Two Maine 4-H staff members win national awards
Two University of Maine Cooperative Extension staff members will be recognized with national 4-H awards for outstanding achievements in creating opportunities for young people across the state of Maine last year.
Kristy Ouellette, UMaine associate Extension professor in 4-H youth development in Androscoggin and Sagadahoc counties, will receive the National Distinguished Service Award for having been actively engaged for seven years or more in Extension 4-H youth programs.
Susan Jennings, UMaine resource development officer and Maine 4-H Foundation director based in Falmouth, will receive the Denise Miller 4-H Innovator Award, a national honor recognizing innovation, accomplishment, and commitment in the design and delivery of a unique 4-H program.
The awards will be presented at the 4-H national conference in New Orleans Oct. 13.
Ouellette, who joined the UMaine Extension faculty in 2008, has been a leader in 4-H STEM initiatives; the new 4-H Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) project; and Tech Wizards, a youth mentoring project through National 4-H Council with federal funding from Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Her work has led to more than $1.7 million in grant funding supporting Maine youth.
Jennings and the youth trustees of the Maine 4-H Foundation launched the Maine 4-H Pitch Project in support of entrepreneurial projects for Maine young people. Residents from ages 5 to 18 can pitch a project or new business idea and receive funding from the Maine 4-H Foundation Youth Trustees. In two years, more than $45,000 has been raised to endow an annual fund to support more than 14 small-business and innovative club projects.
Maine youth receiving awards include an 8-year-old running a rhubarb farm, a 12-year-old raising chickens and eggs, and one youth operating a school and community garden.