Tillamook County « OSU Extension Internship Program

Hello again, from the Oregon State University Extension in Tillamook County 4-H Intern, Alli Dixson. There are only about two weeks left of my internship and it still feels like it just began. Somehow it has already been two months of hard and fulfilling work (and a healthy dose of chaos).

Campfire skits at wild west camp. Photo: Alli Dixson

To be quite frank with you, I have barely been in the office at all in the past two weeks. And I will hardly be in the office at all in the next two weeks. However, this is not due to any lack of work, tasks, jobs, or anything of the sort. I have been taking my work on the road! Much of this internship has had me working at different events and locations across the western part of the state.

My trips include:

Summer Conference at OSU in Corvallis
Wild West Camp at The Oregon 4-H Center in Salem
Swine Judge at Columbia County Fair in St. Helens (outside of work but still awesome!)

Coming up very soon (like starting this week) the majority of my time will be spent at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds.

As I mentioned above, I attended Wild West Camp at the 4-H Center, where I served as the assistant director. Wild West Camp is a 4-H camp for kids ages 9-13. Campers participate in a wide variety of activities and lessons such as arts and crafts, fishing, equitation, archery, environmental sciences, leadership/relationship skill building, etc. We also have a very strong team of youth leaders that run cabins, manage campers, lead activities, and many other things. My role at camp was somewhat all encompassing. One moment I would be applying a bandage or ice pack to a small wound, the next I was helping youth tie-dye, not a moment later I would be consoling campers and cabin leaders alike on their concerns or issues. I fielded a wide range of questions, conversations, and intense feelings from youth about their camp experience. This was a great experience for my personal and professional development and I am happy to have been “Gator” (my camp name) to another year’s worth of campers.

We are very quickly approaching the Tillamook County Fair. It begins on August 7th, but for me and others in my office it has already been underway for weeks. We have been hard at work preparing for the fair and organizing events leading up to fair week.

My personal tasks for fair preparation and during fair week include:

Creating recognition posters for horse fair, fashion revue, and foods and presentation contest
Social media posts for:
- Fair Schedules
- Member/Leader Awards
- Event Spotlights
- Recognition posts
- Fashion Revue
- Foods and Presentation Contest
Creating materials for and running the Livestock Quiz Bowl
Creating the awards script and slide show
Finding and managing a photographer
Running Master Showmanship

Additionally, I serve as one of the two “Swine Superintendents”, meaning that I am largely responsible for the happenings of the barn and the running of all swine shows.

Needless to say, I am absolutely swamped with all things county fair, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I absolutely love fair and enjoy the chaos that it brings to my life. On top of all of the fair activities I am preparing to move to the Corvallis area immediately following the county fair so that I can begin my master’s program at OSU.

Hello, my name is Alli Dixson. I am writing from the Oregon State University Extension office in Tillamook County, where I intern with the Tillamook County 4-H program.

Allison Dixon with dairy cows in Tillamook County

I grew up in Tillamook, Oregon, and graduated from Tillamook High School in 2021. During my time in the community, I was actively involved in 4-H and FFA. After high school, I moved to Bozeman, Montana, to pursue a degree at Montana State University. In just three years, I graduated from Montana State with a bachelor of animal science, concentrating in livestock management and industry. While at Montana State University, I participated in numerous student organizations, including Collegiate Stockgrowers, Collegiate FFA, Collegiate 4-H, and Sigma Alpha (a professional agricultural sorority). I also gained professional experience in various fields, such as veterinary medicine at a large animal veterinary clinic, early childhood education at a daycare, animal nutrition at a feed store, and extension experience at both the Montana State 4-H Center and the Tillamook County 4-H program.

After my internship with OSU this summer, I will attend Oregon State University in the fall to pursue a Master’s in Agricultural Education. Following my graduate degree, I hope to work in extension, ideally focusing on livestock.

I am about two months into my internship and have been very busy so far. My main priority has been organizing an animal science clinic, which will cover various topics related to livestock projects and industries. The clinic will address dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, rabbits and poultry. Topics include daily care and management of animals, fair preparation, showmanship, consumer/producer relationships, marketing, selection and evaluation of livestock and basic livestock nutrition. This event will take place on July 13 at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds and is open to all youth ages 9-19.

This project has involved many skills, including planning, budgeting, cold calling, and scheduling among other things. I have communicated with industry professionals across the western United States to find facilitators for the clinic. Whether or not these experts have agreed to facilitate, I have been met with positivity and have formed new professional relationships, which I am very grateful for, as networking is always important.

In addition to the clinic planning and preparation, I have been working on other projects. I have created resources for the animal science quiz bowl at our County Fair, helped with Cloverbud day camps, attended 4-H Summer Conference as a county chaperone, assisted with preparations for camp and fair, and led workshops and training for youth members.

I am looking forward to the upcoming events and the rest of my internship, which will allow me to grow as a young professional.

Hi, my name is Sofie Carlson, and welcome to my first blog post! I grew up in Vermont and went to school at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. I graduated this past May with a degree in environmental studies and economics and now I am spending the summer as the natural resources intern for the Lincoln County Extension office. This is just the second time I have ever been out West and I am really enjoying my time here.

A woman stands in a grassy area, holding a bag and a box. — At Gibson Farms in Siletz, collecting blueberries and blackberries to be sent to the lab in Corvallis for testing.
Photo credit: Sofie Carlson

It is now Week 5 of my internship, so I am about halfway through – time is flying. As the natural resources intern, I have mainly been working with my supervisor, Evie Smith, the Small Farms and Master Gardener coordinator in Lincoln County. However, I am working in several other branches of Extension, including Sea Grant, SNAP-Ed, Agriculture and 4-H.

Here are some of the projects I am in the midst of:

– I am assisting in the composition of the monthly newsletters that Evie sends out: Small Farms TLC Newsletter, which provides relevant information for small farms and ranches in Tillamook, Lincoln and Clatsop counties, and LC Master Gardener’s Newsletter, which contains information and expertise to help our Master Gardeners (and any other readers) meet local challenges. I have never put together a newsletter before, so it has definitely been a learning process, but luckily, I have a great mentor to show me the ropes.

– I am in the process of redesigning and distributing an updated brochure for Lincoln County Local Foods that will deliver information on all of the producers in Lincoln County that are doing farm direct sales. Farm direct sales are when the farmers sell directly to you, without a middleman, by methods such as farm stands, CSAs, and dock sales. The brochure lists which farms sell at the four local farmers markets in our county, what they sell, how to contact them and when the markets are held. Last weekend I joined our FCH/SNAP-Ed Program Coordinator, Beatriz Botello, in her Cooking Matters Tour at the Newport Farmers Market, which inform people how they can use their SNAP benefits at the farmers market. It was an educational opportunity for families to learn how to budget, compare prices and shop locally.

A woman in overalls rakes through a compost pile. — Juntos en el Jardín: Moving compost at the community garden.
Photo credit: Michael Christy

– I am collecting blueberries and blackberries at Gibson Farms as part of a larger ongoing research project that monitors a pest called spotted wing drosophila. This is a weekly task that I look forward to because I get to be outside, chat with Farmer Alan, and eat a ton of freshly picked blueberries.

– I am also assisting in the maintenance of a project called Juntos en el Jardin, which is a community garden located at the Newport Fairgrounds and this week I will be joining Angee Doerr, Sea Grant marine fisheries educator, to run her annual Shop at the Dock program, teaching families about Newport’s commercial fisheries through a tour of the port. This program is a unique opportunity to meet the fishermen and boats that we buy our seafood from. It will be running for five weeks on Fridays.

So far, this position has been valuable, rewarding and fun. It has been a great way for me to explore several future career paths while gaining new knowledge and experience. I have enjoyed working for Extension and feel very lucky to be living with family in Oregon. I am looking forward to continuing working on the projects I’ve started, making new connections, and taking advantage of my time here until I head back East. I am very thankful for this opportunity. Catch you on the next blog post!

Hi, I am Perla Gutierrez, and I am on my last two weeks of my summer internship in Tillamook County. I have been a part of a lot of different projects with Open Campus/Juntos throughout this summer, including June Dairy Parade, Family Nights and Juntos Afuera. The whole summer I was working closely with high school Spanish-speaking students and their families, providing a safe environment with activities across Tillamook County. 

Perla Gutierrez (standing) leads an activity with students.

The Juntos Afuera summer program for high school students included teaching them how to garden, go hiking on several trails, exploring sea life, learning about ancient plants, and kayaking, which was all the students’ favorite, including mine. Each week was focused on something different so I had a different activity that I had to lead, including painting, nature journaling and games to get to know everyone. On the days in which there was no camp, I was preparing for the following week with all the activities and creating the lesson plan for how the day would go. Sometimes that included buying some things at the store to be ready or planning our lesson plans several times until they were perfect. While leading each day in camp I got to know each student and create a bond with all of them. 

We also created events for the whole family to enjoy a day of learning and having fun with other families in the county. One was at Hydrangea Ranch in Tillamook County, where everyone was welcome. We had live music, food, games and some activities involving what we have done in Juntos Afuera this summer. In about a week, we have our second Family Day on the beach. There will be live music and entertainment, with the main event being an Ocean Blessing Ceremony. The planning behind each Family Night/Day is hard because we try to provide helpful resources for the families but also have to accommodate everyone involved in these events. We are about a week away from our event and we are still figuring out some logistics for this day to be perfect. Family Nights are created to show families that there are resources and people that want to help each student reach their goals, and that they can still celebrate and be proud of their culture. 

A group of 13 people hold potted plants — Showing off healthy plants and decorated pots at Juntos Afuera.

With my internship coming to an end, I have my final projects I am helping with, one of those is a STEM Camp. This camp is for incoming eighth-graders, in which will be working in an area I am not familiar with so it will be a learning experience. This internship has been an amazing and challenging opportunity, working with students close to my age, learning how to create a fun environment for them but also remember what we want them to get out of the whole program. I know I have had to think about certain topics in a different mindset which I know will influence my decisions in the future and I am grateful for everything this experience has taught me.

Hey everyone!

My life recently has been a whirlwind of activities. Two weeks ago, I attended the 4-H Wild West camp in Salem. The following week we moved straight into Tillamook County’s 4-H horse fair and fashion revue. And this week I’m down at the Coos County Fair. Once I get back it is crunch time for the Tillamook County Fair. And once that is complete my internship will be ending.

Attending the Wild West camp as a staff member was a completely new experience for me. I say this because I was never able to go to camp as a 4-H’er even though it was something I had always wanted to be involved in. It was fun to see the interactions between counselors and campers from an outside perspective.

Some other new experiences for me were the horse fair and fashion revue. I loved getting to see and experience new sides and aspects of 4-H. It is great to see members who are so passionate about their projects.

This week I will be in Myrtle Point for the Coos County Fair for yet another new experience. I have never been able to attend another county fair other than my own. I am excited to see the differences and similarities between them and learn the ways different counties put on a fair.

Life won’t slow down after that though. Next week, there will be only two weeks until the Tillamook County fair will be fully underway. This is the most stressful part of the year but also by far my absolute favorite. I cannot wait to be surrounded by kids putting in hard work and seeing how they have learned and grown over the past year. Seeing the fruition of all of their efforts from the past few months is incredible and I am excited to see how fair works from a staff perspective rather than as a member and exhibitor.

Following fair is the end of my internship and the time for me to return to Montana and continue my education. So, with that I bid farewell to all of you and all of these amazing experiences that this internship has brought me.

Hello! I am Perla Gutierrez and I am so excited to have this opportunity for the summer. I just finished my first year at University of Idaho, but I am originally from Tillamook County where I am interning this summer. I am a first-generation Latina college student, so getting this internship with Nat Macías, Open Campus and Juntos coordinator, is a huge opportunity for me to help me achieve my goals. I am working with the Juntos Afuera program this summer. I started participating in the Juntos program when I was in the sixth grade, and now I am back as a student leader.

I am almost halfway through the internship, and my main project has been planning and leading activities in Juntos Afuera. Juntos Afuera is an outdoor program for Spanish-speaking high school students to learn about and celebrate Latinx culture, while providing leadership development skills that grow an active group of Latinx explorers and stewards. The program starts by participating in the June Dairy parade. This was the second year we participated. Last year I was a student and this year I got to see a different perspective as a leader. It was strange because there is so much hard work put into one single event that I did not see as a student.

Juntos Afuera participated in the 2022 June Dairy Parade in Tillamook.

At the same time, we were doing the last small details for the summer program. There were a lot of challenges where we had to come up with a quick solution and make it happen in time. That showed me the stressful side of leading a program but then seeing the final results and seeing how the students react makes it all worth it.

Within this program, high school students get a chance to do outdoor activities. So far, we have been planting in school gardens, going on hikes around the county, and next we will be kayaking. It has been so much fun, and I am getting to know new places and new experiences.

I have also been able to know what happens behind closed doors … having all the permits, food, transportation, and so much more. I am majoring in interior architecture so a lot of what I am doing does not specifically relate to my major, but I am learning a lot of life skills. In this internship my main responsibilities are leading activities throughout the week such as nature journaling, taking pictures and videos and composing social media posts, and keeping all registration forms up to date. I have also had the opportunity to do things like writing a set of interview questions we will ask students when we film them or deciding the best art supplies that will help them be successful throughout the summer. I am sure there will be more surprises as the summer continues to unfold.

So far, I have had amazing time and am excited for the rest of summer.

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.

Magenta dahlias in the Tillamook Master Gardeners demonstration garden. Photo by Chloe Hull.

Hey everyone!

This is my last blog post for my internship. I am appreciative of this internship for the experiences that I have had. It has been super exciting to see the projects I have been working on wrap up. For example, some of the projects included presenting to the Tillamook County Extension staff, finishing a water resources guide, and tabling at the county fair.

Although most of my internship was done remotely, I drove to Tillamook a couple times to work and meet some folks in person. It was refreshing to spend time there and actually get to work in person. I helped with a couple of summer camps and went on a few industry tours, learning more about the community. I at a table at the Tillamook County Fair, talking about soil horizons and showing off the soil samples that I collected from around Tillamook. Not too many people showed up, but those that did were interested in talking to me to learn more about what I was doing. At the fair, I also got to hang out in the Extension Master Gardener demonstration garden, which looks gorgeous despite them not being able to spend a ton of time working there due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The North Coast food producer listserv that I helped create and manage has been up and running for over a month. This listserv shares resources with small food producers of the North Coast and will generally be a network that folks will hopefully utilize more in the future. Overall, this project helped me to grow my confidence in email communications with a broad audience. The few responses that I received from the listserv have been overwhelmingly positive as folks respond to ask me questions or make comments. We have also had partner organizations contact us to send out resources, which is exciting because it means that we are beginning to be recognized in some parts of the community. I am looking forward to watching the listserv grow and change now that it has gotten started and since my internship will be ending.

Bott’s Marsh is a restoration project managed by the Lower Nehalem Community Trust. Photo by Chloe Hull

My big project for this summer was writing a water resources guide for landowners. I spent a lot of time researching and reaching out to organizations on the North Coast to try and get the most up-to-date, accurate information available. You can read it here. In addition to learning how to professionally reach out for information and feedback, I also strengthened my time-management skills throughout the summer. I am excited to share this resource out that I have been working on all summer.

Overall, I am grateful to have had this opportunity to be a Tillamook Extension intern. Getting to know the staff in the office and the community has been a great learning experience. I look forward to taking the skills that I learned and applying them to my career and education moving forward.

Hi again! As my summer internship at the OSU Extension office in Tillamook County comes to an end, I’ve had time to learn and grow. Getting to experience a job working for Extension has shown me how broad the areas that Extension covers are. Working to serve the community also taught me different skills and helped me meet my summer learning objectives.

My two biggest objectives were to improve my communication skills and increase my career awareness. With the different assignments I had – writing social media blurbs, sending emails, speaking with families at community events, and leading activities for the Juntos Afuera camp – I have been able to improve my communication skills in multiple ways. By observing different members of the office and meeting health workers in the community I was also able to get career awareness and learn the importance of the roles in extension. 

Kilchis Point Reserve in Tillamook County. Photo by Crystal Hernandez.

A different skill that I wasn’t expecting to learn was the ability to adapt. Having so many factors that could change made it important to be flexible in order to get tasks done. During my internship, this came into play with our second planned family night for Juntos Afuera. It was created with the help of the Tillamook County Community Health Center to create a space where Spanish-speaking families could come together to enjoy food and music with the option to get a COVID-19 vaccine. With cases rising due to the delta variant, the event had to be changed to a drive-through where families still got to enjoy food, music and have the opportunity to get vaccinated from the comfort of their cars. We decided to adapt instead of canceling because providing families with information and vaccines is important.

Extension serves its community and this internship taught me the value of connecting with people. The events that were created were possible because of the collective help of multiple people, not just the work of one. 

Hueca Omeyocan, a group that performs traditional Aztec dances.

Hi there, Crystal Hernandez here with an update from the Tillamook County Extension office. As I progress further into my summer internship, I’ve had an eventful first seven weeks. With Juntos Afuera, family nights, and my career exploration opportunities I have been able to see just how much Extension impacts our community. 

Extension seeks to inform, educate and connect individuals, and that is exactly what I have been able to do as a part of Juntos. We started the Juntos program this summer with Juntos Afuera, a camp that introduces Latinx high school students to recreational activities and informs them about the Latinx culture. So far, we have been kayaking and bird-watching, and we were part of the annual Tillamook County June Dairy Parade the first week of my internship. Apart from that we also had our first in-person family night at Hydrangea Ranch where Hueca Omeyocan, a group that performs traditional Aztec dances taught the families the historical importance that these dances hold in their culture. During this family night I was also able to speak with different families where they shared their interest in the Juntos program. 

Crystal Hernandez shows Juntos Afuera campers how to make a nutritional trail mix.

During Juntos Afuera I’ve had a leading role where I taught the campers about xempasuchil flowers, Aztec deities and got to explore my interest in health by introducing them to a first aid and showing them how to make a nutritional trail mix. Leading these activities was a challenge but as I kept doing them, I slowly got more comfortable speaking to the group of campers and noticed how they are all slowly opening up to each other as well. 

I was once a member of Juntos but now that I am at the other side of it, I get to see how much effort and logistics an event like family night requires. Having to look for food, location, entertainment, preparing decorations and advertising is not as easy as it sounds. Making all of the pieces come together has required organizational skills and communication between everyone in the team.

Part of my internship also gave me the opportunity to explore different careers in the health field. I was able to interview different people in the health field that have been helpful as I get closer to my start date at OSU. 

As I am quickly getting through my summer internship, I am looking forward to the next family night that is currently being planned and getting to help the campers with their Latinx identity projects that they will present to the Tillamook County Commissioners.

OSU Extension Internship Program

Tag Archives: Tillamook County

Oregon State Extension intern looking forward to becoming graduate student

Tillamook alum serves Extension in home county

Exploring all that Extension has to offer

Internship will end with STEM Camp, Juntos Afuera Family Night

It’s a whirlwind of activity in Tillamook County

Planning and leading activities for Juntos Afuera summer program

Action-packed beginning to my internship in Tillamook County

Completion of North Coast water resources guide capped my internship

Internship helped improve my communication skills and ability to adapt

Helping lead the Tillamook Juntos Afuera camp is both challenging and rewarding

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