Cambria Nicole Snyder

Ashley and I's booth and game we put together for the activity night! I definitely had fun watching kids play and interact with our educational game!

In my second week with the Garrett County extension, I have provided lots of

help with our local community outreach gardens, kid’s gardening classes through the

Allegany County extension office, the Garrett County 4-H broiler project show, and after-

school kid’s activities put on by the Friendsville Elementary PTO. These community

outreach gardens have been an enjoyable time for me to connect with people

throughout our county who all have the same interest in mind; gardening. Some are

well-seasoned gardeners while others are fresh to the ideas and ways of gardening.

Our garden work days are an exceptional time for me to break out of my shy shell and

help teach inquiring minds about gardening practices and for me to also absorb new

information and techniques from our lovely master gardeners coordinators and well-

seasoned gardeners. We all have something new to learn, no matter how experienced

we may be. This week was the first kids’ gardening class held in Barton, MD. I assisted

Sarah Llewellyn (home horticulture & agriculture educator - Allegany County) As shy of

an individual as I am I never thought I could get in front of a group and help teach a

class. To my surprise, by aiding with the kid’s gardening classes I felt connected to the

kids and was comfortable taking a small group aside to teach them basic planting and

care of tomato plants. Being able to get the kids engaged and excitedly interacting with

my demonstration is the goal of these workshops. To be able to excite and captivate

their attention and spark an interest in the world of agriculture. This week I was also

able to assist with our 4-H broiler project show. 

Here is a small snippet of entries from our 4-H broiler project show. Pictured is the judge; Jill Hauser, speaking to the junior division on how she scores the birds. Great job to all exhibitors! 

This was a great learning experience for

me to learn about the raising and processing of these chickens. There were a lot of

entries and great-looking finished birds presented! Lastly to end my week Ashley

Bodkins (horticulture & master gardeners coordinator - Garrett County) and I traveled to

Friendsville’s PTO kid’s activity night. We set up a station and created a game to teach

the youth about a few butterflies they may encounter this summer in their own backyard!

I believe all the kids had a great time at this event and they really enjoyed our game of

learning about butterflies. Many students came back time and time again to keep

playing! I am coming into this internship with agricultural experiences and knowledge

that I acquired through 4-H, FFA, and by living on my family’s farm. My first job was

working at a greenhouse and produce stand. Through that work experience, I soaked in

a ton of information about growing, planting, harvesting, customer service, and

marketing greenhouse plants and fresh produce. Also, I will be a senior this fall at WVU

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design where I am majoring in

horticulture. Through my studies, I have also acquired a lot of information to further aid

in any botany-related discussions. Being a college student I am able to manage myself

based on time management and have effective communication with my coworkers and

peers. Through my time with UME, I aim to experience new things, get out of my

comfort zone a bit, and broaden my spectrum of new ideas. This summer I’ll be gaining

a lot of knowledge through UME master gardeners community teaching events, a

horticultural judging competition at the Allegany County Fair, assisting in the

construction of a high tunnel, and learning to create activities that are educational and

engaging for children. I am eager for all the hands-on learning experiences I’ll be assisting with this

 summer!

Our first weekly garden class with the kids of Barton! This was a great opportunity to work with this group and help educate agriculture to our youth. In the red polo on the right is Allegany County's home horticulture & agriculture educator; Sarah Llewellyn. In the background are their raised garden beds where the kids are learning how to grow vegetables and they will be able to have a fresh delicious harvest!

Here I am pictured with my small group where I was teaching them how to plant and care for tomatoes.