Congratulations to Cynthia Rivenbark, EFNEP Nutrition Educator for Pender County, for being awarded the Susan McCaskill Morgan Professional Development Award! We are so proud of your dedication and hard work. Well deserved!!

Susan McCaskill Morgan served Cooperative Extension as 4-H Agent, Family and Consumer Science Agent, and served as EFNEP Extension Associate until her retirement. Susan and her sister and two brothers all served as Extension Agents and she and both brothers served as County Extension Directors. The McCaskill children grew up on a farm in Moore County and were very active in 4-H. All four siblings as well as Susan’s two children, Heather and Robert Hilton, are members of the NC 4-H Honor Club. Education was very important in this family. All four earned Bachelors and Masters, and one has a Doctorate. While enrolled in UNC-Greensboro, Susan learned first-hand that it is difficult to study and meet expenses to complete degrees, while working full time and raising a family. During the last 4-1/2 years of full-time employment, Susan recognized the high quality of work and outstanding abilities of the EFNEP Educators with whom she worked. As paraprofessionals, the difference between them and the Agents with whom they worked was that college degree. Upon her retirement in 2010, she and her husband, Thomas W. Morgan, established the Susan McCaskill Morgan EFNEP Professional Development Endowment in an effort to assist and encourage EFNEP paraprofessionals to seek an associate or bachelor’s degree at a college or university. Funds from the Susan McCaskill Morgan Endowment support EFNEP Educators as they pursue higher education through formal course work. The amount of this scholarship is dependent on the availability of funds, with a minimum award each year of $500.