UA News

Sharon Hoelscher Day was recognized nationally for creating life-improving outreach programs.

Sharon Hoelscher Day, an area agent in family and consumer sciences with The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, was recently honored by the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences, or NEAFCS.

Hoelscher Day, of the extension in Maricopa County, received the 2008 Extension Educator of the Year award at the Extension Galaxy Conference in Indianapolis.

The conference was attended by 2,500 extension professionals from more than 70 land-grant universities and the United States Department of Agriculture.

The award recognized Hoelscher Day for her outstanding outreach education efforts in Maricopa County.

She initiated Safe Food 2010, a multi-year food safety project; Bone Builders, a community-based osteoporosis prevention education program for women and older men in Arizona; Walk Across Arizona, a team program designed to increase physical activity levels in communities; and other health promotion programs.

Hoelscher Day was the 2003-04 NEAFCS national president and 2005 national president of the Joint Council of Extension Professionals, or JCEP, a group of six professional associations. Currently, she represents JCEP on the national Extension Committee on Organization and Policy's Budget and Legislation Committee.

In 2004, Hoelscher Day was honored as Extension Faculty of the Year for the UA Cooperative Extension and, currently, she is president of the Arizona Osteoporosis Coalition.

The NEAFCS Extension Educator of the Year award, started by Maytag Appliances, recognizes a professional extension family and consumer sciences educator who is conducting outstanding educational programs that demonstrate impact on families and communities. Hoelscher Day previously received the Distinguished Service Award and Continued Excellence Award from NEAFCS.