Ag-interested high school seniors can apply for SOY scholarship
WASHINGTON D.C. — High school seniors who plan to attend college or a university and majoring in agriculture can apply for a $5,000 American Soybean Association (ASA) Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) scholarship.

Students can apply between September 1 and November 15 as long as he or she meets the requirements, which range from recommendation letters to writing an essay to leadership activities, grade point average and standardized testing.

The student will be selected in December with official recognition taking place in March 2011.

To learn more or to apply, visit www.soygrowers.com/soy/scholar ship.htm or call Michelle Siegel, ASA corporate development manager, at 800-688-7692 ext. 1328

Cargill donates $500K to National 4-H Council
CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Cargill has provided National 4-H Council with a $500,000 gift that will help to develop, strengthen and implement 4-H science programming in five key states. The funding, delivered through multi-year grants, will provide 4-H with the ability to reach even more young people with innovative, after-school programming in the fields of science, engineering, technology and applied mathematics.

Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska will each receive substantial grants to help establish new science-related programs. These programs will be designed to engage current 4-H youth as well as to inspire and attract young people who are new to the organization. This generous gift from Cargill brings 4-H even closer to achieving the ambitious goal of engaging one million new youth in the fields of science, engineering and technology by the year 2013 to help overcome our nation’s workforce development challenges and combat the shortage of American young people pursuing college majors and careers in the sciences.

“Sparking an interest in science and building engineering skills in today’s youth will spur innovative solutions for tomorrow, which is important throughout business and industry,” said Mark Murphy, assistant vice president of Cargill Corporate Affairs. “4-H programs inspire young people to explore new areas of interest. We are proud to continue Cargill’s long partnership with 4-H.”

Today, more than five million 4-H youth are actively engaged in science related projects that offer a wide variety of educational opportunities - from agricultural and animal sciences to rocketry, robotics, renewable energy, environmental protection and computer science. 4-H out-of-school programming, in-school enrichment programs and camps are developed by the nation’s 109 Land-Grant Universities, and implemented by 3,100 Cooperative Extension offices across the nation.

“We are excited to have Cargill as a partner to help us continue to open doors to more American youth who, once exposed, become passionate about science,” said Donald T. Floyd Jr., National 4-H Council president and CEO. “We know that involving youth early in hands-on scientific exploration is the key to establishing a foundation for them to build an interest in and an excitement about pursuing careers in science, engineering and technology.”

Miami East FFA attends WLC
CASSTOWN, Ohio — Miami East FFA members Josh Furrow and Amanda Bartel attended the 2010 Washington Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. from July 6 to 11.

They trained to be effective leaders who are positive influences in their chapters, schools and communities, developed stronger communication skills and focused on character and vision.

Furrow and Bartel met U.S. Representative John Boehner’s Assistant on Agriculture, toured the nation’s capital and completed service projects.

Twelve other Ohio schools accompanied Miami East on a charter bus to D.C. Donations from the Ohio FFA Alumni Association, Miami East FFA Alumni Chapter and the Miami Valley Career Technology Center helped pay for the trip.