Kaelyn McLoughlin named First Place Recipient of the 2026 Kent Lage Leadership Award

Kaelyn McLoughlin was named the first-place recipient of the Kent Lage Leadership Award in 2026, earning a $1,500 scholarship. Kaelyn will attend the University of Maine at Orono this fall, majoring in Forestry.

Kaelyn started in Massachusetts 4-H ten years ago at the age of seven. A resident of Braintree, she is a member of the Mini Whinnies 4-H Club.

Kaelyn has participated in Horse Bowl, Horse Judging, and Hippology at both the state and national levels, where she traveled to the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup in Louisville, KY to compete three years in a row. At the Roundup in 2025, Kaelyn achieved fifth place out of 85 competitors in the Horse Judging phase.

In Massachusetts 4-H, Kaelyn has also participated in Visual Presentations, served as a Youth Leader for the Food Science track in Explore UMass, and attended both National 4-H Conference and National 4-H Congress in 2025.

Active in both her school and community, Kaelyn has competed with FFA and traveled to the organization’s national convention. At the Norfolk County Agricultural High School, she is a Student Ambassador for Environmental Science and a member of the American Chestnut Foundation.

In the future, Kaelyn would like to work in the fields of land management or forestry. Congratulations, Kaelyn!