Award recipients

UW Extension educators Sara Waldron (left) and Anna DeMers recently received awards from the Wisconsin Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals. Waldron, who serves Barron County, received the Periodical Publication Communicator Award for the Barron County 4-H Newsletter, The Barron County Beacon. Waldron and DeMers, who formerly served Washburn County, together received the Educational Piece-Team Communicator Award for producing a Winter Tree ID booklet. Photo by Ryan Urban

Two local UW-Extension professionals recently received the 2023 Educational Piece-Team Communicator Award from the Wisconsin Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals through their annual recognition program.

Anna DeMers, who formerly served Washburn County, and Sara Waldron, who serves Barron County worked together to produce the Winter Tree Identification booklet, which includes a brief overview of many of the trees found in northwestern Wisconsin and how to identify them in the winter.

The book includes key features to look for on trees, pictures to show those features and includes three languages for the user to decide what level of relationship they want to have with the trees, including the Ojibwemowin words that honor the first language of the land and creates an atmosphere of respect for remembering what the trees were first called.

With DeMers’ background in environmental education, photos taken, and resources such as the GLIFWC book, Plants Used by the Great Lakes Ojibwa, the booklet created a locally relevant book that was responsive to multiple learning styles. Waldron helped with the booklet design, copy editing and printing the book.

Both of them led a hike for youth from Barron, W¬¬ashburn, Burnett, Sawyer and Rusk counties, so that they could learn about the trees in-person before they took the booklet home to use on their own.

Waldron also received the 2023 Periodical Publication Communicator Award for the Barron County 4-H Newsletter, The Barron County Beacon. This award recognizes excellence in the development of an informational piece designed to inform, update, and make readers respond in a positive way. She is being recognized for the March and September 2022 publications. The Beacon is printed and distributed six times a year and also available online on the Barron County website.