Annual Meeting attendees to vote for teacher award winners

For 75 years, the CHS Foundation has helped develop the next generation of ag leaders for lifelong success. In honor of this milestone, the foundation is awarding $75,000 in grants for K-12 teachers to implement a project at their school that will engage students in experiential agricultural education. 

Immediately after the general session at the CHS Annual Meeting on Dec. 1, meeting attendees will vote for their favorite of three finalists, who have been selected by the CHS Foundation. The $20,000 first, $15,000 second and $10,000 third winners will be announced live on stage. Twelve additional honorable mention finalists have already been selected to receive $2,500.

“Over the span of 75 years, the CHS Foundation has contributed nearly $84 million to help build a strong agriculture talent pipeline for the future,” says Nanci Lilja, president of the foundation. “The last 75 years of giving would be nothing without strong educators and students involved in agriculture, and together the next 75 years will be just as bright.”

The top three finalists are:

Osseo-Fairchild School District, Osseo, Wis.
Amelia Hayden, a first-year ag educator at Osseo-Fairchild High School, will use funds to educate students about biotechnology in agriculture. More than 150 students will use new equipment to perform plant science, gene editing and evaluation experiments. As a result, students will better understand the benefits of biotechnology and be prepared for careers in the ag industry.

Sioux Falls Career and Technical Education Academy, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Andrew Jensen teaches agriculture at the Sioux Falls Career and Technical Education Academy, a new ag program and the first in South Dakota’s largest school district. Funds will be used to purchase a high tunnel and hog farrowing pens, giving hundreds of students hands-on learning in plant and animal science. Classes will also be livestreamed to give students across the district a peek into agriculture — a world many have never seen before.

Wyndmere High School, Wyndmere, N.D.
Desi Severance, ag instructor at Wyndmere High School, will use funds to build a mobile produce processing lab and implement an ag processing curriculum. More than 150 students from eight local ag programs will learn hands-on food processing, preservation and food safety skills using food grown in the school’s greenhouse.

Annual Meeting attendees can stop by the CHS Foundation interactive experience during the meeting to meet the finalists and learn about the impact the CHS Foundation has had over the last 75 years. 

The CHS Foundation, funded by charitable gifts from CHS Inc., is focused on developing a new generation of agriculture leaders for life-long success. Together with its partners, the CHS Foundation is igniting innovation and driving excellence in agriculture education, cultivating high-impact programs for rural youth and accelerating potential for careers in agriculture.