This week, we talk about the impact of the pandemic on Arkansas’s 4-H programs, and we get to know Dr. Bob Scott, the new director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service. We also hear from the man whose shoes he will have to fill, Dr. Rick Cartwright, who retired at the end of June. We also talk to horticulture research professor Elena Garcia about her recent retirement.
The newly elected State FFA officer team is hard at work preparing for the great things ahead in Arkansas FFA. State President, Brooke Bradford joined Ashlyn Ussery for a conversation about where her FFA journey began and to shine some light on what's in store for members throughout the coming year, despite COVID-19.
Valerie Lawson, a family and consumer science teacher at Clinton High School in Van Buren County, is Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2020 Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher.
Students are home on their summer break, as schools in Arkansas anticipate reopening in August. Sarah Lane, Farm to School and Early Childhood Education Program coordinator for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, provides an update on how school gardens are being maintained during the summer and how Farm to School is more important than ever during the Covid-19 pandemic, continuing to provide fresh, local produce for children and families in need.
Centerpoint School District recently announced a new charter school program called Centerpoint Academy of Agriculture and Skilled Trades. Funded by some major grants, this new initiative launches in August of this year.
Applications are now available to high school students for the summer Medical Applications of Science for Health (M*A*S*H) camps. These two-week M*A*S*H camps will be offered at 35 different medical facilities throughout Arkansas and are designed to expose rising high-school juniors and seniors to healthcare-related careers.
Arkansas Farm Bureau Senior Education Coordinator Matt Jackson provides an overview of Farm Bureau's new, state-of-the-art mobile teaching tool, the AgTech Training Lab, during a visit to Arkansas Tech University.
Arkansas Farm Bureau recognized Tim Cunningham of Cedar Ridge High School in Independence County as its Outstanding Ag Educator. Carlisle High School’s Carly Bokker earned the Outstanding New Ag Educator Award, and Clinton High School grabbed the top spot as the Outstanding Ag Education Program. All were recognized at Farm Bureau’s 85th Annual Convention, Dec. 4, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
The University of Arkansas Ranch Horse Team keeps alive the horsemanship skills that once ruled the iconic cattle drives of the Old West. Formed in 2016, the two-time national champions recruit skilled riders and compete several times during the school year. Watch these skilled riders and learn their story.