Phil Williams, acting President of GMGA (left), and Sheri Dorn, State Program Coordinator (right), presented the 2024 Award of Excellence to Christen Thomas (center) during the GMGA Conference on October 5, 2024.
One of the highlights of the annual GMGA conference is finding out who was selected for the Award of Excellence! This special selection is made by GMGA and accompanied by a beautiful plaque and cash prize to a very deserving individual who coordinates a county MGEV program. I am not being flippant when I say this is special. It takes extra effort and time to run an MGEV program well and there is little recognition for the elements that make one good at it! So, I always give a big shout-out to GMGA for sponsoring this award each year!
Typically, the award is given to an Extension agent whose role it is to coordinate a Georgia MGEV program in their county. This year, GMGA expanded the criteria to include program assistants. We certainly have lots of deserving individuals who fill these roles and keep up with our volunteers. Each one of them deserves recognition, but only one is selected each year for this award. Congratulations to Christen Thomas, program assistant in Paulding County, who is the recipient of the 2024 GMGA Award of Excellence!
Christen currently focuses her effort on working with youth audiences, disabled adults, and senior citizens, providing them with engaging, research-based, gardening education, which helps them to connect to science and to each other in community. Through her work, she has helped expand our audiences and helped volunteers to become more outreach-oriented. She has developed teams of Master Gardeners and equipped them with knowledge and confidence to deliver gardening and conservation outreach programming for youth and adults.
Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Margaret Petry noted, “Christen enthusiastically sought support from a large portion of MGEVs with team-building activities…As a result, we became a cohesive working group, demonstrating needed cooperation, confidence, and presentation skills. … Christen’s team-building activities made it easier for MGEVs to work together on future programs at the Extension office.”
Christen’s efforts allow us to help people of all ages and with varying levels of physical and cognitive abilities to learn more about gardening. Her passion and knowledge of all things related to the garden is inspiring. Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Amy Rhoads says, “It is rare to find in an individual such powerful creative energy combined with the motivation and devotion to inspire those who work with her; Christen is that rare individual. And because of her leadership, our small group of Master Gardeners continues to accomplish great things for our Paulding community.”
This article was written by Sheri Dorn and originally appeared at this link. Sheri is the State Coordinator for the Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Program and Extension Specialist for Consumer Ornamentals. When she is not traveling about the state of Georgia admiring the work of Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteers, she spends time in her own (real and virtual) gardens.