Story by Mikhayla DeMott, (ACJ)
Agricultural Education
Agricultural education student and incoming senior, Alex Tuttle, is the Kansas State Research and Extension intern for Scott County. She is from Plainville, Kansas and is one of the five KSRE interns this summer.
Tuttle primarily works with 4-H youth, which includes attending the county fair, camps and small workshops, but she also has a variety of other projects on her plate. She helps with adult programming for the office and her projects, so far, have included wheat plot tours and Cattleman’s College. Tuttle’s internship calls for behind-the-scenes work as well, where she gathers supplies, creates handouts and emails parents.
She loves her job but has especially enjoyed getting involved in 4-H again. What she enjoys most about this opportunity is getting back to her roots.
“My love for agriculture was cultivated through 4-H, and it is great to get back to that,” Tuttle says.
Her biggest challenge and learning experience is being able to grasp all that an Extension agent does. Like many others, Tuttle saw Extension as primarily 4-H but she has found it goes much deeper. The relaxed and informal piece to Extension fascinates her the most. It goes beyond the detailed event planning skills and it means getting into the community to figure out the needs of the youth and their parents.
“Picking apart and preparing each individual aspect and making sure it will work for our kids is critical,” Tuttle says.
From sun up to sun down, Tuttle may have more on her mind than your average intern…she’s getting married. To add to her hectic summer, she is busy planning her wedding in August, just two weeks after her internship finishes.
Tuttle says, “It may be a little insane, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
