NIOBRARA – Lauren Faurie has recently taken on the role as University of Wyoming Extension Educator and 4-H/Youth Development.

Faurie replaced UW Educator Kellie Chichester, who is now filling the role of Community Vitality and Health Educator for Niobrara County Extension.   Faurie, who hails from Archer County in Texas, has had a passion for 4-H since she was a child.

“I participated in a lot and I liked to try anything I could,” said Faurie. “My favorite was showing my goats.”

A graduate of South Western State Oklahoma State University, Faurie continued to feed her love of learning new things. Faurie majored in Parks and Recreation Management, Natural Resource Management and Outdoor Management. Faurie was invited back to the University of Oklahoma, where she worked as a graduate assistant for year and taught undergrad classes. She taught wilderness survival classes, archery and several other subjects involving the outdoors. Some of her future plans involve working on her master’s degree at the University of Wyoming.

“What got me through college was all of the outdoor education and not in a classroom setting,” said Faurie. “It was all hands-on education, which is a big foundation of 4-H and it was a big drive for me to have a career in 4-H. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with kid.”

After graduating from college, Faurie worked seasonal jobs. Faurie eventually moved to Oregon and worked for a hunting and fly fishing outfitter. Last year, Faurie was hired by the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management in Rawlins, Wyoming. While working in Wyoming, Faurie fell in love with the people.

“I was looking for extension jobs,” said Faurie. “I was looking at a bunch of states. I was able to talk to a lot of landowners here and I really fell in love with the values of Wyoming. And the people reminded me of home.”

Faurie has been acquainting herself with the community of Lusk and Niobrara County.

“There are a few differences from Texas. Every state does things different with their Extension Offices,” said Faurie. “So, it is interesting to see all of the differences. I’m excited.”

Faurie has jumped into her new role as 4-H Youth Educator. She has already helped with some 4-H activities and has enjoyed meeting some of the 4-H kids.

“I have gotten to work with some of them [4-H kids],” said Faurie. “This is a really busy time of the year to be starting in.”

Of course, today’s 4-H is considerably different from the 4-H that Faurie with. In her home of Texas, 4-H activities are spread through winter months and the state fair is held in October when it’s cooler. In contradistinction, Wyoming temperatures are cooler on a more consistent basis. So, Faurie has to do the majority of 4-H activities and a County Fair simultaneously.

“This will be my first county fair. So, I am very excited,” said Faurie. “Down south, it is too hot to do those things. Our livestock show was during Christmas break. We did all of our indoor activities in 4-H during the summer. They are all spread out. So, the activities aren’t all at one time.”

In the future, Faurie hopes to bring some different activities. However, at the moment, she will focus on building relationships in the community and getting to know what the 4-H does throughout the year.

“4-H is a great program and I feel very blessed to be in this specific position,” said Faurie. “I feel very grateful to have Kellie [Chichester] to be able to ask questions to. Everybody is so kind and welcoming and it makes me feel at home. I think I really lucked out with this community and the kids are so fun too.”