{"id":2039,"date":"2026-07-30T15:39:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T22:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:39:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T22:39:22","slug":"osu-extension-intern-shares-highlights-from-a-summer-of-4-h-and-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2026\/07\/30\/osu-extension-intern-shares-highlights-from-a-summer-of-4-h-and-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"OSU Extension intern shares highlights from a summer of 4-H and STEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello again!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My name is Madeline Breiling, and I am now in my last full week as the 4-H intern for OSU Extension in Umatilla County. Throughout my internship this summer, I have had the chance to\u00a0assist\u00a0with and take the lead on a wide variety of projects across Umatilla County. Before this summer, I had little involvement with 4-H, and\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been so impressed by the sportsmanship,\u00a0enthusiasm\u00a0and dedication the youth have\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0throughout\u00a0all of\u00a0the 4-H events\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0assisted\u00a0with.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"\"\n
Students attending the Milton-Freewater YMCA summer camp submerge their designed boats to see how many pennies their boats can hold. Photo: Madeline Breiling<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

This summer, I have had the opportunity to\u00a0assist\u00a0with Umatilla County\u2019s \u201cPre-Fair\u201d contests, including Fashion Revue, Public Speaking,\u00a0Cooking\u00a0and the 4-H Dog Show. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time at each of these events. Since I have less experience with the livestock and home economics side of 4-H, it was exciting to learn by watching the contests, illustrated talks and demonstrations, as well as talking with competitors, 4-H Ambassadors, superintendents,\u00a0volunteers\u00a0and judges. In a time when so many people are glued to their devices, it was refreshing to see young people so passionate and knowledgeable about sewing, cooking, caring for\u00a0livestock\u00a0and confidently sharing their skills and interests with others.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"\"\n
Madeline Brieling snaps a photo of the students at the Milton-Freewater YMCA summer camp experimenting with STEM boat designs. Photo: Madeline Breiling<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

My\u00a0main focus\u00a0this summer has been\u00a0providing\u00a0hands-on STEM opportunities to nontraditional 4-H audiences. Earlier in my internship, I taught STEM lessons at the YMCA after-school program in Milton-Freewater\u00a0and at the Hermiston summer school. More recently, I led activities at Camp Cloverbud, where campers planted pumpkin seeds during a horticulture lesson and built straw rockets as part of a science activity. Throughout\u00a0much of the\u00a0summer, I have also been teaching STEM lessons for the YMCA summer camp in Milton-Freewater. Campers explored many different areas of STEM through hands-on activities, from creating and investigating<\/span>\u00a0M<\/span>\u00f6<\/span>bius<\/span>\u00a0strips as part of a mathematics activity to working in teams to design and build boats capable of holding as many pennies as possible without sinking during an engineering lesson. One of the most rewarding parts of my internship has been seeing students collaborate, test their\u00a0ideas\u00a0and improve their designs as well as gain more confidence and excitement about doing STEM activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

This summer has flown by, and I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I have had with 4-H and OSU Extension this summer.\u00a0My experiences over the past few months have allowed me to connect with and learn from the community while strengthening my skills and confidence in developing\u00a0STEM\u00a0curriculum and teaching. This internship has reinforced my passion for STEM education and community outreach, and I will carry these experiences with me as I begin teaching calculus as part of my master\u2019s program this fall. I would like to thank Shevon Hatcher, Courtney Waliser, Jaime\u00a0Chambers\u00a0and\u00a0all of\u00a0the other Umatilla County OSU Extension employees who have made this summer so enjoyable. Thank you for your mentorship,\u00a0encouragement\u00a0and support throughout the summer.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello again!\u00a0 My name is Madeline Breiling, and I am now in my last full week as the 4-H intern for OSU Extension in Umatilla County. Throughout my internship this summer, I have had the chance to\u00a0assist\u00a0with and take the lead on a wide variety of projects across Umatilla County. Before this summer, I had… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14884,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,140,8],"tags":[171],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4-h","category-stem","category-umatilla-county","tag-madeline-breiling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14884"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2049,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/2049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}