UW–Madison students Abigail Kattre and Andrew Gumieny, both who are pursuing majors in the School of Education, shared about their summer internship experience through the Wisconsin Idea Internship Program in a recent UW Extension story.
The Wisconsin Idea Internship Program (WIIP) connects UW–Madison students with the Division of Extension’s programming and research efforts to explore how Extension embodies the Wisconsin Idea, the university’s guiding principle that education should benefit people’s lives beyond the classroom. WIIP is a partnership with the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement.
According to the article, “the summer 2023 cohort included 16 graduate and undergraduate students in various fields of study. Students’ projects covered a variety of topics, including natural resources mapping and stewardship, military veteran outreach, and curriculum evaluation and facilitation. Students presented their work at a final showcase event at the Pyle Center on Aug. 25.”
Gumieny is pursuing a double major in education studies and psychology, and through the summer “hiked, cleared trails, built stairs on, and mapped a 250-acre area of donated land” as a conservation intern for the Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center. He told UW Extension that “alternative teaching and learning methods, like outdoor learning, are often very effective in capturing the full attention of youth.”
Kattre, a senior who is studying in the School of Education’s Health Promotion and Health Equity (HPHE) program, “conducted customer surveys at four Central Wisconsin farmers markets with the goal of expanding EBT access. She also created materials for market managers describing what EBT is, how to use it, and how markets can promote themselves as access points to fresh foods.”
Check out the full story to learn more about students’ experiences through the WIIP internship program.