Colquitt County Agriculture Teacher Selected for Educator Award

Colquitt County Agriculture Teacher Selected for Educator Award

National Association of Agricultural Educators
300 Garrigus Building, Lexington, KY 40546-0215
Voice: (859) 257-2224 or (800) 509-0204
Fax: (859) 323-3919 E-mail: [email protected]
www.naae.org
News Release
For more information:
Julie Fritsch, NAAE Communications/Marketing Director
Phone: (859) 257-2224
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 30, 2016
Colquitt County Agriculture Teacher Selected for Educator Award
LAS VEGAS – Adrienne Smith, agriculture teacher at Colquitt County High School in Norman Park, Ga.,
is one of only six individuals nationwide who received the National Association of Agricultural Educators
Outstanding Young Member Award, presented at the 2016 NAAE annual convention in Las Vegas on
November 30.
Smith has been an agricultural educator in Colquitt County since 2011 and is one of three teachers at
CCHS. The agriculture program serves over three hundred students every year. The topics that she teaches
include floral design, agricultural leadership, agricultural science, nursery and landscape, horticulture, and
plant science.
Smith’s students grow produce in raised garden beds they constructed themselves, and use that food in the
Farm to School program and the school’s cafeteria. They also manage the agriculture department’s
greenhouse under Smith’s direction and market plants to the community. Both of these activities provide
many opportunities for hands-on lessons about the science and business of agriculture.
All of Smith’s students have an outside-of-class agriculture project called a Supervised Agricultural
Experience. These involve everything from yard maintenance to small animal production to a floral design
business. She requires her students to keep records, take pictures, and present about their project to teach
good business and employment practices.
In addition to everything she does in the classroom and agricultural facilities, Smith also serves as an
advisor to the Colquitt County High School FFA chapter. She has seen her students accomplish many things
through this organization, including participating in competitions like Floriculture, Public Speaking, and
Agricultural Sales. In addition, three of her students have been elected as state FFA officers, and the chapter
has been recognized as one of the top chapters in the nation.
“It is my desire for every student to find that they have a great purpose in life and I can use FFA to guide
students and assist them in finding that purpose,” said Smith. “In addition to FFA, a major reward I receive
from my students is the gift of having a former student come back and tell you they are majoring in
agricultural education and you were the person who influenced them to pursue the profession. What more
reward does a teacher need than to know that they have inspired a young person to enter the profession that
makes the biggest difference in the world?”
Each of the 2016 NAAE Outstanding Young Member winners received special recognition at the NAAE
convention. John Deere sponsors the Outstanding Young Member program as a special project of the
National FFA Foundation.
NAAE is the professional organization in the United States for agricultural educators. It provides its’
more than 8,000 members with professional networking and development opportunities, professional
liability coverage, and extensive awards and recognition programs. The mission of NAAE is
“professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership,
advocacy and service.” The NAAE headquarters are in Lexington, Ky.
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