Agriculture science teachers put in hours of hard work formulating lesson plans, training competitive teams, building relationships and prepping livestock for show rings around the 
country. However, the impact an ag teacher can have on their student’s lives is immeasurable.
Just like anything else, nothing worth having comes easy and becoming an agriculture science teacher requires a substantial investment of time, energy and money.
This is why Texas CornProducers is excited to announce the winners of this year’s Agriculture Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) Educator scholarship.
Each student studying agriculture education spends a required semester working full time as a student teacher. This typically puts the full-time student in a scenario where they are financially responsible for rent, tuition and living expenses, all while working without pay.
To alleviate the financial burden of the student teaching experience, TCP opened the scholarship to eligible applicants and chose to award three $500 scholarships. Applicants are required to be enrolled at a participating Texas university and be a youth member of the Texas Corn Producers Association, as well as agree to teach a corn-based lesson during their student teaching term.
The 2020 recipients of the AFNR Educator scholarships are:
- Kaitlyn Gibson, Texas Tech University – Gibson is student teaching at Klondike High School in Lamesa, Texas. Gibson plans to focus her student teaching experience on showing students how to beagricultural advocates by busting myths and educating fellow consumers on labeling tactics.
- Katherine Grigsby, Tarleton State University – Grigsby is spending her semester inCleburne, Texas, at Cleburne High School. Grigsby said her scholarship will allow her to focus more on her students and maximizing the lessons she can learn while in her clinical experience rather than her finances.
- Kortney Howard, Tarleton State University – Howard is student teaching at Belton High School in Belton, Texas. Howard is passionate about taking the lessons she learned on her family farm and teaching students about the misconceptions that come with modern-day farming.
TCP wishes the recipients of the 2020 AFNR Educator scholarship the best of luck as they mold the minds of agriculture’s future. For those interested in applying for future AFNR scholarships, learn more about the application process on the AFNR Scholarship page.
