By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – In a brief meeting Monday, Jan. 8, the county commissioners were introduced to the Wabash County Purdue Extension Office’s newest educator.
Mindy Mayes comes to Wabash County from Grant County, where she served as health and human sciences educator for three and a half years.
“I am an IU graduate – please don’t hold that against me. I have heard that this is more of a Purdue county,” Mayes said, garnering laughs from the board. “I’m really excited to be here… I look forward to continuing some of the things that Teresa did, as well as possibly expanding into new areas.
“I’m just really excited to be in Wabash County… and just to see what programs we can continue to do to help make an impact in this community.”
According to County Extension Director Angela Christopher, Mayes replaces longtime health and human sciences educator and former director Teresa Witkoske, who retired last May after 15 years at the office.
After the meeting, Mayes sat down with The Paper to discuss her background and plans for the county.
“I got my master in Public Health from IU. Prior to that, I went to Norfolk State University in Virginia, and I have a bachelor’s in public health and a minor in chemistry,” she said, noting that she graduated from IU in 2009.
After earning her master’s, Mayes worked for a couple years before returning to school full time.
She attended Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, earning a degree there in 2013.
“Then I started my position with the Grant County [Extension] office,” Mayes said. “I’d been there for three and a half years, and then transferred here.”
Mayes’s connection to 4-H and Purdue’s extension services began in her childhood.
“I grew up doing 4-H; my entire family grew up doing 4-H,” she said. “I really liked my extension educator growing up, so I thought, ‘That’s a type of job that I could do.’ So, I got my degree in public health.
“it was a perfect job with the degree that I had, and I felt like I got to impact people’s lives like my extension educator impacted my life.”
She noted that the health and human sciences part of Extension is relatively new, and grew out of the former family and consumer sciences service the offices provided.
“We still do some consumer and family sciences type things,” she said
“With Health and Human Sciences, we do programs with in foods and nutrition, health and wellness, resource management and a little bit of community development.
“Health and Human Sciences provides education to people of all ages in Indiana’s 92 counties. The community is our classroom, where we help people spend smart, eat well, live right and strengthen families.”
She said that their programs have a wide range, and involve a variety of community organizations.
“One of the things that I know that I will hopefully like to do some work with, and find out who’s working with it, is the opioid issue, which I know is an issue everywhere,” Mayes said.
“Our job is more education, and figuring out how I can help with that.”
The commissioners also heard a jail report from Sheriff Bob Land, and were informed of upcoming board of health appointments.
Land said that there were 81 inmates in the Wabash County jail, with an additional 28 being held in Miami County and three in Blackford County.
County Auditor Marcie Shepherd informed the commissioners that Dr. David Roe, Wabash County Health Officer, intended to stay on the board of health, but Dr. Dean Gifford planned to leave once his term is up. While no immediate action was needed, she said that the commissioners would need to find a Republican to appoint to the health board to replace Gifford.