‘MOO’ve out of the way for Sarabeth Royer! #studentsuccess #psuaged16

Sarabeth Royer is a senior this year at Penn State majoring in Agricultural Extension and Education and she has done some utterly unbelievable things during her time here at school. She has made an impact by being a PSU Ag Advocate, being an active member of several student run organizations, and even works at the Poultry facilities that we have on campus. All of her hard work and dedication has led to her winning a top of the line award called the NDS/DMI Education and Communication Scholarship.

This scholarship is organized through National Dairy Shrine and Dairy Management Inc. who both co-sponsor this award for students who are pursuing degrees in education or communication in which they directly relate to dairy, agriculture, or food related industries. Due to the fact that Sarabeth has been an active member and current treasurer of the Dairy Science Club, a PSU Ag Advocate, and lives on a dairy farm in Lancaster, PA, she was able to relate to this award quite a bit! Stated in her essay, “I believe that there is a disconnect between farms and food. This ignorance is a huge and pressing problem in the United States, and has considerably shaped my decision to major in Agricultural and Extension Education. I want to help students bridge this gap between the field and the fork, the tractor cab and the fridge door, the cow and the ice cream cone...” Since her time here at Penn State, she has been working on that goal.

Sarabeth mentioned to us as well that the support she received from her professors at Penn State made her choose to apply for this award. Her professors Mr. Dale Olver and Dr. Chad Dechow (both PSU Dairy Science Club Advisors and professors in the Dairy and Animal Sciences classes) both urged her to apply and both wrote her letters of recommendation for this award.

Sarabeth will be receiving this award on October 1^st at the National Dairy Shrine awards banquet in Madison Wisconsin which is during the World Dairy Exposition. She will also be receiving a $1,500 scholarship to aid her in furthering her education. She states, “Lessons taught outside in our barn, in a field, or our milking parlor have all molded me, have sculpted me into a passionate advocate for agriculture. For these reasons, I am pursuing a degree in Agricultural and Extension Education with the hopes of teaching secondary agriculture education. After all, I am a strong believer in the fact that some of the best classrooms don’t have four walls.”

We know Sarabeth will continue being an 'Ag'vocate in the classroom and wherever she chooses to go! Keep on doing great things Sarabeth!

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet
Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph  

2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher