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 The
Logan County Farm Bureau sees the importance of scholarships and
invests in the future of agriculture by awarding deserving high
school seniors in Logan County pursuing an education in Agriculture
or AgTech that financial acknowledgement. Scholarship criteria
includes: must be a senior in high school, from Logan County, must
be pursuing an education in agriculture or its related sciences.
Each year dozens of students from several schools in Logan County
submit their applications. Heartland Community College Foundation
judges the scholarship applications and determines the awardees. The
committee has no knowledge of the applicant, their family, or their
ties to the community, making their decision nonbiased.
At the Logan County Farm Bureau Ag Breakfast, an awards ceremony is
held to honor the recipients and their parents and to provide
encouragement to them as they set out on the course to agricultural
success. The ceremony is traditionally held during National
Agriculture Week in March. Year after year hundreds of members of
Logan County’s ag community as well as local and state legislators
attend the 7 a.m. event to find out who the scholarship recipients
are and to hear the address of the keynote speaker. Past speakers
include several past scholarship recipients, senators, and
agriculture icons. This year’s breakfast is March 21, 2024, at the
American Legion with Scott Betzelberger as the keynote speaker.
To date there have been 30
scholarships awarded totaling an amazing $127,500.00. This is the
seventh year the Logan County Farm Bureau has sponsored the awards.
The scholarships are entirely funded by the generosity of donors.
The program strives to ensure that the awards are of significant
value, and that 100 percent of the funds raised go to the students.
Lincoln Daily News caught up with a few past recipients of the
scholarship to find out how receiving the scholarship impacted them
and if they accomplished their ag education goals.
Jake Kirgan, a 2018
LCHS graduate, and recipient of the scholarship specifically
remembers the scholarship because of the event that was held to
recognize the recipients. Jake said that receiving the award enabled
him to make it through all four years at Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale. He is currently still in AG, working as
the Sales Development Manager for WinField United. Jake is the son
of Rich and Melissa Kirgan. He is working on becoming more active in
the Farm Bureau so that he can help students have the opportunities
he did.
Cierra Crowell, the
daughter of Jerry and Lotis Crowell, is a 2018 scholarship recipient
and a 2018 graduate of Lincoln Community High School. She said
receiving the scholarship allowed her to be more active in school by
helping to alleviate the financial burden. She was able to be more
studious which resulted in her receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in
Animal Science with an Equine Science Specialization, her Master’s
Degree in Animal Science with a focus on Equine Palatability, and
now pursuing her PhD in Agricultural Science with a focus on Canine
Gastrointestinal Health. Cierra is currently living in Vienna, IL
and working at McKinney’s Western Store. She has several
publications because of the work she was able to do and is
continuing to do within the Ag community.
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Griffin Jodlowski, the
son of Ed and Colleen Jodlowsk, is a 2018 scholarship recipient, and
a 2018 graduate of Olympia High School graduated from Iowa State
University in 2022 with a degree in Ag Communication and then
started a supply chain with DHL where he currently works with
customers to deliver seed to farms. Griffin said that receiving the
scholarship allowed him to pursue his passion and continue his
knowledge about the agricultural field.
Clay Aylesworth, a 2023
graduate and recipient of the scholarship is grateful that he was
able to focus on school and not on finances. Clay is currently
coming to the end of his first year at Lincoln Land Community
College where he will complete his general education courses before
transferring to the University of Illinois to major in Crop Science.
Clay is active in 4-H and in 2023 at the Logan County Fair he
received the award for Grand Champion Steer.
The scholarship program was originally started in 1999 by the Ag
Committee of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce. At that
time the scholarships were sponsored by Monsanto and the National
Association of Farm Broadcasters. The award was $1,500.00.
Elizabeth Stoll Wrage was a 2001 recipient of the scholarship
and today that scholarship has brought her full circle. After
graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Plant Biology from Washington
University and a Master’s Degree in Crop Science from the University
of Illinois Elizabeth now works for Innovative Seed Solutions, a
joint venture global sorghum company between Bayer Crop Sciences
(formerly known as Monsanto) and Remington Seeds. She and her
husband Jason are raising their family in the community that raised
both of them in agriculture.
Jim Drew is in his 46th year
with the Logan County Farm Bureau and has worked tirelessly to
ensure the maintenance and growth of the program. In 2023 six
scholarships were awarded totaling $22,000.00. Just as the
agriculture industry is constantly evolving, so is education. As the
cost of education rises, the number of college students declines,
and therefore the work force is affected. Scholarships are an
excellent way to ensure the future of agriculture in Logan County.
Students majoring in agriculture and its related sciences are
exploring the ever-changing challenges of the ecosphere and how
humans interact with the environment. Agriculture is an important
part of society in many ways; it supports livelihood through
habitat, food, and jobs; building a strong economy through trade;
and providing raw materials for food, products, and daily living.
[Lesleigh Bennett
Lincoln Daily News]
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