/ ECS / LouAnn Olsen

LouAnn Olsen

County: Otsego

Class Years: 2002

Title: Director, Responsible Thinking Center, Gaylord Intermediate School District

My 4-H involvement as a child was a very positive experience that influence me to want to share with others what I was taught in 4-H. It made me feel a part of something that really meant so much to me at that time. It has been a very rewarding experience seeing children succeed and they know someone cares about them.

LouAnn Olsen has introduced innovative methods for improving the education of children in the Gaylord Area School District. She introduced and is the director of the Responsible Thinking Center at the Intermediate School where she encourages fourth-through sixth-graders to consider and model responsible behaviors as a means of administering discipline. The program is based on one administered in Arizona. On a typical school day, she will see 20 to 50 students referred by teachers for behavior-related issues. Olsen has also served on the Big Lake Township Board for the past 20 years. She has served as township treasurer and was recently elected township supervisor. In addition to her volunteer service to Otsego Countys 4-H youth program, she is a member and volunteer for both the Otsego County Historical Society and the Otsego Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. She is also an Otsego County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program volunteer.

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Brooklyn Hetrick, Oakland County

4-H has been an incredibly transformative experience for me. It has opened up a whole new world of opportunities, allowed me to form lasting relationships, and given me the chance to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

— Brooklyn Hetrick, Oakland County