NDSU Extension agents and specialists received several awards during the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences’ 86th annual session, which was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The awards and recipients were:
• Family Health and Wellness Award - first place in the Central Region and first place nationally for On the Move to Stronger Bodies, a curriculum used in fourth-grade classrooms. Team members are Julie Garden-Robinson, food and nutrition specialist; Donna Anderson, family and community wellness agent, Eddy and Foster counties; Ronda Gripentrog, family and community wellness agent, Richland County; Marcia Hellandsaas, family and community wellness agent, McKenzie County; Kari Helgoe, family and community wellness agent, Pembina County; Vanessa Hoines, family and community wellness agent, Morton County; Dena Kemmet, Central District director; Cindy Klapperich, family and community wellness agent, Sargent County; Deb Lee, family and community wellness agent, Ransom County; Susan Millender, family and community wellness agent, Barnes County; and Christina Rittenbach, family and community wellness agent, Stutsman County.
• Innovation in Programming Award sponsored by the Joint Commission of Extension Professionals - first place in the Central Region and second place nationally for the Healthwise for Guys and Healthwise for Women programs. Team members are: Klapperich, Garden-Robinson and former Nelson County agent Kristi Berdal.
• Community Partnership - third place in the Central Region for the Germans From Russia Partnership. Team members are: Acacia Stuckle, family and community wellness agent, Emmons County; Carmen Rath-Wald, former Logan County agent; Michael Miller, director and bibliographer, Germans From Russia Heritage Collection; Garden-Robinson and several community partners from Emmons, Logan and McIntosh counties.
In addition, NDSU personnel served on teams from several states who were recognized at the regional and national levels:
• Food Safety Award - first place at Purdue University and second place in the Central Region for the North Central Region Food Preservation Outreach and Evaluation. Team members were Garden-Robinson and colleagues from several states in the North Central Region.
• Multistate Collaboration Award - first place at Florida State University, first place in the Southern Region and second place nationally for developing nationwide webinars about current topics in food, nutrition and health. The award winners were Garden-Robinson and a team from Florida and Virginia.
• Multistate Collaboration Award - first place in the Western Region and first place nationally for the Diabetes Prevention Program. Team members were Nicki Johnson, NDSU Extension community health and nutrition specialist, and Extension personnel in several states.
Hoines and Garden-Robinson serve on the national board for the association.
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