WKU News Releases

Bowling Green, Ky. - Progressive Farmer/Farm Safety Day Camp, held last Sept. 30 at Western Kentucky University’s L.D. Brown Agricultural Exposition Center, was selected to receive one of the five Kentucky 4-H Team (Together Everyone Achieves More) Awards for 2006.

The award was based upon contributions made to the Kentucky 4-H Program at the county, district and state levels and the impact made upon the lives of Kentucky 4-H members.

Progressive Farmer, a national magazine devoted to the issues of American farmers and their families, sponsors the annual Day Camp. An initiative of the Kentucky Partnership for Farm Family Health & Safety and the South Central Kentucky Area Health Education Center since 1995, the camp was the first of its kind in Kentucky, and many counties have since started Day Camp programs similar to the one offered in Warren County. This past year marked the first for the Warren County 4-H Youth Development Office to act as a partner of the camp.

“In the past, we held the camp one day in the summer, and served 125 – 150 children, but had seen how others were incorporating it into the school systems,” AHEC Director Lucy Juett said. “Last year, we made the decision to target fourth-graders enrolled in schools throughout Warren and Butler counties. Without 4-H’s partnership, we would have had a hard time dealing with such a large group.”

Dr. Susan Jones, a nursing professor at WKU and president of Kentucky Partnership’s Board of Directors said: “The Kentucky Partnership, as the name implies, welcomes the working relationship with multiple community partners. Together we can accomplish our mutual goal…promoting the safety of our rural friends and neighbors.”

Camp Coordinator Donita Lashley said that the camp served 411 fourth-graders from Warren and Butler counties, a number that more than tripled from the year before.

She also said that they plan to continue targeting fourth-grade students so that camp attendees won’t get tired of the same subject year after year, and in order to reach a greater number of children about the serious safety issues the camp addresses. Issues presented include ATV safety, animal safety, farm equipment safety, and fire and electrical safety.

“I think it’s really flattering for us to receive this award,” Lashley said. “We worked hard on this, and didn’t expect an award, so it’s been a very nice experience.”

The core mission of Kentucky AHEC is to promote healthy communities through innovative partnerships. The Farm Safety Day Camp is one of several programs offered by the Health Education Training Center, which is managed by the AHEC in cooperation with the University of Louisville and WKU. In operation since 1986, the Center is located in room 415 of the Science & Technology Hall on the main campus, and serves as a neutral promoter of health related issues throughout the region.

The Center serves 22 counties in the region, and offers such programs as: Kentucky Interdisciplinary Community Screening (KICS), Family Practice Residency Program, Paramedic Training Program, Math and Science Academy, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), FARMEDIC Program, Dental Skills Development and Screening (DS2), and Child Restraint Safety Systems Checkpoints. More information is available on their web site at: www.wku.edu/scahec/.

The award will be given on Feb. 24 at the Lexington Convention Center. Camp Coordinator Donita Lashley and co-coordinator Anna Smith will accept the award.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact Lucy Juett, (270) 745-3325.