‘Story Walk’

On June 30, Purdue Extension Educator Mark Kepler retired after 38 years with Fulton County. Among the many services he provided in that time was his leadership of the Fulton County Leadership Academy, which he guided for roughly 18 years.

In the retirement announcement he wrote in the June edition of the extension newsletter “AGLINE,” Kepler noted, “I first started out here when I was born at the old Woodlawn hospital and returned 40 years later to be a bigger part of this community.

When I teach the Fulton County Youth Leadership Academy, one of my goals is for them to look at many of the possibilities that exist in this community and hopefully one day the will to find their way back.”

A fitting synchronicity with these words played out July 6, as members of the 202223 graduating FCLA class, along with new FCLA teacher and county extension Director Jessica Riffle, began installing a story walk on the grounds of the new Woodlawn Hospital.

The story walk, one of four projects spearheaded by members of the class of 2023, consists of a several podiums placed along the walking trail at Woodlawn, each containing a successive chapter and illustrations from a children’s book, which children and their families may read as they walk.

The project was conceived by

FCLA students, Andrea Stineback, Fulton County Public Library director, and Mindy Duckett, Purdue Extension’s new community wellness coordinator. Duckett moved to Fulton County in the fall of 2022. In fact, she oversaw several story walks in Putnam County while working for Purdue Extension in central Indiana.

The installation brings the services of both the library and Purdue Extension directly to the community, as both Duckett and Continued on page 2