FORT HARROD BPW 

Press release

Luci Davis Hockersmith, of Mercer County, representing the Fort Harrod Business and Professional Club, recently took top honors at the 2019 Kentucky BPW Aspiring Professional competition.

Hockersmith was selected in last fall as Fort Harrod BPW’s 2019 Aspiring Professional, formerly the Young Careerist. In the spring, she won the regional honors at the North Central Region to qualify for state.

“Luci did an outstanding job and represented Fort Harrod very well at the state competition,” said BPW President JoEtta Wickliffe. “She made Harrodsburg and Mercer County shine. We are very proud of her for winning this prestigious honor and for representing our club and our community so well.”

The subject for the speech was: “How accurately are women portrayed in the media? How does the portrayal of women affect young girls? What can we, as a BPW organization, do to provide more positive, real role models to the women and girls in our communities?”

Hockersmith’s is not an unfamiliar face in Mercer County. Since 2006, she has been the extension agent for Family and Consumer Sciences with Mercer County Office of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. In her job, she conducts public educational programming in response to community needs, including collaboration with other organizations and community partners.

A native of Mercer County, she attended Berea College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Family Studies with an emphasis in Family and Consumer Sciences Education with Teacher Certification (grade 5-12) and a minor in general music. Education has always been a passion for Hockersmith with more than 20 years of early childhood experience and more than 10 years in food preservation expertise. Before joining the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, she taught Family and Consumer Sciences at Shelby County High school. Prior to that, she substitute taught at several area schools including Burgin and Harrodsburg Independent, as well as Mercer and Anderson counties.

During her tenure as FCS agent in Mercer County, she completed a Master of Science degree in Community and Leadership Development from the University of Kentucky.

An advocate for families, Hockersmith is a certified facilitator for the Nurturing Parenting Programs – an evidence-based curriculum and family-centered initiative designed to build nurturing parenting skills as an alternative to abusive and neglecting parenting and child-rearing practices. Along with her professional duties, Hockersmith is also a wife and mother of three.