Lancaster County 4-H presents a Heart of 4-H Award to a Lancaster County 4-H volunteer each month in recognition of outstanding volunteer service. The purpose of this award is to recognize volunteers who are, indeed, the heart of 4-H.
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Jamie Greenlee goes above and beyond her duties as Assistant to Science and Math at Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) to help with 4-H school enrichment programs.
For five years, Jamie has scheduled the embryology unit for all LPS schools and works closely with Lancaster County 4-H staff. As a core part of the LPS science curriculum, third graders hatch chicks in their classrooms while learning about embryonic development. Jamie works with teachers to make sure incubators are working properly. In addition, she schedules all LPS fifth-grade classrooms for the annual Earth Wellness Festival, which is an environmental education program presented by several partner organizations, including Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County.
“I know that having this opportunity with embryology lessons in the classroom is one of the best experiences for those kids,” she says. “My favorite experience as a 4-H volunteer is when the chicks hatch and watching how much enjoyment the kids get out of the baby chicks in the classrooms. It is an all-around fun experience.”
Extension Assistant Calvin DeVries says, “Jamie’s work organizing Lincoln Public Schools’ 193 third grade classrooms at 40 elementary schools into three spring sessions is vital in coordinating such a large-scale Embryology program! This spring, 2,973 third graders participated in Embryology through the partnership between LPS and Lancaster County 4-H.”