Fulton County Leadership

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Stineback observed. And it provides a rare nexus for reading and physical activity, while at the same time bringing children and their families together in nature, which also has mental health benefits.

“All those things in one little story,” Duckett marvelled.

The first story will be “Senorita Mariposa,” a bilingual tale about monarch butterflies. Eventually, story walks will also be installed in Kewanna, Talma and Leiters Ford, and four books will rotate among those locations.

The project is a collaboration between Purdue Extension, FCPL, Fulton County Community Foundation — which helped pay for the story walk through a literacy grant to the library — Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Woodlawn Hospital.

Other projects created by the FCLA class of 2023 include new park picnic tables at German Bridge Park, a mentor program in Akron, and a series of videos on several area nonprofits facili- tated by RTC Communications.

“FCLA provided a great opportunity for me to get to know people in the community,” said Duckett. For example, she explained, “The library is a great partner in the work I do.”

Through the classes, she has developed connections with other businesses and organizations as well, such as Woodlawn and REMC.

FCLA meets twice per month. The work is divided between the classroom and visits to businesses and organizations in the county.

Stineback, who grew up in Fulton County, found the factory visits particularly revelatory.

“I wish this was something we did in school. There is a lot of stuff I had no idea was made in Fulton County,” Stineback said.

Riffle, a health and human sciences educator with Purdue Extension, looks forward to continuing the work of Kepler, who she credited with “getting FCLA started” after a financial support had run out and the program was inactive for several years.

Applications for Fulton County Leadership Academy’s 2023-2024 class are now available at both Fulton County Chamber and Purdue Extension offices.

For more information, contact Jessica Riffle at (574) 223-3397.