In The News

Illinois 4-H Legacy of Leadership Scholars Announced

Jennifer Mohr	Kyle Simpson	Keith Tebbe	Rebecca Wenning

Four college-bound Illinois 4-H members chosen to receive Legacy of Leadership Scholarships, coordinated by the Illinois 4-H Foundation and the University of Illinois Extension State 4-H Office, were recognized at the 2004 Illinois State Fair during the Illinois 4-H Family Picnic, Saturday, August 14. The recipients are:

Jennifer Mohr was a 12-year member of the Lexington Leprechauns 4-H Club in McLean County. Jennifer's 4-H project interests included: childcare, sewing, food & nutrition, leadership development and photography. In addition to club and county 4-H activities, in 2001, she was named an Illinois Blue Award Winner in Home & Family, Personal Development and Achievement –Year Focus and also attended National 4-H Congress. She is the daughter of Jay and Kim Mohr. She will be a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Human Development and Family Studies with a Child Development Option. Jennifer's scholarship donor is the McLean County Farm Bureau.

Kyle Simpson will be a freshman at the University of Illinois at Springfield in the Capital Scholars Program. He is a 10-year member of the Buccaneers 4-H Club in Rock Island County. Kyle's 4-H project interests include: horses, animal leadership, citizenship and animal science. Besides 4-H club and county activities, Kyle is a member of the Illinois State Youth Leadership Team, delegate to the state and national Conversations on Youth Development, delegate to the National 4-H Youth Directions Council and National 4-H Conference delegate. He is the son of Stephen and Melinda Simpson of Hillsdale. Kyle's scholarship is funded by memorials received to honor the late John Dobrinsky, D.V.M., of Illiopolis.

Keith Tebbe is a 10-year member of the Mount Olive Badgers 4-H Club in Macoupin County. Keith's 4-H project interests include: electricity, crops, aerospace, foods, forestry, woodworking, visual arts and citizenship. In addition to club and county 4-H activities, Keith was a member of the West Central Region Youth Leadership Team, Illinois Tech Team, delegate to the National Tech Convention in 2002 and National 4-H Conference delegate. Keith is the son of Alan and Alice Tebbe of Mt. Olive. He will be a freshman in athletic training at McKendree College. Keith's scholarship donor is Illinois 4-H Foundation board member Keith Parr, of Elmhurst.

Rebecca Wenning.is the daughter of Carl and Carolyn Wenning, of Normal, and was an eight-year member of the Linden Lead-em 4-H Club in McLean County. Rebecca's 4-H project interests include: beekeeping, intercultural and foods & nutrition. She has given more than 75 presentations about bees and honey since 1997, traveled on 12 international trips and was a delegate and delegate advisor at National 4-H Congress. A sophomore at Illinois State University, Rebecca is in the Physics Teacher Education Program. Her scholarship is funded by a 2003 National 4-H Alumni Award recipient, Richard Bell, of Stuggart, Arkansas.

"The four young adults selected as Legacy of Leadership Scholars already have an impressive pedigree of providing leadership and service to their communities. We are confident that each will use the skills learned through their 4-H experiences in being effective leaders as college students and as citizens of our state and country," said Rod Stoll, Director of the Illinois 4-H Foundation. "We are grateful to our scholarship donors for providing an opportunity to recognize these exceptional Illinois 4-H members."

The Legacy of Leadership Scholarship program was conceived after the Illinois 4-H Foundation received a donation from the second sale of the Grand Champion Steer at the Governor's Sale of Champions at the 2002 Illinois State Fair. The $7,500 donation to the Illinois 4-H Foundation was used as seed money to establish an Illinois 4-H Legacy of Leadership Scholarship endowment. The Illinois 4-H Foundation seeks other individuals, corporations, and organizations as partners in providing additional funds for future scholarship recipients.

The Legacy of Leadership Scholarship is merit-based, and available to 4-H members who are high school seniors, or in their last year of 4-H membership. Additional information about the scholarship is available at: http://www.4-H.uiuc.edu/foundation .

The Illinois 4-H Foundation raises private funds that are invested in Illinois 4-H programs, which provide meaningful positive development experiences for Illinois youth to develop life skills.

4-H is the largest out-of-school educational program for youth in the United States. 4-H seeks to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, forming attitudes, and developing life skills that will enable them to become caring, competent, and contributing members of society. In Illinois 300,735 youth participate in 4-H and the other youth programs of University of Illinois Extension. Nearly 26,000 youth and adult volunteers assist in the programming. For more information about 4-H in Illinois, visit: http://www.4-H.uiuc.edu .

###
Editor’s Note: This press release may be downloaded as a MS Word file from:
http://www.4-H.uiuc.edu/events/04fairmedia/legacy04.doc