SALISBURY — Laura Allen, 4-H youth development agent in Rowan County, was awarded the TC Blalock Young Agent Award during the 2023 North Carolina Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals Annual Conference held in New Bern on Sept. 6-8. This award is for 4-H youth development professionals who are in years four to seven of their career and have made outstanding achievements in their 4-H program.

In 2022, Allen coordinated Rowan’s first SPIN 4-H Club focused on dog training. She secured $8,100 in grants and $5,500 from local donors for 4-H programming and camp scholarships. She co-coached the Rowan 4-H Poultry Judging team, who placed second nationally.

The purpose of the North Carolina Association of Extension 4-H youth development professionals is to promote the profession of extension 4-H and youth work in North Carolina. The 4-H program is the youth education program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension, based at North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T State Universities. More than 260,000 young people ages five through 18 participate in North Carolina 4-H activities each year with the help of 16,700 adult and youth volunteers. You can find more information on 4-H at http://www.nc4h.org.