A Sturgeon County resident has won the highest honour bestowed by the Alberta 4-H.
Erin Shaw, an 18-year-old university student from the Gibbons area won the Premier’s Award Monday in Olds after a gruelling selection process.
“I was really surprised but it’s a great honour,” Shaw said.
The award is based on the candidates’ participation level throughout their 4-H career and a weekend competition that includes group work and individual interviews.
“I did my best and worked hard and apparently it paid off,” Shaw said.
The psychology student just completed her first year at Memorial University in Newfoundland and is transferring to the University of Alberta for next fall.
Shaw has been a 4-H member since she was 10.
“I think it’s an instrumental youth development program for all youth,” said mother Karen Shaw, a Sturgeon County councillor.
Karen pushed her daughter to enter 4-H at first. She started in the horse club and wanted to quit. After two years, Shaw switched to the beef club and didn’t look back.
“She’s a 4-H junkie,” Karen said. “It’s given her lots of confidence. It certainly has given her incredible speaking skills.
“She’s a really well-balanced individual. She has a sense of community. She has compassion.”
Shaw is a member of the Bon Accord 4-H Club. She was named the 2010 provincial public speaking champion. She has also served on the Sturgeon County Municipal Development Planning Committee and as a youth representative on the Sturgeon Valley Pastoral Charge Board.
Shaw credits the program with teaching her about leadership, communication, networking and making friends. As the Premier’s Award winner, she is the youth program’s top ambassador and will attend events around the province over the next year.
Participation, communication and leadership all combined to give Shaw the nod over other very capable young people, said Jocelyn McKinnon, a 4-H specialist with Alberta’s department of agriculture and rural development.
As the overseers of 4-H programs in Alberta’s northwest division, McKinnon has watched Shaw develop over the years.
“She has a very bubbly personality as well. She can relate well to other people,” McKinnon said.
“I’ve always been very impressed with her abilities to participate and how she presents herself.”
