Hello, my name is Theo Sandoz, and I am excited to be back for my  second year as an intern with Oregon State University Extension Service in Wasco County.  I am a student at OSU studying nuclear engineering.  Returning to the Wasco office feels like I never left, and the office is still as busy as ever.  I am working alongside Keon Kiser who is also a returning intern for Wasco County.  Our biggest project for the summer is planning and helping to facilitate S.T.E.M. day camps in Wasco County.  There are other projects, especially those involving our county fair, that I am also very keen on doing.

First and foremost, we have our summer camps.  So far, I have helped put on many day camps, including Aerodrone Academy, Galactic Quest and Renewables.  The Areodrone camp had our campers learning how to program and fly small drones.  Throughout this two-day camp we challenged all the campers to fly through and around obstacles and land on specific landing pads while directly controlling the drone and while the drone moved autonomously.

Another great camp that we put on is called Galactic Quest.  The curriculum for this camp comes directly from national 4-H and was a blast.  The campers made telescopes and cypher wheels and we played a lot of the Astro Adventure board game (Think Catan Spacefarers).

The most recent camp was our Renewables camp.  In this two-day camp we spent the first day learning all about solar energy and then everyone built a small solar car and got to take it home.  The second day was all about wind energy.  With a few model turbines and some box fans we were able to turn the classroom into a wind tunnel and teach kids about turbine blade design and its effect on the power that wind turbines produce.  The camps are incredibly fulfilling to put on as many of the campers get very invested in what we are teaching and bring their wild imagination to these fun events.

As August is fast approaching it is time to begin prepping for the Wasco County Fair and  Rodeo.  The Wasco County Fair runs Aug. 17-20 this year.  This is my first year since 2012 that I have not participated in 4-H as a member.  I still want to be as helpful as possible for those that are in 4-H and help put on an absolutely rocking fair and continue to do so for years to come.  Because of my position as an intern, I have unique access to planning and operating certain events at the fair.  I am most excited to work with Leah Lowe, Wasco County Extension 4-H program coordinator, on a new Livestock and Poultry Skill-a-Thon for the 2023 Fair.  This is something that we started hosting last year and we plan to expand on last year’s vision and make the Skill-a-Thon a fully fledged event that can continue to be something 4-H members in Wasco County look forward to in years to come.

For the next month there are many more projects and camps that I cannot wait to tackle!