Hey everyone!

My name is Alli Dixson. I am a sophomore at Montana State University studying animal science with a concentration in livestock management and industries. Through my experiences in Oregon 4-H and FFA I found my love of agriculture and more specifically livestock. For that reason, I have chosen to come back home for the summer to work as an intern for 4-H in the OSU Extension office in Tillamook County. Through the summer I hope to get a firsthand experience of what it’s like to work in Extension along with gaining key skills that are essential to any workplace.

While I’ve only been working with Extension for a short while, I’ve definitely been busy. My first week I planned and assisted in instructing and leading a livestock clinic for 4-H members. We covered some basic information and specialty management techniques of swine, cattle, sheep and goats. The 4-H’ers learned through both a classroom setting and many hands-on activities involving feed rationing, contagious disease, animal behavior and safe injections.

The following week I moved directly into 4-H Cloverbud day camps. We had an action-packed three days of art, crafts, and science. Some of the fun learning activities included making wildflower paper, planting herbs, cloud watching, and launching bottle rockets. The kids had a great time, and I enjoyed getting to work on my teaching skills along with my ability to manage a room of kids. It was a great experience and I hope to have many more like it throughout the summer.

Just this past week I’ve attended a poultry clinic in which members learned how to show chickens, ducks, and turkeys. Throughout the week I have also been working on planning and preparing for our 4-H junior day camps for 9- to 12-year-olds. During this camp we will cover topics such as engineering, horticulture, and other stem topics. While I’ve clearly been very busy, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have enjoyed being surrounded by kids, stem, agriculture, and most importantly learning.