Amber Stewart helping clerk in the flower category at the Polk County Fair. Photo credit: Rachel Brandon
Hello! My name is Amber Stewart and I am an Oregon State University Extension Service intern in Polk County. I am currently attending Chemeketa Community College to pursue my career goal of becoming a nurse. This is my second blog post.
I got to help at Polk County’s Fair in early August. It was a busy but successful week filled with lots of good experiences with many opportunities to grow. Starting off fair week, I assisted with clerking in the 4-H art category. It was fun to see all the exhibits youth in Polk County entered. The following days I was at the front desk of the 4-H building to fulfill any responsibilities needed, some of which included directing our teen staff, setting up for 4-H events during fair and answering any questions that the public had about our 4-H fair or the 4-H program.
Amber Stewart setting up the horticulture exhibit at the Oregon State Fair. Photo credit: Rachel Brandon
At the Oregon State Fair I assisted with horticulture. I helped the judge and clerk specifically in the flower category. I also got to help set up the horticulture exhibit section. I enjoyed the information I learned about horticulture from the judge while I was a part of this section of the state fair. This was such a good experience to expand my knowledge about horticulture. It was great to be able to be more involved with the process of the state fair.
As the end of my internship program draws near, I have been able to be a part of so much with planning learning day camps, 4-H Polk County Fair and Oregon State Fair. I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have gotten to experience and the skills I got to expand, including the new ones I have learned.
Helping power the blender bike at the Hermiston Public library. Photo credit: Carolina Muniz
Hi, my name is Karsynn Olivas. Now that my summer internship is ending, I am confident going into the new school year that nutrition is a career path I want to pursue. I have learned so much working with the Oregon State University Extension program and Snap Ed that I can apply to my future. My most valuable takeaway from my summer working for this program is how to bring awareness to nutrition throughout a community. Before working here, I was always hesitant to talk about nutrition with others. Now I recognize the importance of spreading awareness about healthy habits and easy recipes. Seeing not only kids but adults getting excited to learn about nutrition brought me so much fulfillment
Not only did I learn to teach about nutrition, but I also learned so much from my partner Carolina Muniz and my supervisor Maria Ximena Williams. They both have been such amazing resources to help guide me throughout this internship. I am so grateful to have met them and been able to work with them. The connections with others I have made throughout this summer internship are ones I hope to keep.
The project I worked on this summer was dedicated to food tastings at the Hermiston summer meal sites. I attended different parks and schools to allow kids and their families to taste a new recipe I made from the Food Hero website. This was a huge success. The kids were all excited to try something new, and at the same time, it helped to promote Food Hero throughout the community.
Overall, I am extremely appreciative to have worked for The OSU Extension program and Snap Ed. This summer is one I will never forget.
Leah Lowe (upper left), Wasco County 4-H Program Coordinator, and Brandi Vance. Photo credit: Susan Coleman
Hello, this is Brandi Vance, OSU Extension intern in Wasco County. The second half of my internship was filled with preparations for fair time. What does this mean you might ask? Lots of caffeine and long days. This happened to be my favorite time, organizing all the awards, making sure our barn superintendents had what they needed as well as making sure the kids were entered correctly for their fair classes. This may sound like a lot, but I had the best team that I was assisting. My supervisor, Leah Lowe, Wasco County’s 4-H program coordinator, made sure I knew exactly where to go and what to do all while handling all her duties.
Finally, we got to fair week. The best and maybe most crazy time of year. We moved all our office supplies we would need for the week to the fairgrounds (which is actually 45 minutes away from our normal office) and proceeded to organize. Next, we had horse fair which is actually held a few days before the main fair takes place. We had a great judge who taught the kids so much during their shows. We managed to do everything from showmanship to western games all in one day. Then we ended the night with a skill-a-thon I designed and awards as well as a Mongolian barbeque one of the leaders made. After a small break, we checked in all our static exhibits. We had kids coming in all day with artwork, photography, even some sewing and cooking. We had a great turn out this year!
Wasco County 2023 Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion Belt Buckles. Photo credit: Brandi Vance
The next day it was time to get everyone settled into the fairgrounds – as settled as you can get in 106-degree weather – and have an exhibitor meeting. Every 4-H’er and leader/volunteer got a shirt, and the kids even got a bucket for the fair thanks to many great sponsors. We played minute-to-win-it games that featured one kid with a bag covered in shaving cream on their head while the other partner threw peanuts to try and get them to stick. The team with the most peanuts stuck wins. We played games at each of our night meetings to give the kids and volunteers a chance to relax after a long day of fair festivities. Not to mention the swag that the kids with good sportsmanship got each evening. The following days were filled with early mornings, market classes and even showmanship classes. The kids did absolutely phenomenal and won lots of awards and made so many improvements.
Then it happened, my last day. I ended up getting a thank you card from a member of one of our local clubs. I had so much fun and learned more than I imagined I would during the duration of my internship in Wasco County. The kids, the Extension staff, the parents/volunteers/leaders made it the best experience and I am missing it already. I already have plans to go help at fair next year!
Sophia Nowers feeding a two-day old baby goat on a recent farm tour. Photo credit: Teagan Moran
Hello, again. I’m Sophia Nowers, the summer intern for Oregon State University Extension Service’s Small Farms Program and Community Horticulture in Benton, Linn and Lane counties. It is hard to believe that I’m already in the last week of my internship. The past month has sped by in a blur of events and activities. I have tabled at the Benton County Fair, helped on Small Farms farm tours, gone to OSU field days, and worked with Master Gardeners to publicize some of their events and talks. Between writing up summaries of events for sharing on social media and in Extension publications, I have also been working on an article about the OSU Dry Farm Project and its community involvement through the Dry Farming Collaborative.
It has been fantastic to explore Extension this summer, especially as an OSU student in the College of Agricultural Sciences. I have had the opportunity to make so many connections with professors, researchers, and members of the community and it has given me a strong sense of what I might want to do in the future.
There have been so many highlights, from getting to bottle feed a two-day old baby goat to attending the Organic Grains & Pulses Field Day and several Master Gardener events. My favorite part of my internship was learning how Extension bridges the gap between communities and the university, connecting researchers with farmers and business owners, community members with resources about gardening and homeownership and farmers with each other. I am grateful for the opportunity to help publicize Small Farms Program and Community Horticulture’s events and activities.
The project that I am proudest of is my article about the OSU Dry Farm Project. For the article, I interviewed the lead researchers of the project, Lucas Nebert and Matt Davis, visited two of their dry farm sites, and in the process learned a lot about dry farming and its challenges in Oregon.
I am grateful to my supervisors, Teagan Moran and Brooke Edmunds, for their support and guidance this summer, and to everyone I met through this internship. I have greatly enjoyed exploring some of what Extension has to offer and realizing that there is so much more!
Extension Intern Keon Kiser collects soil samples at the OSU Extension Moro Station. Photo credit: Jacob Powell
Hello readers of my second and final blog post of the summer of 2023! My name is Keon Kiser and I am a third-year OSU student studying environmental engineering. During my academic endeavors I have had the great privilege of working for the Wasco County OSU Extension office the past two summers. This blog post is a good opportunity to share my experiences with OSU Extension.
This past summer I’ve worked heavily with my supervisor, Lu Seapy, coworkers Bob M. and Susan M., and a fellow OSU intern, Theo Sandoz, on 4-H STEM summer camps. We worked together on organizing a variety of camps for youth that include hiking camps along the Columbia River, VEX robotics camps, Protobots, Drones and a Makey-Makey camp. In these camps we taught basic coding languages, physics of simple circuits, local biology, notebooking, and soldering skills. The variety of technical skills taught at these camps were a good application of skills I have learned in the past. But it was also a good learning experience, because I had to reach a certain level of mastery in order to teach each skill. For example, I have previous experience programming robots and creating engineering notebooks, but I had to practice my soldering skills as I had not soldered too much in the past. I had to constantly read up on local biology in order to teach the subject during the hiking camps. Also, I was given the task to independently lead a series of VEX Robotics and hiking camps. At the VEX camps I introduced the upcoming competition and focused on having the youth practice strategy, documentation, robot design and robot building. Then, at the series of 4-H hikes, I managed a group of youth and an assistant from The Dalles Parks and Recreation office. I contacted families and instructed campers in local biology.
Blejan, Evan, Christopher, Keon Kiser, Caleb, Nolan and Porter on a 4-H hike along the Rowena Plateau overlooking the Columbia River. Photo credit: Stacey Ihrig
Aside from the 4-H STEM summer camps, I was able to work with Jacob Powell, a Sherman and Wasco County extension agent, on his wheat-crop research projects. The overall idea of the project was to study grain sizes and soil micronutrients like nitrogen and phosphate across various combinations of nitrogen levels and fertilizers to see if there were any significant differences in yield. During this time, I witnessed the importance of accounting for any possible variable that could affect the results. For example, Jacob and I did not see any real obvious differences in grain sizes across most of the treatments, which could imply that none of the treatments would be any better than another tested treatment. However, we had to take into account the weather, as it did not rain a lot over the summer. The crops probably did not have enough moisture to carry the nutrients up the wheat stocks. This was a great lesson for me as I intend to participate in a bioremediation research project back at OSU. Additionally, I was happy to see the information and results gathered and presented from the fire break trials I helped Jacob with the previous summer.
Overall, OSU Extension has provided me ample opportunity to hone technical skills (like soldering), to become a better team leader and teacher, and to experience contributing, in one way or another, in scientific research. I have had so much fun working with the youth and watching them learn and grow many new skills throughout the summer, and from year to year. Additionally, the staff at Wasco County are great people who truly live the OSU Extension mission of serving the community. Their friendliness made working fun and their focus challenged me to put forth my best effort. I would rate this experience as two thumbs up and a smiley ball 🙂. Thank you!
Johanna Simonson, 4-H summer intern, in front of her finished bulletin boards. Photo credit: Kelly Simonson
Wow, this summer has gone by fast! I feel like I shouldn’t even be writing my final blog post, but given there is only two weeks left of my internship, it makes sense.
This summer has been such an eye-opening experience. I experienced multiple facets of Extension. Right after I wrote my last blog post, I taught at a Cloverbud Day Camp at Extension’s Discovery Garden. That was enjoyable for me as well as the kids and quite a coincidence considering I was just telling my family how much I missed the kids at the daycare I worked at during school!
My next adventure was in Snap-Ed. That day I drove with a co-worker to Canyonville to set up a booth with samples of Couscous Salad and recipes to hand out at the farmer’s market. The majority of people trying out the sample loved it! A lot of people came back for more, and almost all the recipes we printed out were gone! It was a huge success. Not only that, but I got to learn more about my co-worker. Even though we were different ages, we still had many things in common, which was a delightful surprise.
Another experience I had was a “Mud and Manure” event. This may not sound like a lot of fun to some people and probably slightly disturbing. However, it was actually very educational, and I loved driving out to the farms to see some soil conservation designs around high-traffic livestock areas. I was impressed that the designs have lasted almost a decade, too. Through this event I got an idea of how I would like my job to look in the future. After the event, it wasn’t really planned to go on a farm call, but I am grateful that we did because it really helped me understand the fuller extent of what being a livestock and forage agent for Extension looks like.
Johanna Simonson making candles with 4-H. Photo credit: Kelly Simonson
After this it was time to prepare for the fair. The main events I took charge of were line dancing, candle making, and the bulletin boards in the fairgrounds’ exhibit building. After hours of planning, preparation and creation, everything was finished.
At least 30 people attended the line dancing event. Everybody learned three new dances, which is a lot considering temperatures reached 90 degrees! The candle making event went so well that we ran out of soy wax after making around 25 candles. Even though the paper to decorate the bulletin boards came late, I improvised and painted them instead. Honestly, I am glad I did because they look WAY better than paper décor would. People actually liked the bulletin boards so much they took pictures in front of them. I am very pleased with my events at the fair, even if there were some things that needed to be improved.
Overall, I would say that this internship has been a great experience. I learned more about myself, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and I strengthened my self-discipline muscle. This internship has shown me that I am stronger than I thought I was in multiple areas of my life, and I am fearful to think of where I would be without having participated in this internship. I am extremely thankful to everyone who made it happen. So long, until next time!
Grace Ogden giving her closing presentation at the Morrow County Board of Commissioners meeting on August 2, 2023. Photo credit: Julie Baker
Hello again! My name is Grace Ogden, and I am a student intern in Morrow County with the Oregon State University Extension Service. I am just about to begin my second year of school at Oklahoma State University, working towards a degree in animal science business. This summer I did a majority of my work preparing for county fair with OSU Extension 4-H in Morrow County. I have also gotten the opportunity to work with our crops specialist Larry Lutcher on a couple of projects of his this summer.
As my internship came to an end, I was able to reflect on my summer and see that I had so many opportunities and learned so much. I organized a group day-camp for our 4-H Cloverbuds and planned and facilitated lesson plans for our local daycare – teaching about the importance of seeds, and a lesson on soil horizons. I worked with judges, volunteers, donors, and families to prepare for the events of the Morrow County Fair and Livestock Auction, which also included helping plan, organize, and execute pre-fair contests.
I organized a potluck dinner for the annual South Morrow County Crop tour, updated and developed our webpage and social media platforms, created flyers, posts, and letters to send throughout our wide range of recipients and attended meetings serving as a representative for our office and county. I recently gave a presentation to the Morrow County Board of Commissioners recapping my summer with Oregon State Extension.
I worked with OSU Extension in this same office during my senior year of high school and loved the work I did so much. It was bittersweet to leave last June in order to work harvest before leaving for college, and even more bittersweet leaving the office for the second time this August due to school starting. I have been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to have Julie Baker and Larry not only as my supervisors and coworkers, but also as my friends. I have always had a passion for agriculture, specifically agricultural education, so I especially loved working in this position. I gained so much knowledge, experience, and relationships during my time in the county office, and I hope to be back very soon.
Yolanda Diaz, Kiera Briner (Chief Science Officer) and Barbara Brody (Associate professor of practice, FCH) attended the Chief Science Officer National Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Photo credit: Yolanda Diaz
My OSU Extension Internship experience has been life-changing, to say the least. It has been filled with professional development, mentorship and valuable work. My journey with Extension began as a Malheur Works intern during the first year of the program. The program strives to provide recent high school graduates with an opportunity for workforce development. MW Internship program also focuses on meeting local industry needs by fostering youth with professional skills to become equipped employees. The internship program also offers paid internships for students, enabling them to prepare for future employment or higher education.
After graduating high school, I was placed at OSU Extension Service. At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my internship, but I ended up loving it! Thankfully, I was offered an extended internship that started the following summer after my first year of college. My time with Extension has allowed me to grow professionally, and I was thrilled to return once again in the summer of 2023. I have now completed three summer internships with Extension.
Malheur Works interns and Yolanda Diaz (center). Interns participated in an activity prepared by Yolanda at Professional Development Day. Photo credit: Barbara Brody
I’m beyond grateful to say OSU Extension has provided me job security during my college career. I look forward to coming home each summer to continue meaningful work in the community. During my internships, I was able to enhance my leadership skills and take on additional roles and responsibilities each year. My overarching goal includes outreach and engagement with community partners to address needs in the community. Each summer, the needs we focus on has varied. The solutions and approaches that I’ve seen to resolve the issues Malheur County is facing have been creative and culturally sensitive. My education in social work has taught me the importance of meeting people where they are and practicing cultural empathy. I’m pleased that I have gained a broader perspective on the issues affecting my county and the effective measures taken to tackle them.
Nickie Shira (Director of Frontier STEM Hub) and Yolanda Diaz, working on youth workforce development. Photo credit: Barbara Brody
This summer, I had the chance to work with the Malheur Works Internship program. My role was to help develop additional activities and provide input during the professional development days to engage the interns and enhance their learning experience. Contributing to this program was personally meaningful to me, as I had benefited from it before, and I wanted others to have the same positive experience. Through my work with the MW program, I learned about the significance of providing workforce development opportunities in rural communities. I was pleased to hear about the positive impact the program had on each intern during the marketing and promotional events.
It’s bittersweet to realize that my time as an OSU Intern is coming to an end, as I never truly realized what a wonderful journey I had begun. Nevertheless, I’m certain that my involvement with Extension won’t come to an end after this year, as it has greatly influenced my career path. I’m grateful to my co-workers, colleagues, and supervisors who have provided me with a safe and enjoyable environment to develop my skills. Being surrounded by individuals who are passionate and supportive of the work we do every day is something that never goes unnoticed. Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to OSU Extension Service for granting me an unforgettable opportunity. My passion for Extension continues to flourish as I work towards serving Malheur County every single day.
Kids built solar powered cars at the renewable energy summer camp at Columbia Gorge Community College. Photo credit: Lu Seapy.
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!
Tayleur Baker and Supervisor, Christine Stokely enjoy working the promotional booth at the Team Beef Ranch Run in Hines, Oregon. Photo Credit: Susan Doverspike
Hello again! For those of you who may have forgotten or never received the opportunity to read my first blog post, my name is Tayleur Baker, and I am a summer intern this year at the OSU Extension office in Harney County.
Although it feels like I just started, this week, unfortunately, will be the last of my 10 weeks as an intern. As I mentioned in a prior blog post, I previously whelped manage my local 4-H program, attended the 2023 Oregon 4-H Summer Conference, worked with communications in Extension, and have also been preparing for the fair. In addition to these activities, I have been busy at work with various other adventures this past month.
Tayleur Baker poses for her senior picture at her family’s fifth generation cattle ranch. Photo Credit: Leah Planinz
Since I last posted, I have harnessed the drive to draft two event plans for my county within the 4-H program. The first plan includes details for planning and executing a Cloverbud day camp for students ages 5–8 in hopes of recruiting youth into the 4-H program. The second is a plan for the implementation of a youth advocacy workshop. I am passionate about this experience, as it reflects and relates to a good portion of what I stand for — youth empowerment, strong agriculture communities and students learning how they can change the world. Through designing these programs, I have been able to serve my community and spark a creative idea for the future. I am eager to see the harvest now that the imagination seed is growing.
Another activity that I have engaged in has been working with the foreign exchange program on finding homes for foreign exchange students. Through this experience, I have spoken on the local radio station and have communicated on both the Extension Facebook page and through local posters. One of my highlights from this initiative has been meeting one of the Japanese chaperones, Saki. Saki is kind and service minded, and I have loved meeting her. Her creative origami is stunning, and she has plans to host a class for students this week — I am so excited to watch her share this aspect of her life!
Origami gifts from Saki. Photo credit: Tayleur Baker
As mentioned earlier, this week is my last , which is bittersweet. Throughout my internship, I have learned about Extension, my community and more about myself. I have grown as an individual and have professionally developed my skills as a communicator, leader and advocate, for which I am forever grateful. My favorite part of this experience has been the ability to work with the youth in my community and serve those around me. I have learned the importance of investing in the next generation and contributing to the future of our communities. Leaving an impact is connected to what we do daily and the habits we build based on our goals. Through my internship, I learned the importance of setting goals daily and keeping the desired impact in mind as I worked during the day.
I recommend this internship to any student searching to grow their skills and professionally develop. This internship promotes the discovery of what you enjoy and encourages building a powerhouse resume through professional exposure. My advice to future interns is this: Tailor the experience to yourself, and don’t limit your imagination. I wanted to explore the realm of communications, and it was my focus through my experience in Extension. If you are curious about the research aspect, make it happen. If you are interested in elementary education, take that route. You will get out of this opportunity what you put into it, so make the most of it!
Although this chapter is ending for me, I am ecstatic about the chance to start writing a new one. In the fall, I will study at Oregon State University, majoring in agriculture and communications. I look forward to more opportunities to serve others and strive to make the world a better place. I desire to not only ignite my light, but I long to empower the spark in others to shine as well. Thank you for this experience!
