Young to take North Texas 4-H specialist position

DALLAS — Denita Young will become the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s new program specialist for 4-H Youth Development in the agency’s District 4 beginning Oct. 1. 

The district encompasses 22 North Texas counties, including Dallas and Tarrant. Young’s duties will include overseeing multidisciplinary youth development programming in health, science, technology, agriculture and civic engagement.

Young is now the agency’s Family & Community Health agent for Rains County, located within District 4. She has served the county in this capacity for about 12 years. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Denita into this position with 4-H Youth Devel

opment,” said Courtney Dodd, AgriLife Extension assistant director for Texas 4-H. “She has been quite impactful in her role with FCH, and we look forward to great things down the road.” 

During her time with Family & Community Health, Young developed more than 350 news articles and 120 educational resources on nutrition, preventive health, consumer sciences and wellness. She secured more than $350,000 in grants and in-kind extension programming support, and she received 18 state and national awards for her service. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to transition into this next phase of my career with 4-H, and I’m eager to get started,” Young said.  

The Texas native holds a master’s degree in educational administration and a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies, both from Texas A&M University-Commerce. 

Before joining AgriLife Extension, Young was a high school and elementary school teacher for eight years.