几代人的经验
Audra科克伦 was in kindergarten when her mentor, 兰迪·布鲁克斯, first joined the 365滚球官网扩展 team serving timber-rich Clearwater County in May 1996.
Among UI 扩展’s close-knit group of forestry experts, 制度知识可以追溯到几代人以前, 导师的指导总是近在咫尺. 科克伦, 34, who became a UI 扩展 educator specializing in farm and forestry topics for Clearwater County in August 2023, has supplied fresh ideas and enthusiasm to a team with a proven track record of service and a long memory.
“我记得她在 4-H 和牲畜，我看着奥德拉长大. She got her master’s degree with me,” said 布鲁克斯, who is the state 扩展 forestry specialist. “I always joke I’ve been training Audra since she was 6 years old to be an 扩展 educator.”
反过来, 布鲁克斯, 62, still works closely with the professional who showed him the ropes when he first started — 克里斯Schnepf, 63, 地区林业推广教育工作者. And neither 布鲁克斯 nor Schnepf were alive when Norm Fitzsimmons, 93, who has remained an active supporter of 扩展 in retirement, put in his first day as a local county 扩展 educator on June 5, 1955.
“They’re great people and I believe in the 程序, 如果他们能推广这些项目, 我认为这是世界上最伟大的事情,菲茨西蒙斯说. “我认为奥德拉也会做得很好.”
4-H 塑造了菲茨西蒙斯的人生轨迹. 作为一个孩子，他很活跃 4-H and earned a $100 scholarship that Union Pacific Railroad awarded annually to a 4-H 成员.
“There was a livestock judging 程序 and a farmer in Idaho County gave a traveling cup to the top livestock judge of the year,菲茨西蒙斯回忆道. “I won that and that was kind of a boost to my ego.”
他是通过一所大学认识他妻子的 4-H 在365滚球官网就读期间加入了俱乐部. 在空军服役后, he helped run the family ranch while his stepfather recovered from illness, 回到大学之前. In 1952, Fitzsimmons earned a bachelor’s degree from U of I in animal husbandry. He later earned a master’s degree from U of I in general agriculture.
His first job in 扩展 was as an assistant county agent in Nez Perce County, 主要与 4-H 程序.
“我喜欢和孩子们一起工作, and of course I enjoyed working with the adults because we had a super group of leaders who worked with the kids,菲茨西蒙斯说. “You’re basically developing responsible adults who have got some citizenship and leadership and sportsmanship and all of those other ships.”
在内兹珀斯县工作了四年之后, Fitzsimmons moved to Clearwater County to administer the 4-H 程序 for youth and agricultural education 程序s for adults. He remained in Clearwater County until he retired from 扩展 in 1986 to help his widowed mother save the family’s ranch.
“我仍然会遇到曾经在那里的人 4-H 菲茨西蒙斯说.
Among Fitzsimmons’ lasting legacies is a three-day forestry-themed camping adventure he started for local sixth-graders, 进入第61个年头. The trip introduces youth to forestry professionals and exposes them to all aspects of the timber industry. Both Schnepf and 布鲁克斯 had turns in running the 程序, which 科克伦 now oversees.
“I re成员 the 50th anniversary of that 程序,” 布鲁克斯 said. “我们让诺姆过来，给了他一块牌匾.”
Schnepf填充了UI扩展, Clearwater County educator position vacated by Fitzsimmons in February 1988. The position’s emphasis shifted to forestry and alternative agriculture, with a 40% focus on 4-H. Schnepf acknowledges he faced a high bar in replacing a “living legend.”
“Norm Fitzsimmons built a lot of positive capital for UI 扩展 in Clearwater County,施耐普说. “He’s just a great former 扩展 person to have in your county.”
布鲁克斯 replaced Schnepf in Clearwater County in May 1996, after Schnepf moved to Kootenai County to become an area 扩展 forester. 布鲁克斯 was promoted to area 扩展 forestry educator and remained in Clearwater County until 2011, when he moved to Moscow to become state 扩展 forestry specialist.
During a chance meeting at the Palouse Mall in Moscow, 布鲁克斯 invited 科克伦 to be his graduate student, 她接受了这份工作. After she graduated with a master’s degree in forestry and natural resources, 科克伦 worked in recruiting for the U of I College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. She then spent two years working in 扩展 in Lewis County before joining the UI 扩展, 克利尔沃特郡队.
因为他们共享森林, range and natural resources as a common 程序 area, Schnepf, 布鲁克斯 and 科克伦 meet regularly to plan 程序ming and share ideas.
Fitzsimmons was among the first people to stop by the office and welcome 科克伦 in her new role. That’s also when she was reminded about Fitzsimmons’ wry sense of humor. He asked 科克伦 for guidance to save a struggling field of soybeans — nobody plants soybeans in northern Idaho.
“诺姆是典型的县探员. He’s what people think of when they think of the 扩展 system,” 科克伦 said. “他仍然是我们社区的支柱, and he still comes to our events because he is a tried and true 扩展 supporter.”