Tenant adds summer internship with SWCD to resume

West Holmes High School graduate Calihan Tenant should be a familiar face around Holmes County this summer as she interns with Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Tenant, who was very active in high school functions, said she is attending Ohio University and majoring in urban planning and sustainability, and a summer internship with SWCD fit nicely into her resume as she gains experience in her field.

“I had heard some really good things from past interns who have worked for SWCD. It sounded like interesting work, and it really was right up my alley,” Tenant said.

Tenant recently took on a big role in helping to prepare the event schedule and execution of the game plan for the recently completed SWCD Conservation Day Camp event at Ancestor Acres, where she could be found helping youngsters learn more about aquatic pond life.

She said she has already been doing a great deal of education work with other local programs for kids including lending a helping hand to the Ohio State University Extension of Holmes County’s Cloverbud Camp earlier this summer, as well as helping organize an amphibian program at Millersburg Elementary earlier this year.

But she said much of her internship has consisted of preparing for the conservation camp.

“This was the big one, at least for me, and it’s a pretty big event for the summer for the SWCD, so it’s been fun getting ready for it,” Tenant said.

Trevor Berger, Holmes County SWCD program administrator, said Tenant has already more than proven herself as a member of the team.

“She’s done an outstanding job, and she has proven that she is willing to do whatever she is asked to do, and she’s done it well,” Berger said.

Tenant said she has learned a great deal during her tenure about animal and plant identification and a good deal about the many aspects of farming, something she said she wasn’t familiar with but was eager to learn more about, and she has grown to better understand watersheds and their purpose.

“Being from Holmes County, these are all good things for me to learn more about because they are such an important part of our community,” Tenant said.

She said because of her success and involvement with SWCD during her internship, she is actually considering switching her major to environmental studies and sustainability, something she said she’s become quite fond of pursuing.

“I’ve had a blast,” Tenant said. “This feels very much like a family (at SWCD), and everyone there is very chill and laid back. They like to have fun at their job, and that’s exciting to see them enjoying what they do.”

She said she couldn’t recommend interning with SWCD more to those who are interested and would love to return for another summer experience.

Tenant will be a sophomore next fall at OU, but before then, she will enjoy the rest of her experience getting closer to nature and to her new family at SWCD.