4-H « OSU Extension Internship Program

Hello again! I am Kylie Siddoway, and I am interning at the OSU Extension office in Baker County Extension this summer.

With only a few weeks left of my internship I have learned a lot and experienced more. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and to have worked with such amazing people. The Extension office and the Baker County Fairboard have been extraordinary. The last week of my internship is August 8-12 and it is also the Baker County Fair!

I have been responsible for major components of the fair such as vendors, volunteers and open class registration. I have communicated with businesses, professionals, and community members. I’ve managed the Facebook page and recorded radio advertisements. The 4-H and FFA staff have helped me to brainstorm new ideas for this year’s fair, and for future fairs. Later this week I will be training all superintendents for open class and ensuring they are prepared for the fair.

Along with all the preparation that goes into our county fair, I have had the opportunity to learn how to run and manage an office. My supervisor, Angela Robb, is an amazing teacher and has explained things to me in a way that I truly learn not only how, but why tasks are done.

This was more than a “copier and coffee” internship. It was a true professional job experience that has enhanced my skills and made me a more well-rounded and hirable employee. I truly enjoyed my internship and the people involved.

I highly recommend being involved with your county 4-H program. There is so much to be learned and so many opportunities to grow as an individual. My county is very livestock-oriented and I am myself, but there is more to 4-H than raising animals and more to Extension than many people realize!

This summer internship has had such a positive impact on me so far. My time spent working for OSU Extension in Malheur County is exciting and significant. It’s been illuminating to become aware of certain issues my county faces and how I can help meet their needs. Learning about different local partners in my county is very important to me as well because it expands my worldview.

Yolanda Diaz (left) helps with the makerspace event.

I’ve gotten to work with youth for makerspace events at summer school and with community partners. Makerspace is a program of the Frontier STEM Hub. It includes 3D printing, laser engraving, vinyl cutting for stickers, and heat-press for making T-shirts. I help students in our county by fostering their technology skills, spreading entrepreneurship awareness and expanding creativity.

The most recent makerspace event was in partnership with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization. Interacting with youth through their designs and creations was a great way to learn about their stories and cultures. The makerspace builds a career-connected learning opportunity for youth and families within our county. One thing I love about Extension in Malheur County is that it does its best to be culturally responsive in diverse and effective manners.

Another valuable event that I’ve had the opportunity to help with is a literacy walk. We had about 30 different stations where leaders implemented physical activities to get from one “page” to another. The books that we use for walk-an- read events encourage students in regards to physical activity. I highly enjoy delivering this activity to create an action-oriented experience for children. One of our upcoming walk-and-read events will be Ontario Municipal Airport where families can meet with pilots and learn about different helicopters or planes. It will be a great experience!

Children participate in the walk-and-read literacy event in Malheur County. Photo by Yolanda Diaz.

Being a leader for 4-H participants has also been an eye-opening experience. I enjoy getting to know each student individually and am always impressed by their outstanding skills and service. Chaperoning for the state 4-H Summer Conference at OSU in Corvallis was a good time for me to learn the role of an adult in a different setting and be able to create the best experience possible for 4-Hers. I can’t wait to be a chaperone (and returning alumni) for the state Chief Science Officers Leadership Institute at East Oregon University.

This internship has also taught me to set boundaries and maintain a professional relationship with students who are close to my age, which will be important for my future profession. I also have the opportunity to document and establish fun activities for the Malheur Works internship program in their professional development days. My internship has exposed me to new roles and experiences that help me become more responsible as I’m adulting.

We still have so much planned for this summer, such as county fair and summer camps. I have such an amazing supervisor in Barbara Brody and can’t wait to continue learning with her help. I’m thankful for having such a positive work environment and I thank OSU Extension for giving me this great opportunity.

Hello everyone, my name is Theo Sandoz. I just graduated The Dalles High School, and I am headed to OSU as a freshman in the fall. Through OSU Extension 4-H and FFA for the past nine years I have raised and shown beef and swine projects, done countless presentations and created enough projects to fill a treasure chest full of amazing stuff. I was told about the OSU Extension internship program through Lu Seapy, 4-H youth development STEM educator in Wasco County. Lu was my robotics coach at the time. I started about three weeks ago and decided that this summer was for me to learn a little bit about everything.

Lu, who will be supervising me this summer, and I have known each other for a long time. She has been teaching science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) camps since I was in middle school. Now it is my job to help her plan and teach these camps as well as other staff here at Wasco Extension. One of my biggest undertakings is migrant education twice a week. We are teaching four STEM classes a day to the children of migrant workers in The Dalles starting at 6 a.m. This happens on the days that our summer camps do not conflict. This week we also have the Amazing Race, Garden Art, VEX IQ Robotics and many other camps.

I have taken on this Internship on top of my job at our local movie theater and working on our farm. This summer I decided that I was going to use all my available time to work as it is the last time before I must start paying for college. The internship program really does mean a lot to me because I have grown up in 4-H and now I am able to give back to 4-H through Extension as well as participating in my last year. Everyone here at the office is amazing to work with and I am glad that I agreed to come onboard!

Hi everyone, my name is Maya. I just concluded my first year at OSU where I am in the master’s of public health program, with the health behavior and health promotion option. I will be spending my summer interning with the OSU Extension 4-H program in Lane County. As a previous 4-H member and volunteer this has been a wonderful opportunity to get involved with positive youth development

During the school year, I work with the OSU Center for Health Innovation on the OSU-OHA Surge Epi Bench, collaborating on the COVID-19 response. I am so excited to have a break from work with COVID-19 response this summer and get out to work with youth in my community.

I am passionate about expanding early childhood education programs and child and family social policy. This experience working with 4-H in Lane County has been insightful for my understanding of the importance of advocating for continued local, state and federal funding for youth programming. Reading peer-reviewed articles is one thing but working alongside the community in providing these services has served as an invaluable experience.

Lane County 4-H has been so kind as to trust me with their social media page for the duration of my internship. This opportunity to expand my experience utilizing social media for health promotion and community outreach and engagement has been highly valuable.

I cannot thank enough all of the wonderful staff at OSU Lane County Extension for being so kind and welcoming. I look forward to updating everyone on the jam-packed summer to come. Keep an eye out for us at the Lane County Fair and our upcoming summer day camps.

Go Beavs!

Hello, I am Bobbie Ann Sharp and I am excited to be spending the summer serving the OSU Extension 4-H Program at the Umatilla County office in Pendleton. I just completed my third year at the University of Idaho, where I am studying agriculture communications, science and leadership. I am from Hermiston and was involved in 4-H in Umatilla County for almost 10 years. I’m super excited to see a different side to the 4-H program I grew up in and what molded me into who I am today.

Within the 4-H program, I found my passion for helping others, animals, and agriculture. I was also involved in FFA throughout my high school career. I understand how each program differs from the other and what all you can gain from both.

This summer, I’m ready to see the behind-the-scenes work that makes 4-H in Umatilla County so great. This internship is a huge learning opportunity for me and will help me in deciding the best career path. I am also excited for all the new experiences I will get to learn and witness firsthand. I can’t wait to be a part of the effect this program has on the members.

This summer my big project is creating activities for Camp Cloverbud. I am in charge of contacting volunteers, the location, choosing activities and arranging all the materials needed for the event. I am excited to see how the event goes and how the kids react to the activities I have picked for them. Thanks for welcoming me as an intern and let’s have a great summer.

Hello everyone, my name is Celilo Brun. I grew up in the Hood River Valley where I was a part of OSU Extension 4-H for as long as I can remember, and FFA. After I graduated from high school, I moved to Joseph, Oregon, where took a year off of school to serve as the 2020-21 Oregon FFA state treasurer. As treasurer, I learned more about agriculture while helping kids find their passion in ag and FFA. I also started my own show cattle company, Hurricane Cattle Co. This allowed me to continue to fuel my passion for the livestock industry. Fun fact: I have shown cattle in over 10 states!

Celilo Brun with her steer, Henry and her heifer, Sassy.

This past school year I attended Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) where I am majoring in agriculture communications. On top of my schooling, I am on the Livestock Judging Team, Show Team, and I am the president of our Block and Bridle Club (a collegiate agriculture club). After my sophomore year at EWC I plan on transferring to a university to continue my education and livestock judging.

If you can’t tell, my passions have always been for agriculture and advocating for the future of agriculture. I believe that advocating for the future generations in agriculture is essential because they become the future leaders in agriculture. In my future I would like to be a traveling sales representative for an agriculture-related company, as well as continuing to be an agricultural advocate through seminars and leadership opportunities.

Celilo Brun took pictures at this year’s Eastern Oregon Livestock Show.

I began my internship in the OSU Extension office in Wallowa County at the beginning of June. I jumped right into planning and preparing for the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show. From there I have been helping the SNAP-Ed nutrition program by attending summer lunch programs, the Wallowa County Watershed Festival, and facilitating workshops to kiddos in the Building Healthy Families summer program. During the slower days I have been preparing for the Wallowa County Fair, Tri-County 4-H Camp, and my cattle clinic. This time of year it’s crazy in the Extension office with deadlines, fair, and various events that have been taking place!

Ever since I joined 4-H in fourth grade I thought OSU Extension has been a very positive and welcoming environment. I have attended workshops and done various projects though extension and I never once felt like I wasn’t at home. The staff are some of the hardest working people I know, and they want everyone to succeed in what they are doing. Extension agents and staff are truly superheroes.

Hello there! I am Keon Cohl Kiser, a freshly cooked college freshman going into my second year at Oregon State University. I am studying to be an environmental engineer with honors, with a hope to provide new solutions and/or sustainable alternatives for waste treatment through the study of organic decay. For me to be ready to take those steps I wanted to take an internship position to familiarize myself with the working environment and communal relationships.

I found this opportunity at the OSU Extension office in The Dalles with the Extension 4-H program, whose mission is to provide meaningful opportunities for all youths and adults to work together to create sustainable community change. I experienced a change as a high school student participating in the VEX Robotics Program, organized by Lu Seapy, 4-H STEM educator in Wasco County.

Through 4-H I was introduced into STEM and I was able to find a calling in my life to help improve the health of our planet and our communities, leading me into the engineering field. This is something that I hope I can give back to youths by introducing them to a multitude of topics like robotics and biology (as a few examples) to provide a groundwork for whatever path they are called to be on.

Not only will I build communal relationships and communication skills, I will also be put into an environment where I am charged with tasks to be done by deadlines. This opportunity provides new habits of scheduling, planning and executive decision-making, when needed.

Being at 4-H I can be a part of the lives of many people within my community, striving to enthrall youths in a variety of ways to encourage them to push themselves to grow in their future careers and as people. Similarly, I will grow with this experience communally and technically to establish the groundwork for my future.

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.

Alli Dixson (middle) helping a Cloverbud launch a bottle rocket.

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.

Alli Dixson (right) assisting at a poultry clinic.

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.

Hello!

My name is Kylie Siddoway and I am an Intern in the OSU Extension office in Baker County. I grew up in eastern Oregon on my family’s cattle ranch and I was heavily involved in Extension 4-H and FFA. I just finished my first year at Texas A&M University in College Station and came home to work at my local Extension office for the summer.

I am majoring in agricultural leadership and development and am excited to explore Extension as a potential career path. I am working with both the Baker County Fair Board and Angela Robb, the administrative office manager and local liaison in the county office. My main responsibilities are organizing the county fair, contacting vendors, helping with open show entries and overseeing our front office.

So far this summer I have had an amazing time here at the Extension office and I’ve already learned more than I could have hoped for. Angela is someone I have known for a long time and it has been nice to work with a familiar face for my first college internship. She’s been off for a few weeks and that gave me an opportunity to help manage the front office and take on additional responsibilities such as filing paperwork and working with staff to answer community members’ questions.

I have really appreciated all of the staff here for their support and kindness. It is a wonderful place to work and a great learning environment. I already know I’ve developed skills that will transfer to any career I end up in. Working at the Baker County Extension office is a great opportunity and I’m thankful to be on staff here.

Overall, I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to the remainder of my internship before heading back to Texas A&M.

Hello, my name is Cydney Stables. I am the intern for the OSU Extension Communications office, located in the Kerr Administration Building on the main Oregon State University campus in Corvallis.

Two girls are posing with a dairy cow. — Cydney Stables (right) shows a dairy cow in 4-H.

I’m from Gaston, Oregon, and I just completed my first year of college at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. I am majoring in agribusiness, communications, business administration and economics with a minor in plant and animal sciences.

I plan to pursue a master’s in agricultural communications upon completing my undergraduate work. After that, I hope to obtain a job in agricultural public relations, working as a spokesperson for the agriculture industry or as an educator for Extension.

So far, this internship has given me insight into the vast future career opportunities I may have in Extension and communications. One of the greatest experiences I have had thus far was the opportunity to tour county Extension offices across the state.

In late May, I traveled with the communications’ news and public issues team to Pendleton, where we began our tour of offices from there.

We visited with faculty and staff in the Extension offices in Umatilla, Sherman, Wasco, Hood River and Clackamas counties.

Then at the beginning of June, I went with colleagues in Extension Communications to the Extension office in Tillamook County, where we met the staff and discussed communications resources on the Extension employee intranet and media outreach. On our way back to Corvallis, we stopped at the Extension office in Yamhill County, which is one that is very familiar to me. My mom works there and I’ve helped around the office in previous summers as a volunteer.

These trips opened my eyes to the breadth and depth of what Extension truly does. Growing up a part of Extension through the Oregon 4-H program, I had no idea how many opportunities OSU Extension offers for communities. In addition, I learned first-hand from faculty and staff about their successes, challenges and failures.

Hood River Extension office research orchard

The trip was an immersive experience. Not only did I get to see Extension employees in action, but I also had the opportunity to experience the diversity in agriculture across the state.

I learned about programs of SNAP-Ed, Strong People, Master Gardeners, Open Campus, Juntos and more. All of which are great community outreach opportunities that benefit individuals in countless ways.

I want to thank all of the employees from the county offices we visited for being so welcoming and kind.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of this internship learning opportunity has in store.

OSU Extension Internship Program

Category Archives: 4-H

Internship was a meaningful professional experience

Makerspaces, walk-and-read events – it’s been an eye-opening experience

Rising at dawn to help teach STEM in Wasco County

Promoting health and working with youth in Lane County

Back in Umatilla County and ready to intern

Extension agents and staff are my superheroes

Building a brighter future for youths in my community

Action-packed beginning to my internship in Tillamook County

Having a fair-ly amazing time in Baker County

Traveling across Oregon to learn from Extension County faculty and staff

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