Local NC Cooperative Extension Agent Win Multiple Communication Awards at the 2026 North Carolina Association of County Agricultural Agents (NCACAA)
By Paige Petticrew
As an agriculture extension agent, you are able to be a part of a state association, The North Carolina Association of County Agricultural Agent, or NCACAA. This professional extension association includes county extension educators, agricultural specialists, and 4-H youth development staff working in North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s network. Each year, they recognize outstanding extension communication efforts by North Carolina agriculture extension professionals by awarding communication awards. These awards recognize Extension professionals in various categories on how education in agriculture is expressed to clientele. To be considered for these awards, you must nominate yourself and your programs.
The Consumer Horticulture Agent in Lenoir County, Paige Petticrew, an active member of the NCACAA, was recognized this summer at the state conference that was held in Cherokee, North Carolina where she placed in 4 communication awards. Paige’s position focuses on educating the public on home gardening, landscape management, and lawn care through programming in the community. As a part of her position, she serves as the Advisor to the Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Lenoir County (EMGV) and the Neuse Regional Beekeepers. These awards are a way to showcase programming throughout the year.
The communication awards she received include: 1st place in the category Bound Book/eBook, 2nd place in the category educational video recording, 2nd place in the category feature story, and 2nd place in the category published photo.
Read below for more information about each award:
1st place - Bound Book/eBook
Paige created 4 short stories with graphics specifically to be published through funding provided by the Steps to Health program, previously NC State University’s Snap-Ed program, for a StoryWalk® that is in place at the EMGV Children’s Garden in Lenoir County. These stories help merge literacy, physical activity, and agriculture in an exciting way where visitors can read through the story while trailing through the garden seeing the story components in real-time. The stories are entitled, “The Tomato Adventure” (which is about 4 friends learning how to grow a tomato and how to share,) “Sun, Soil, and a Slice of Pie” (which is about 4 friends growing and baking a pumpkin pie,) “The Hidden Helpers” (which is about soil,) and “Willow the Wasp’s Garden Quest” (about pollinators). Visit the Children’s Garden through the seasons to see the stories be rotated through! (Click here to read the stories!) The 4 friends in the stories are based on Paige’s twin girls, the Family & Consumer Science Agent’s grandson, and the 4H Program Assistant’s niece, giving it a more personal touch for the extension office’s staff.
2nd place - educational video recording
Paige was asked to speak on behalf of the Steps to Health program, previously NC State University’s Snap-Ed program, during the My Carolina segment on CBS17. She highlighted the StoryWalk® Program and her original story, “The Tomato Adventure,” on the segment. A StoryWalk® creates a walking trail where participants read a story while moving from sign to sign along the path. This program helps promote healthy lifestyles while also supporting reading and family engagement. The video was created to inform CBS 17’s 15,000 viewers (per show), their social media followers, and website readers about the StoryWalk® program through Steps to Health at North Carolina State University. The “NC Steps to Health" youtube channel also uploaded the segment on their channel for sharing ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUZAihtRhc ).
2nd place - feature story, that was titled “Where Heirlooms & History Meet the Garden in Our Community.” It was featured in Neuse News to inform the readers about the EMGV’s Children’s Garden’s historic plantings and the purpose of tying them back to the Caswell Memorial Site. Functioning as an interactive outdoor learning environment, this site invites community members of all ages to engage with horticulture, historical plantings, and hands-on agricultural concepts.
2nd place - published photo is an image that Paige took during a fall community program at the Children’s Garden where her twins at age 3 came to the event. The Committee Chair for the Children’s Garden, Jeannie Holmes, was showing them a strawberry in a raised bed and they were completely captivated by her explanation and teachings about it. The goal of sharing this image was to demonstrate how the Children’s Garden serves as an outdoor classroom where youth of any age, as the twins here are 3 years old, can connect with nature, learn where food comes from, and develop an interest in horticulture and healthy eating. This initiative reached local families, area educators, citizens, and prospective volunteers throughout Lenoir County. Through various youth camps, guided tours, and hands-on activities, events in the Children’s Garden connected with scores of residents, boosting public awareness of Cooperative Extension initiatives and highlighting how EMGVs enrich community outreach.
Photo taken by Paige Petticrew
