Hi everyone! 

My name is Madeline Breiling, and this is my fourth year working with OSU Extension in Umatilla County, but my first year serving as a 4-H intern. I recently graduated from the College of Charleston in South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, astronomy and data science. This fall, I will be returning to the College of Charleston to pursue a master’s degree in mathematics with a concentration in statistics. I am excited to be back in Pendleton for another summer serving the community through OSU Extension! 

I am now in the seventh week of my internship. This summer, my primary focus has been reaching nontraditional 4-H audiences by providing STEM education opportunities to students who may not otherwise have access to them. STEM programming is an area with significant need in Umatilla County, and I have been grateful for the opportunity to combine my passion for STEM education with community service by developing my own STEM curriculum, creating lesson plans and teaching hands-on activities.

To start my internship, I worked with the YMCA elementary after-school program in Milton-Freewater, where I taught unplugged computer science lessons. These activities focused on building foundational computational thinking skills, including following algorithms, communicating clearly and developing creative problem-solving strategies. I also taught lessons in physics and engineering that encouraged students to take the lead in the scientific process through experimentation, allowing their creativity and curiosity to guide their learning. 

Over the past two weeks, I have also been teaching an aerospace engineering unit to fourth- and fifth-grade students at Hermiston summer school. The unit concluded with students working in teams to design and build stomp rockets using paper and tape before testing them outside. After their initial launch, students developed a hypothesis about a design change that might improve their rocket’s performance, modified their rockets and launched them again to test their ideas. It was exciting to watch them apply the engineering design process while learning through experimentation. 

For the remainder of the summer, I will be leading a STEM activity at Camp Cloverbud and teaching STEM lessons for the YMCA summer camp in Milton-Freewater. I am looking forward to the opportunities still ahead. It has been incredibly rewarding to see students become excited about STEM, especially since many of them have limited opportunities to participate in hands-on STEM learning during the school year. Seeing their curiosity and confidence grow has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my internship.