Shirrell Ott

Shirrell Ott, administrative assistant for the NDSU Ward County Extension office, has earned an Eagle Award from the Minot Area Chamber EDC for her efforts she put into coordinating a 4-H air rifle and archery match in February.

Ott has been with the Extension office since February 2015, with her primary responsibility of assisting with the 4-H program in Ward County.

Originally from Minot, she said she has moved around quite a bit. She returned to Minot after working as a compliance coordinator for a health plan in California in 2011, four days before Minot’s catastrophic flood. She worked from home for the California company for four years before she sought work elsewhere. Though she was never in 4-H growing up, many of her family members were. After multiple job offers, she settled on her current position because she said it sounded like it would be fun. Ott said the job lived up to her hopes and she is glad she took the opportunity.

“It’s been a really good move for me and I’m really glad that I’m working here at Ward County. I really enjoy 4-H and enjoy everything that it stands for and everything that it represents. It gives the kids belonging, it gives them life skills and I just really enjoy it,” she said.

In addition to her position at the Extension office, Ott is co-leader for the Mighty Mustangs 4-H Club based out of Surrey. She headed up the club her niece was in after the previous volunteer stepped down. Ott, alongside her sister-in-law Kristy Hauge, provide hands-on learning experiences for club members.

“I enjoy the people that I work with at my office. They are all absolutely fabulous people. … 4-H just has so many opportunities for absolutely everyone. You might not be a sports person but you might be into creative arts or photography. There are just so many opportunities,” Ott said.