Clinton County Extension
County Courthouse, 100 E. State St
St. Johns, Michigan 48879-2347 /
P: 989-224-5240 F: 989-224-5244
/ E-mail:Web:
January 2008
MSUE Assists in Building
Community Capacity
County MSU Extension staff members are often called upon to assist organizations, non-profits and governmental units in conducting strategic planning sessions, facilitating potentially contentious community issues and providing assistance and guidance in new organizational development.The Clinton County MSU Extension office played a key role in the development and subsequent creation of the Clinton County Economic Alliance (CCEA). Two years in the making, the organization recently hired its first President/CEO and has secured office space in DeWitt Township. Extension staff members facilitated the organizational meetings leading to CCEA’s founding.
CYF educator Theresa Silm recently facilitated a strategic planning session with the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce, while county Extension director Dave Ivan facilitated similar sessions for the Clinton County Arts Council and the New Era Committee – a newly formed group dedicated to enhancing and coordinating cultural, recreational and youth assets in St. Johns.
At the request of a local citizen group, MSUE staffers also assisted in facilitating discussions between the city of St. Johns and surrounding Bingham Township on a potential retail waste-water treatment agreement.
While the Extension staff members often purposely assume a “behind the scenes” role in these capacity-building activities, the results are very visibly stronger communities.
For more information: Dave Ivan
989-224-5296 / Work of Heart serves
underserved audience
Clinton County MSU Extension continues to partner with the Clinton County Department of Human Services to provide an innovative support program for foster and adopted children and the families who care for them.
The program, “A Work of Heart,” offers parent education, support groups and respite to enable parents to provide safe, nurturing and healthy environments for the children in their care. It also provides educational, supportive and recreational programs for children, programs for children in foster care and those who have been adopted out of foster care.
“A Work of Heart” is unique to Clinton County. It was created and implemented by a group of human service providers, including staff from MSU Extension, who recognized unmet needs in the existing support system for foster and adoptive families in Clinton County.
By potentially reducing multiple foster care placements, the program can limit expenses for training and maintaining new foster homes and can lead to more stable, nurturing environments for children in the foster care system.
Contact: Chloe Silm
Work of Heart Program Coordinator
989-224-5548
/ Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facingcommunities. Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming. MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of
commissioners,the state through Michigan State University and federally through the US
Department of Agriculture. /
Mentoring opportunities growing for Clinton County young people
Studies have shown that children benefit from long-term, one-on-one contacts with mentors. Whether adults or teens, positive mentoring relationships can help youngsters develop positive self image that they can carry to adulthood.
In Clinton County, AmeriCorp member Christine Sisung has launched a new youth mentoring program to recruit, train and support adult and teen mentors in building positive relationships with youths, including serving participants of the 4-H HABIT, Key Mentoring and a Work of Heart programs.
4-H HABIT is a local program aimed at providing a positive vehicle to empower at-risk youths through modeling and teaching skills needed to make positive life choices. Sisung is working with third through fifth graders in the Bath, Fowler and St. Johns schools to match them with mentors who will assist them in building sound decision making skills.
In a new mentoring opportunity at Gateway North Elementary School in St. Johns, Sisung is connecting teen and adult mentors with students in a weekly after-school program. Group activities focus on fitness, team building, character education, bullying prevention and community service.
In a separate activity, a partnership with the Work of Heart program (see page 1 article) connects mentors with foster care children in first through fourth grades. Once mentors are trained and established for this age group, additional mentors will be recruited to work with teens that will be transitioning out of foster care.
The Clinton County youth mentoring initiative is just one part of a comprehensive set of educational programs designed to help youth succeed.
Contact: Corissa Harris or Christine Sisun
989-224-5227
MSU Extension partners to help local families enjoy FRESH food
MSU Extension Family Nutrition Program instructor Roxanne Harrington provides nutrition education to low-income families through Project FRESH, the farm market nutrition education program.
Project FRESH is a collaborative effort between the Michigan Department of Agriculture, the Mid-Michigan District Health Department and Clinton County MSU Extension. / Project FRESH provides USDA Women, Infants and Children (WIC)-eligible families with education about healthy nutrition, including eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Participants receive $20 in coupons that they can use to purchase locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables at local farmers’ markets.
Harrington has found that 84 percent of those who received coupons redeemed them during the 2007 growing season, an increase of 8 percent over 2006.
Contact: Roxanne Harrington, FNP Nutrition Instructor
989-224-5238 or
MSU soybean program aims to help farmers increase yields
Overcoming the barriers to higher soybean yields was the topic of a Jan. 31 workshop held at the Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath. The one-day program, sponsored by Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee and MSU Extension, drew nearly 300 people from 39 Michigan counties and Ontario, Canada.Michigan soybean yields have not kept pace with corn and wheat yields. The goals of this educational program were to help soybean producers identify yield limiting factors and provide the most current management practices for overcoming these barriers.
Presenters from Michigan, Ontario and Ohio all shared their expertise in soybean production and pest management practices.
Seventy-four percent of the growers who attended indicated that they would use the information that was presented to make management decisions for the 2008 growing season.
Based upon the evaluation, growers expect to save or earn an additional $15 per acre on nearly 45,000 acres, by implementing what they learned in the one-day program. That means the potential for combined savings or earnings of $675,000.
The program was part of the Soybean 2010 Project, a collaborative research, education and communication effort designed to help Michigan growers improve soybean yields and profitability.
The partners include soybean growers, MSU Extension, Project GREEEN (the plant industry initiative at MSU), the Michigan Agribusiness Association, Michigan Farm Bureau and the Michigan Soybean Promotion committee.
Contact: Marilyn Thelen
989-227-6454
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824