The District’s 2019 Conservation Partner Award went to Mrs. Ruth Wallace, Senior Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in 4-H Youth Development for Buckingham County.   Mrs. Wallace has worked for Virginia Cooperative Extension for almost 25 years and has established herself as an advocate for environmental education and as a community leader. She has developed extensive in-school and after-school programs, as well as summer day camp and residential programs. Her in-school programming includes SOL-related enrichment topics, and it leads to each fourth, fifth, and sixth grader participating in 4-H presentations, public speaking, and a science fair, respectively. She began the 4-H Between the Pages after-school program in 2009 to help with improving literacy skills in Buckingham County Schools. Additionally, on average, she conducts four- to five-day summer day camps annually, as well as a Junior 4-H summer residential day camp. In addition to her local contributions, she has also gone abroad to the country of Senegal to provide training to adults on how to develop 4H programs.  She partners often with the PFSWCD to offer in-school programs and field days to educate students on conservation and our natural resources.  Annually, she coordinates with the District and the Middle School to offer an annual Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience for the 6th grade.  For many years, she has worked with the District to offer an Environmental Camp for middle schoolers which has evolved into a Watershed Exploration Camp for middle schoolers to see the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.  Mrs. Wallace focuses much of her programming in various fields of science, foods and nutrition, communication, and leadership.  She focuses on positive youth development and helping youth to acquire life skills that will help them currently and in the future.  Mrs. Wallace is not only an essential partner in the education programs that the District organizes for our local youth, but she also is an Associate Director on the Peter Francisco SWCD Board of Directors and our Education Committee Chair.  In recognition of her contributions to the 4-H Associations and the Extension profession, she has been awarded with the Achievement in Service Award, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Meritorious Service Award and most recently she has been awarded Virginia Tech’s 2018 Alumni Award for Excellence in Extension.