Shelby County Extension Agents Recognized at Commissioner’s Court for Awards Received

At the state conference for the Texas Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences in July, Jheri-Lynn McSwain, Shelby County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences was awarded three individual state level awards, one team award, and two multi-county awards for programs conducted in 2014. 

Dr. Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Agency Director presenting

Mrs. McSwain with the New Professional of the Year Award

Jheri-Lynn was awarded the New Professional of the Year for programming efforts in Shelby County.  She conducted over 60 programs with over 5,241 participants during 2014.

She was also presented the Communications through Photography award for her picture of the “Top 3 Biggest Losers of Weight in Shelby County.”  This 12-week program had 98 participants which lost over 725 lbs while learning about nutrition and fitness.

Her last individual award was Communications through Marketing for her annual Friend to Friend Breast Cancer awareness program.  This program helped fund mammograms for 47 women at risk in Shelby County.

The Curriculum Enrichment Team award was presented to Jheri-Lynn McSwain and Lane Dunn, Shelby County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources for their annual Agriculture and Education Safety Day.  This youth program was hosted in May with over 900 children attending in 2014 and 1,050 in 2015 to learn about the importance of agriculture and nutrition.

Jheri-Lynn, along with other members of her FCS team, was presented the Early Childhood Child Care Team award for their annual Child Care Conference.  The conference is held annually in Palestine to provide CEUs for child care providers.  In 2014 the conference hosted 75 participants with Mrs. McSwain as a guest presenter providing a program on “Gardening with Children.”

The Multi-County Programming Team award was presented to Jheri-Lynn, along with other members of her FCS team, for their annual Dinner Tonight program.  The program was conducted in Palestine with 60 participants enjoying food prepared by Chef Simon Webster and FCS agents while learning nutritious cooking tips.

In February, The Better Living for Texans program was awarded to Jheri-Lynn as the 2014 Bronze level winner for Regions 4 and 5 by completing over 160% of hours towards programs involving low-income audiences.