Family and Community Wellness, 2025 Q2

Katelyn Jespersen, Extension Agent, B.S. MLS, M.A. Ed.
Katelyn.Jespersen@ndsu.edu

The past few months have been especially busy between hosting programs, attending trainings, and prepping for our county fair! In April, Blanche and I co-hosted a Powerful Tools for Caregivers program virtually that served participants from across the western half of the state. This program has proven extremely helpful to those who are caring for loved ones also learn how to take care of themselves throughout the stages of caregiving. Also in April, Kelly and I co-hosted a Stop the Bleed program in Williston. We plan to continue hosting this training periodically as there remains a need for more people to be trained to handle severe bleeding in our rural areas. During the West Farm Safety Camp, I taught Stop the Bleed sessions to the youth as well as First Aid sessions that covered packing first aid kits and basics uses of each item. As the school year wrapped up, I was able to host six Babysitter Trainings, getting 68 youth trained in babysitter basics, child development, and first aid/CPR/choking.

Aside from hosting programs, I remained busy with professional development and fair prep. In April, I attended the Extension Spring Conference in Fargo where I was able to collaborate with other agents and learn about programming updates. In addition to the conference, I attended a couple of trainings to further enhance the learning opportunities.

These trainings included a two-day deep dive into the book “Crucial Conversations,” which had great insight into handling difficult or high-stake conversations with plenty of take away information; and a one-day Farm Safety Training, which included skid steer and tractor driving courses at the Bobcat center in Bismarck. From mid to late June our office was in full Fair mode working on celebrating all our 4-H members’ achievements for the year.