I was at the Marshall County 4H Fair this year with the Augmented Reality Sandbox. I know a lot of people got to see it in action and were blown away. I’m a little like a proud parent taking a child out in public, however, I can’t really take credit for how great it is. I just copied what someone else had done and followed the instructions, but I’m proud to be able to offer such a cool educational tool to Marshall County.
I was surprised my first year on the job to find there were no Soil and Water entries at the fair, so I set out to change that. It has taken three years, but I was finally able to partner with Marshall County Extension Educator, Kelsey Sajdera, and Plymouth Parks Department Day Camp to make a soils presentation to generate interest in this division and it worked. Seeing all the Soil & Water entries this year was especially gratifying, and I hope to see more next year.
In my time as District Coordinator for SWCD I have visited several classrooms, science fairs and field days. It was fun when the kids recognized me at the fair and would exclaim “Hey, you came to my class!” or “Hey, weren’t you at the Museum?” I think that means I made an impression. I love to quiz them on the lesson I presented to see if they remember anything
I talked to a lot of people who stopped by to see the sandbox and was surprised by the number of people from neighboring counties. They told me they come because our county keeps the focus on the kids and their projects. What a great compliment. Congratulations and thank you to Marshall County Purdue Extension 4H, volunteers, kids and parents for another great fair.
More information on Marshall County Soil and Water Conservation District can be found at www.marshallcountyswcd.org or on Facebook.
By Debbie Palmer
