Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contacts: Lorrie Coop, 940-459-2651, ljcoop@ag.tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – Lorrie Coop, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service family and community health agent in Knox County, was presented the agency’s Superior Service Award – Family and Community Health Agent.
The Superior Service awards are the highest award presented by the agency. The recipients were honored Jan. 8 with a noon luncheon.
Coop, who was recently named the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Educator of the Year, began her career with AgriLife Extension in 2004 after serving 11 years with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as a child protective services specialist.
“Lorrie is a catalyst for change,” said Dana Tarter, AgriLife Extension regional program leader for family and community health and 4-H youth development in Vernon. “She is willing to put forth the extra effort to research an issue and engages others in finding positive solutions.
As an educator, Lorrie is able to develop positive relationships with individuals of all ages and finds interesting ways to help them learn.”
Some of Coop’s achievements outlined in the nomination are:
– Facilitating grant funding to improve accessibility and provide Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant improvements to the AgriLife Extension county office and to provide a safer path along U.S. Highway 82 in Benjamin with the addition of 6-foot sidewalks linking the largest employers in the community.
– Provided education to families on proper usage and installation of child safety seats, seat belt safety, bicycle safety and hypothermia prevention while performing 430 seat inspections and correcting 427 incidences of misuse during 25 check-up events and/or individual appointments.
– Initiated and carried through a partnership with Helen Farabee Centers to provide a community youth mental health and literacy training program to over 300 teachers, community leaders and parents.
– Provided a summer workforce program for 60 high school students through a Parallel Pathways grant and a comprehensive program to teach leadership skills to residents and increase civic participation in her rural community.
– Developed and conducted “Dashboard Dining,” a food safety curriculum for over 100 heavy equipment operators, to educate them on proper food handling while working on the side of the road after learning they were packing/consuming lunches without refrigeration or sanitation.
Coop has earned numerous other awards with the national and Texas FCS association, as well as from Epsilon Sigma Phi, AgriLife Extension, the National and State Association of Extension 4-H Agents and the Texas Rural Leadership Program.
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