Spotlight on: Shaylen Florez
4-H Program Coordinator
Arapahoe County
Hi! My name is
Shaylen Florez and I am the 4-H Program Coordinator in Arapahoe County. Seeing
a smile on a 4-H member just makes my day and makes me realize why I’m in
this line of work.
I was a 4-H member in San Juan County, Utah where I
was involved in the Horse and Beef projects and 4-H Teen Council. I was also
involved in FFA for most of my high school years where I was secretary and then
president my senior year. I was very shy when I was young but was still
involved in 4-H, FFA, and Student Council. I was also involved in the Blue
Mountain Rodeo Queen Royalty for five years where I was Rodeo Queen Attendant
and went to surrounding events, rodeos, and parades to promote our Rodeo and
Fair. I loved getting on my horse, riding around the arena and representing our
county. I had the best time!
I was born in California, then moved to
Idaho, then moved to Utah where I went to Jr. High and High school. It was
there that I was able to be myself and connect with my horses. We owned a horse
ranch, Shay-D-K Ranch, where we raised Paint and Quarter Horses and had up to
80 horses at one time. I even got in the business and owned two of my very own
horses, Keno and Butter (Palomino and Paint Overo) mares. I loved all my horses
so much, knew all their names and that was my life. The most exciting thing
would be to come home from school and find out one of the mares had their colt
or filly.
After high school I went on to college where I graduated from
Northeastern Junior College then transferred to the great Colorado State
University!
I did a 4-H internship in San Juan County the summer of 2000 and
then did a 4-H internship in Arapahoe County the summer of 2001. A position in
the county opened up, I interviewed, and I have been here since December 4,
2001. My responsibilities as the 4-H Program Coordinator are always changing
but some of my main areas are: Home Ec and General project areas, Dog project,
Rabbit project, Cloverbuds, Jr. Leaders Council advisor, Volunteer Management,
Marketing, and contests (Creative Cooks, Speech and Demo, Consumer Choices, and
Cake Decorating).
I have now been married to my wonderful husband,
Brian, for almost 3 years. We have a house in the Broomfield area and we have
two awesome dogs, Shasta and Charlie. We enjoy camping, hiking, and spending
time with family and friends.