Luckstead receives award for distinguished service

     Jacki Luckstead’s dedication to Jones County’s Summer Discovery Camps, and her work as Iowa’s director of 4-H Shooting Sports, have resulted in national recognition.

     Luckstead received the Distinguished Service Award during the annual conference of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents Nov. 16 in Indianapolis.

     She is Youth Development Program Specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, serving three counties: Jones, Cedar and Clinton. She serves the entire state as coordinator of the Extension’s fledgling Shooting Sports program.

     Luckstead is one of just two people in Iowa to receive the award this year. An applicant must have worked in Extension for at least seven years; Luckstead has held her position for 11. It’s her second award from the association; she received the Achievement in Service Award in 2012.

     A conference program narrative about Luckstead mentioned the Summer Discovery Camp, which will enter its 12^th year next summer and annually draws more than 100 students.

     “I think that was a big piece of it,” Luckstead said.

     Luckstead was recognized for growing the Shooting Sports program, increasing opportunities through camps and training sessions. For Jones County, she has applied for a grant to sponsor a Shooting Sports summer camp in Monticello.

     “It’s an amazing program,” she said. “(It teaches) decision-making, responsibility, safety, and it’s huge with youth-adult partnerships working together.”

     Also during the conference, she helped lead a session called “On Their Own and OK,” along with Kendra Crooks, a youth program specialist from Northeast Iowa.

     “It’s for fourth through sixth grade, talking about how to be home alone, before and after school,” Luckstead said.

     Luckstead was in Indianapolis throughout the conference, which ran Nov. 12-16. She said she hopes to use some of what she learned back home.

     “Hopefully we’ll have some other new programs come out of that,” she said. “I think that we’re going to keep collaborating with our neighboring counties, and providing bigger programs so that we can help kids meet others outside of Jones County and grow the 4-H program with new opportunities.”

     Jacki Luckstead’s dedication to Jones County’s Summer Discovery Camps, and her work as Iowa’s director of 4-H Shooting Sports, have resulted in national recognition.

     Luckstead received the Distinguished Service Award during the annual conference of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents Nov. 16 in Indianapolis.

     She is Youth Development Program Specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, serving three counties: Jones, Cedar and Clinton. She serves the entire state as coordinator of the Extension’s fledgling Shooting Sports program.

     Luckstead is one of just two people in Iowa to receive the award this year. An applicant must have worked in Extension for at least seven years; Luckstead has held her position for 11. It’s her second award from the association; she received the Achievement in Service Award in 2012.

     A conference program narrative about Luckstead mentioned the Summer Discovery Camp, which will enter its 12^th year next summer and annually draws more than 100 students.

     “I think that was a big piece of it,” Luckstead said.

     Luckstead was recognized for growing the Shooting Sports program, increasing opportunities through camps and training sessions. For Jones County, she has applied for a grant to sponsor a Shooting Sports summer camp in Monticello.

     “It’s an amazing program,” she said. “(It teaches) decision-making, responsibility, safety, and it’s huge with youth-adult partnerships working together.”

     Also during the conference, she helped lead a session called “On Their Own and OK,” along with Kendra Crooks, a youth program specialist from Northeast Iowa.

     “It’s for fourth through sixth grade, talking about how to be home alone, before and after school,” Luckstead said.

     Luckstead was in Indianapolis throughout the conference, which ran Nov. 12-16. She said she hopes to use some of what she learned back home.

     “Hopefully we’ll have some other new programs come out of that,” she said. “I think that we’re going to keep collaborating with our neighboring counties, and providing bigger programs so that we can help kids meet others outside of Jones County and grow the 4-H program with new opportunities.”