morgan Domokos, an educator in the Medina office, recently provided Medina County commissioners with an update of what the extension staff has been up to.
So far this year, the OSU Extension has conducted more than 300 events, had more than 6,000 interactions with clients, and reached out to 1,000 families through newsletters and social media.
The OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University. It helps fulfill the land-grant university mission of educating the citizens of Ohio by interpreting knowledge developed at Ohio State and other land-grant universities.
Extension educators focus on critical economic, environmental, leadership, and youth and family issues and engage people in lifelong learning.
OSU Extension groups its programs into four major areas. The actual educational programs cut across these groupings and often stretch the conventional definition of each. Some examples include the following:
• 4-H youth development
• Agriculture and natural resources: farming, gardening, environmental resource management and protection
• Community development
• Family and consumer science
Specific programs offered here include a new parenting curriculum which is being introduced at the Medina County Jail which covers topics such as routines, stress and building resilience.
Educators in the Medina office have also become certified in mental health first aid to be able to respond to the signs of mental illness and substance abuse.
The Leadership Academy organized this year by the OSU Extension and Leadership Medina County consisted of 13 classes on government protocols and regulations and attracted 50 elected and appointed leaders.
The 4-H Development Program involved more than 1,000 youths who finished nearly 3,000 projects in various subject areas such as cooking, photography, leadership, woodworking, engineering and raising animals.
The OSU Extension offers several services to farmers. Among those are classes that enable them to be recertified to apply fertilizer and pesticides on their fields as required by state law.
Miller said one of the easiest ways to reduce expense for county government was to eliminate the subsidies commissioners are not required to pay to agencies like the OSU Extension. Other agencies that commissioners voluntarily support are the Soil and Water Conservation District, the Office for OIder Adults, and the Alcohol Drug Abuse and Mental Health Board.
Commissioners had hoped to increase the sales tax in Medina County to assure funding to those agencies as well as a host of other needs that have been raised by various department heads in county government.
Commissioners agreed July 18 that a 0.25 percent increase in the sales tax was the best solution to some tough budget issues facing county government, but a week later found they could not put the issue on the November ballot because of a technical error in the notices for public hearings on the proposed tax increase.
Now, commissioners are hoping to place the proposed sales tax increase before voters in the May primary election.
Morgan Domokos, an educator in the Medina office, recently provided Medina County commissioners with an update of what the extension staff has been up to.
So far this year, the OSU Extension has conducted more than 300 events, had more than 6,000 interactions with clients, and reached out to 1,000 families through newsletters and social media.
The OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University. It helps fulfill the land-grant university mission of educating the citizens of Ohio by interpreting knowledge developed at Ohio State and other land-grant universities.
Extension educators focus on critical economic, environmental, leadership, and youth and family issues and engage people in lifelong learning.
OSU Extension groups its programs into four major areas. The actual educational programs cut across these groupings and often stretch the conventional definition of each. Some examples include the following:
• 4-H youth development
• Agriculture and natural resources: farming, gardening, environmental resource management and protection
• Community development
• Family and consumer science
Specific programs offered here include a new parenting curriculum which is being introduced at the Medina County Jail which covers topics such as routines, stress and building resilience.
Educators in the Medina office have also become certified in mental health first aid to be able to respond to the signs of mental illness and substance abuse.
The Leadership Academy organized this year by the OSU Extension and Leadership Medina County consisted of 13 classes on government protocols and regulations and attracted 50 elected and appointed leaders.
The 4-H Development Program involved more than 1,000 youths who finished nearly 3,000 projects in various subject areas such as cooking, photography, leadership, woodworking, engineering and raising animals.
The OSU Extension offers several services to farmers. Among those are classes that enable them to be recertified to apply fertilizer and pesticides on their fields as required by state law.
Miller said one of the easiest ways to reduce expense for county government was to eliminate the subsidies commissioners are not required to pay to agencies like the OSU Extension. Other agencies that commissioners voluntarily support are the Soil and Water Conservation District, the Office for OIder Adults, and the Alcohol Drug Abuse and Mental Health Board.
Commissioners had hoped to increase the sales tax in Medina County to assure funding to those agencies as well as a host of other needs that have been raised by various department heads in county government.
Commissioners agreed July 18 that a 0.25 percent increase in the sales tax was the best solution to some tough budget issues facing county government, but a week later found they could not put the issue on the November ballot because of a technical error in the notices for public hearings on the proposed tax increase.
Now, commissioners are hoping to place the proposed sales tax increase before voters in the May primary election.