Payne County’s Dea Rash receives OSU Extension Distinguished Educator award

Friday, January 12, 2024

Media Contact: Gail Ellis | Editorial Communications Coordinator | 405-744-9152 | gail.ellis@okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University Extension has named Dea Rash a recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award.

Rash is the family and consumer sciences/4-H educator for Payne County Extension and was honored Jan. 11 at the OSU Extension Biennial Conference in Stillwater.

Extension has played a significant role in Rash’s life since her youth. She was an active 4-H member in Grant County for nine years. Extension has been a tradition in her family for four generations, and they were honored as an Oklahoma 4-H Centennial Family in 2009.

“We are grateful that Dea’s family legacy of Extension involvement and her 4-H experience as a youth inspired her to a career in Extension,” said Dr. Damona Doye, associate vice president of OSU Extension. “She has been involved in developing and delivering many innovative and impactful programs for both youth and adult audiences. Her commitment to serving others and helping them improve their quality of life makes her a great Extension educator.”

Rash began her Extension career in 1991 as a 4-H youth development educator for Payne County. Her focus on 4-H curriculum enrichment encompassed 4-H outreach in schools, daycares and summer youth programs, as well as non-traditional 4-H settings. She developed a tornado safety program, including a tornado simulator and facilitated many other educational initiatives like Color Me Healthy, Chick and Quail Embryology, Plant Science and Kids with Character.

“Working with non-traditional 4-H audiences was not only educational and fun, but it was also very rewarding. I had to learn how to hatch chicks in an incubator because the chick embryology program was one of our most popular programs. It was very exciting when teachers called to tell me how many baby chicks hatched,” she said.

Under Rash’s leadership, participation in the Payne County 4-H curriculum enrichment program grew exponentially for 13 years, reaching 40,000 youth.

Rash also co-created the Payne County PRIDE Customer Service Program written to teach quality customer service concepts to front-line employees; this program was updated for statewide use, and it is still taught by educators today.

In 2003, Rash was named Payne County’s family and consumer sciences educator and continued focusing on the needs of children and families. Among the many impactful programs she has created are a Discover MyPlate nutrition program and cooking class for Afghan and Hispanic families relocated to the Stillwater area. She partnered with the multilingual learners coordinator at Stillwater Public Schools to teach workshops on how to prepare nutritious meals and healthy snacks as well as teach families how to manage money and make wise financial decisions.

“In addition to the nutrition and financial workshops, we have also taken the families on an agritourism tour to a blackberry farm and taught a STEM blackberry jam-making workshop. We are taking a pecan farm tour in January and will teach them how to make pecan pie,” Rash said. “It’s been a very successful program to help them acclimate to American customs and learn about nutrition, finances and agriculture.”

Rash is a familiar face at Our Daily Bread Food and Resource Center, where she regularly teaches MyPlate nutrition courses and workshops on pressure cooking, cast iron cooking, jam-making and air frying. Thanks to Simmons Bank Foundation grant funding acquired by Our Daily Bread, students from Stillwater Public School’s Lincoln Alternative Academy attend similar workshops to learn about MyPlate, food and kitchen safety and how to use kitchen appliances like air fryers and pressure cookers. Once they complete the series, the students earn an air fryer or pressure cooker of their own.

One of the most popular family and consumer sciences youth programs is the Cooking Together is Fun youth cooking school Rash co-teaches with fellow educator, Trinity Brown. Fourth-grade students in Payne and Pawnee counties learn MyPlate nutrition, food and kitchen safety and proper handwashing. After the educational program, students work in small groups with a teen or adult leader to prepare a recipe and have a tasting lunch. They also take home a cookbook of the recipes prepared at the school and are encouraged to make their favorite recipes with their families.

“It’s a program the kids and teachers look forward to each year,” Rash said.

Rash’s vast portfolio of programming also includes teaching co-parenting for resilience to support parents with minor children who are experiencing divorce.

“The thing I like best about my job is that it’s different nearly every day,” she said. “Getting out and teaching people how to make a difference in their lives and then receiving their feedback makes it all worth it.”

A proud mother of two daughters who participated in 4-H and graduated from OSU, Rash’s dedication to not only her own family but also those in her community is evident across Payne County.

“When 4-H parents say, ‘You helped raise our kids’ by teaching them life skills they’re still using every day like leadership, citizenship, public speaking, record keeping and time management, that’s pretty special,” Rash said. “If we weren’t there to teach those life skills and be a positive role model for 4-H members, they wouldn’t be the individuals they are today.”

A mentor, leader and teacher, Rash has also served as an advisor for Payne County Home and Community Education since 2003 and enjoys the friendship and comradery of the group.

"Dea is always looking for ways to help others in her community,” said Nancy Johnson, OSU Extension northeast district director. “She is a hard worker with tons of compassion, and it shows in all that she does. I count it a blessing to serve as her district director. "

No matter the hour or day of the week, Rash can be found teaching, demonstrating, and listening to improve the quality of life for those in her community.

“I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to work in Payne County for the past 32½ years,” she said. “It’s been a dream of mine to receive this Distinguished Educator award. I certainly didn’t get here by myself. There are many people who have supported me, and I am grateful to everyone who has helped me achieve this goal. I am very honored to be a member of this impressive group of educators.”