This year, the Illinois Agri-Women (IAW) organization has awarded 4 scholarships for females studying agriculture. The Illinois Agri-Women (IAW) organization supports the agriculture industry, works for legislation to support and preserve family farms, communicates with other agriculture organizations, and strives to educate the public and promote agricultural awareness.
One $1,500 IAW Helen Henert & Eleanor Zimmerlein Memorial Agriculture Education Scholarship has been awarded to Haley Mae Bode, an agriculture education major from Waterloo, IL, who will be finishing her undergraduate degree in the next year. Bode is a senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale this year, finishing her degree in agriculture education.
Bode writes “An agriculturally literate population is essential for the success of our world. Because of this, agriculture education should be legislated as a core subject in Illinois to ensure all students have access to this knowledge. As a future agriculture educator, I am committed to creating a classroom where students feel inspired to learn, lead, and understand their responsibility as agriculturalists. I want my students to leave with knowledge and confidence to represent Illinois agriculture.”
Three $1,000 WCFA Agent of Change Scholarships are offered to students who have attended at least one Women Changing the Face of Agriculture Conference. Eligible applicants include past attendees of the WCFA career exploration event. One scholarship has been awarded to a high school senior, one awarded to a current college student, and one scholarship awarded to a current graduate student.
Two WCFA Agent of Change Scholarships this year are provided as memorial scholarships. The Phyllis Johnson Memorial Scholarship is provided by a daughter of the Johnsons, Penny Lauritzen. In 1951, Phyllis and LaVern Johnson moved to his parents’ farm as they retired and moved to town. Phyllis worked alongside her husband to plant and harvest the corn, oats and alfalfa that they grew to feed their hogs and cattle. She raised chickens and was very active supporting her six children in their school, 4-H, and FFA activities. She served several years as the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) President and chaired hundreds of fund-raising banquet committees at their church and for various school organizations. This experience led her to establish a catering business and eventually build a new home with a large commercial kitchen and serving area called “Your Home and Ours” …thus creating Farm to Fork before connecting production agriculture to the family table was considered “cool”. Phyllis and LaVern were insistent that their six children secure post-secondary educations, from farm finance to meat science to farm management to nursing to hospitality to psychology. She believed that supporting young women as they prepare themselves to be self-reliant and serve as leaders in their field of interest was an important effort.
The college student memorial scholarship, the Joan Loeb Memorial Scholarship, provided by a daughter of the Loebs, Karen Westbrook, is also an interesting story. In 2001, Joan and Herb Loeb purchased their first farm as an investment. This investment became Joan’s passion. Living her whole life in Chicago, Joan was intrigued by the processes of farming from soil fertility to harvest. She also loved riding in the equipment. Joan was fascinated by the education and information required to run a profitable operation. She felt it was important to explain to her city friends that farmers are more than people in bib overalls and, farming is much more than plowing a field. Her daughter, Karen is a board member of Illinois Agri-Women, a graduate of Annie’s Project, and pursued graduate level classes at University of Illinois to help oversee the farm operations. Joan believed that women in agriculture was an important effort to support.
The 2024 Women Changing the Face of Agriculture Agent of Change scholarship recipients are:
Samantha Myers will receive the $1000 Phyllis Johnson Memorial Scholarship. She is the daughter of Danny and Sarah Myers of Pontiac, Illinois. Myers is majoring in animal science and a freshman at Illinois State University in Bloomington/Normal.
Myers plans to continue on to veterinary school. Her goal is to become a veterinarian working with both livestock and small animals in a mixed or rural practice. She is especially passionate about supporting livestock health and productivity while also providing compassionate care for companion animals.
Aubrey Wall, University of Illinois at Champaign, is recipient of the $1000 Joan Loeb Memorial Scholarship. Her parents are Don and Laura Wall, hailing from Sorento, Illinois. Wall’s future plans are to become an agricultural teacher and FFA Advisor in a rural community.
Wall states, “My long-term goal is to positively impact as many students as possible by helping them discover their passions, develop leadership skills, and build confidence for their futures. Agriculture has always been a central part of my life, and I want to share that passion with the next generations of leaders.” She plans to inspire students to become confident leaders and active members of their communities.
Cally Hatton, Illinois State University, Bloomington/Normal, will also receive a $1000 scholarship. Hatton originates from Marseilles, IL, and is the daughter of Tom and Shelly Diss. She attended Illinois Valley Community College, Joliet Junior College, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale to earn her bachelor’s degree. She is now at Illinois State University pursuing her master’s degree.
\Hatton share, “Years ago when I attended the Women Changing the Face of Agriculture Conference in high school, I was amazed at the different opportunities available to Women In Agriculture. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but finding a passion for agriculture education was a special part of leading me to where I am today. While I looked into other agricultural careers, many of which Women Changing the Face of Agriculture showed me, I stayed with my passion for becoming an agriculture education teacher. The empowerment and support that I felt that day at the conference ensured me that this was the industry I wanted to be in. Hearing from the other professionals about all that they have gained from the agriculture industry was inspiring to me and something I wanted to be a part of. Now that I am a teacher, each year I take my own group of students to the Women Changing the Face of Agriculture Conference and always appreciate the wide variety of agriculture careers available to the attendees. My students have always remarked about how they didn’t even know that some careers like that existed until they heard about it at the conference. This conference allows women to be inspired and influenced by other women in agriculture to pursue a career in the industry. The experience that the professionals share one-on-one with the attendees is always one of my favorite parts and what I see to be most influential from the day. When attendees hear how those professionals come from similar backgrounds as them, but earn the spot they are in today, I think it’s eye opening to my high schoolers to see what they can do with their future as well.
To find out more information about scholarships, visit Scholarships – WCFA (womenchangingthefaceofagriculture.com) or www.illinoisagriwomen.org.