Madeline Breiling « OSU Extension Internship Program

Hello again!

My name is Madeline Breiling, and I am now in my last week as a SNAP-Ed intern. Throughout my internship this summer, I have had the opportunity to assist and take the lead on many projects throughout Umatilla County. Reflecting on the work I’ve done this summer and in my past summers working with OSU Extension, I am very grateful that I’ve been exposed to the wide variety of outreach, engagement and support that OSU Extension brings to our communities in Umatilla County. Before applying for this internship three years ago, I had never heard of OSU Extension and now I tell everyone I know to get in contact with their local extension office.

Two people wearing food hero shirts running a table labeled food hero serving salsa. — Gage Meagher and Madeline Breiling at the Milton Freewater Farmers Market. Photo- Mars Alderson

This summer, I have had the opportunity to hand out free food samples and Food Hero recipes at both the Pendleton Farmers Market and the Milton Freewater Farmers Market. I’ve had a Food Hero table at both of these markets for the last two years, so I was excited to be back again this year. It has been fun to match recipes to the local fruits and vegetables that people can buy at the market. It has also been nice to develop more of a relationship with the local farmers and use their produce in our samples. At the Pendleton market, we also started a scavenger hunt where kids find stuffed fruits and vegetables that are hidden in different market booths. This is a lot of fun for the kids and an easy way to encourage families to stop at all of the booths and talk to the local farmers.

I also have had the opportunity to help teach the Growing Healthy Kids curriculum at the Hermiston summer schools and the Kids in the Kitchen curriculum in Athena. Over the last seven weeks of both classes, it has been really rewarding to see the kids gain more confidence in their cooking skills and become more adventurous eaters. Students come back each week to tell us how they have been cooking with their families at home. This week is the last week of our Growing Healthy Kids classes, and we get to take the students on a field trip to the community garden in Hermiston. They get to meet with some of the Master Gardeners and learn more about how to grow some of the fruits and vegetables that they’ve been cooking with. For the last week of the Kids in the Kitchen classes, they get to cook an entire three-course meal.

Kids sitting around a table learning about food by a girl in a Food Hero shirt — Madeline Breiling teaching the Growing Healthy Kids curriculum at the Hermiston summer school. Photo- Carolina Muniz.pdf

Last year, I handed out Food Hero food samples, recipes and information at the Pendleton food pantry and I’m glad I had the opportunity to do that again this year. In addition to the Pendleton food pantry, this year I also handed out information to the Blue Mountain Community College food pantry in Pendleton. It’s fun to figure out what Food Hero recipes can be made using the ingredients that the food pantries have excess of and to encourage people to take the ingredients.

This summer has truly flown by, and I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve had through OSU Extension. I want to thank Shevon Hatcher, Carolina Muniz, Karen Wagner and all of the other Umatilla County OSU Extension employees who have made my last three summers enjoyable and educational.

Hi everyone!

My name is Madeline Breiling, and this is my third year as a SNAP-Ed intern in Umatilla County. I
just finished my third year at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, where I study
mathematics, astronomy and data science. I am very excited to be back in my hometown of
Pendleton, working with the OSU Extension office to serve the community.

Students of the *Kids in the Kitchen* class in Athena work at preparing tasty cauliflower patties. Photo: Madeline Breiling

I am now in my eighth week of my internship. So far, I have had the opportunity to work on a
wide variety of projects. I have been assisting with a workout class called Strong People
designed for older adults in Pendleton. This class is very different from the rest of the work I
have done in previous years of this internship because the class is exercise-based rather than
food-based, like many of our other classes. I really enjoyed helping with the class and seeing
that SNAP-Ed isn’t just about food and nutrition. In my previous years of the internship, I have
mainly worked with the elementary school age group, so I have been excited to interact with
and serve the older adults in my community.

I have also been able to help with our new Kids in the Kitchen class with middle schoolers in
Athena. This is my first time helping with a longer-term class with the middle school age group,
and it has been a lot of fun to see their cooking skills develop each week. We try to allow them
to make as many of their own choices in the recipe as possible. This is fun because it allows
them to begin to learn how to actually cook rather than just learning how to follow recipes.
I have also had the opportunity to continue projects from the previous years of my internship,
including handing out free food samples and recipes at the Pendleton and Milton Freewater
farmers markets, and helping to teach nutrition and cooking classes to kindergarteners at the
Hermiston summer schools.

As the summer progresses, I am very excited to continue with all of these projects and start
some new ones.

My name is Madeline Breiling and I’m now in my last week of my OSU Extension summer internship in Umatilla County. This summer has gone by so quickly with so many learning opportunities and fun events. I can’t believe my internship is almost over. Throughout the summer, I have had the opportunity to plan and assist with many projects. I was able to continue many of the projects I started and enjoyed last year, as well as start many new and exciting projects for this summer.

Interns Madeline Breiling (left) and Ashley Treadwell (right) in Umatilla county at the Pendleton farmers market. Photo: Carolina Muniz

At the very beginning of my internship, I got to assist with Extension’s table at the Morrow County Children’s Fair in Boardman. We did a food sampling of two different recipes that are healthier alternatives to common afterschool snacks. We also helped children plant radish seeds to start their very own garden. This was a great opportunity to jump straight into community engagement in the first couple of days of my internship.

Throughout my internship, I have had the wonderful opportunity to assist with many classes being taught all over the county by the Umatilla County SNAP-Ed team. I got to assist with smoothie making and seed planting with the Head Start kids at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. This was a very unique opportunity because this is the only event or class I’ve had the opportunity to do with preschool age children.

I also had the opportunity to assist with the Hydromania camp in Hermiston. Master Gardeners and researchers from the Extension office in Hermiston led an insect class. Then the SNAP-Ed team led a smoothie making class using the blender bike. This got the kids at the Hydromania camp very excited about healthy eating and physical activity.

Last summer, I handed out free food samples and educated the public about Food Hero at the Pendleton Farmers Market and the Milton-Freewater Farmers Market. This summer, I had the opportunity to expand that project by also handing out samples and educating the public about Food Hero at the Athena Farmers Market. I also got to assist with the Hermiston Farmers Market. I’ve always loved attending farmers markets and last summer I really enjoyed having a Food Hero table at the farmers market, so I am very excited I had the opportunity to continue and expand that project.

The project I am the proudest of is my work with St. Mary’s Outreach in Pendleton this summer. I got to hand out free food samples to everyone getting food from the food bank and educate them on Food Hero. I also gave the food bank many Food Hero resources to hand out to the public even when an OSU representative can’t be present. This included Food Hero tortilla recipes to tape to the bags of masa, Food Hero instructions for how to cook dried beans that are now included in every box of food the food bank hands out, and instructions for how to safely cook food in the microwave to give to members of the public who don’t have access to a stove or oven. I felt this project was very fulfilling because I felt that some of these community members would really benefit from having Food Hero resources. I also felt that my work has a more lasting impact because St. Mary’s Outreach continues to hand out the Food Hero resources I left with them to everyone who comes to get food.

Overall, I feel very proud of my work with OSU Extension this summer. I was able to take the lead on a variety of projects as well as assist team members with projects they were working on. I want to thank Shevon Hatcher for being the best person to share an office space with and for knowing the answer to any question you could think to ask, Carolina Muniz for supporting me in my projects and Karen Wagner for introducing new ideas to the Umatilla County SNAP-Ed team.

Hello everyone!

My name is Madeline Breiling and I am interning with Oregon State University Extension Service in Umatilla County with SNAP-Ed. I just finished my second year at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, majoring in mathematics. I grew up in Umatilla County and I also served as an OSU Extension intern last summer, so I am excited to be back and helping in the community again this summer.

Madeline Breiling poses with chips and dip at Food Hero event — Madeline Breiling with chips and dip at Food Hero event. Photo:Mike Jones

I am in the seventh week of my internship and I am excited to share some of what I have accomplished so far. Since I was also an intern last summer, I had some familiarity with SNAP-Ed and the Food Hero program. Last summer I really enjoyed getting to hand out free food samples and educate the public on healthy eating and the Food Hero program at the Pendleton Farmers Market and at the Milton Freewater Farmers Market. This summer I am excited because I have had the opportunity to hand out free food samples of our Food Hero recipes and educate the public on the Food Hero program at the Pendleton and Milton Freewater Farmers Markets once again, but I have also been able to expand my scope and be at the Athena and Hermiston Farmers Markets as well.

Early in my internship, I had the opportunity to have a Food Hero table at the Children’s Fair in Boardman. I was able to give many children and families fun ideas for healthier alternatives to the snacks they usually eat. I also had the opportunity to join the Farm to School Program at Athena-Weston School District’s Family Night where we made salsa using ingredients from the school garden. This was a great opportunity for the students and their families to see that food doesn’t just come from the grocery store.

As I quickly approach the final weeks of my internship, I am excited to continue working on the many projects I am already working on as well as begin to do more with St Mary’s Outreach in Pendleton. I am very excited to be back in Umatilla County with Extension and to see what other opportunities the rest of the summer will bring!

I’m now in my last full week of my OSU Extension internship. This summer has flown by with so many fun events and learning experiences. I can’t believe my internship is almost finished. Throughout this summer, I have had the opportunity to help with and plan many projects. I got to assist with a Farm to School Camp. I got to help teach kids about healthy eating, gardening and making some Food Hero recipes. I started this project right at the beginning of my internship and it taught me a lot about Food Hero and the vast range of topics SNAP-Ed covers.

Four women in orange shirts that say Food Hero stand in front of tall sunflowers. — Pendleton and Hermiston’s SNAP-Ed team (from left to
right) Maria-Ximena Williams, Madeline Breiling, Karsynn Olivas and Carolina Muniz.
Photo credit: Karen Wagner

I have also had the opportunity to help with teaching the Growing Healthy Kids curriculum in the Hermiston Library. This project was run by the Hermiston SNAP-Ed team, but I was very excited to be able to assist in the class. This class was unique compared to the other events I participated in because it was usually the same families every week. This meant we could start to develop a relationship with these families and see them grow and get more comfortable with the class.

I’ve also had the opportunity to hand out free food samples and educate the public about Food Hero at both the Pendleton Farmers Market and the Milton-Freewater farmers market. I’ve always loved attending the Pendleton farmers market, so getting to hand out free food samples was a very fun experience. I got to choose the recipes, make the food, make handouts of the recipe and hand out the food samples to the public.

The project that I’m the proudest of is handing out free food samples at the summer meal site in Pendleton. For this project I picked all the recipes, made all of the handouts and handed out the food samples by myself. I decided to do an around-the-world theme for the food samples for the month of July. I wanted to show that you can edit and combine Food Hero recipes to make dishes from all over the world, and I wanted to introduce people to flavors and new recipes. I also wanted to show people that you can make interesting meals while on a budget. I love cooking and creating recipes, so I really loved this project.

Overall, I feel so proud of all my work with OSU Extension this summer. I was able to help and take the lead on such a variety of projects. I want to give a huge thank you to Shevon Hatcher for knowing the answer to every single question I could ever think of; Maria-Ximena Williams for letting me take the lead on projects while also always being there to support me; and Carolina Muniz for including me in some of Hermiston’s projects.

-Madeline Breiling

A woman stands in a booth with small plastic cups of food for sampling. — Madeline Breiling representing the Food Hero program at the farmers’ market.
Photo credit Heidi Van Kirk

My name is Madeline Breiling and I’m an OSU Extension SNAP-Ed intern in Umatilla County. I just finished my first year at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, majoring in Mathematics. I grew up in Umatilla County and am excited to be back and helping in the community this summer!

A woman directs three young children as they ride a bicycle powered food blender. — Teaching kids using a bicycle powered blender.
Photo credit Karen Wagner.

I had never heard of OSU Extension before applying for this internship, but I am very excited to join the Extension internship team. So far in my internship, I’ve had the opportunity to assist with Athena’s Farm to School program and hand out samples at the farmers market.

I look forward to continuing both projects and starting a Food Hero table at the summer meal site in Pendleton.

Cooking and gardening have always been hobbies of mine, so I am excited to be able to continue these passions as a job this summer. I enjoy community engagement and volunteered at an afterschool program in Charleston last year, so I look forward to continuing to help in the community.

OSU Extension Internship Program

Tag Archives: Madeline Breiling

Empowering kids and communities through food and fun

OSU Extension intern engages all ages in healthy living

OSU Extension intern involved in outreach at food pantry in Pendleton

Educating the public about Food Hero

Proud of my work with OSU Extension this summer

Hello everyone!

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