News
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 Associate Ag Education Professor Lyle Westrom from the University of Minnesota, Crookston recently won the Region I Outstanding Higher Education/Adult Agricultural Education Program Award for 2007. The honor was given at the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE) Agriculture Technology Conference in St. Cloud.
Westrom has made an incredible impact on his students at the U of M, Crookston, where 27 students are currently enrolled in the agricultural education program.
This award recognizes outstanding agriculture programs institutions of higher education or outstanding farm business management programs. The program is a special project of the National FFA Foundation.
Agriculture education programs at institutions of higher education and fulltime adult agricultural education programs are eligible to participate in this program. Agriculture educators from all across Minnesota attend this conference to learn about innovative ways of teaching and integrating technology in their classroom.
U of M, Crookston Collegiate FFA Wins National Parliamentary Procedure Contest
CROOKSTON, MN (November 2, 2006) – The Collegiate FFA Parliamentary Procedure Team at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) placed first in the National Parliamentary Procedure Invitational Contest this past week. The five-member all freshmen team includes Cole Simmons (president) from Underwood, Minn., Melanie Meyer (delegate) from Fort Ripley, Minn. and Sierra Dyrdal (secretary), Brandon Schwab (vice-president) and Alyssa Rogalla (delegate), all from Thief River Falls, Minn. The team was coached by Lyle Westrom, Ph.D., associate agricultural education professor. In addition to the team finishing first, Dyrdal was selected the top secretary.
The Parliamentary Procedure Invitational Contest was hosted by Alpha Tau Alpha (ATA) at their annual 2006 Conclave. The annual ATA Conclave is held in conjunction with the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., the last week of October. The Crookston team finished eight points ahead of the University of Kentucky to lead the field in this challenging competition. Colleges competing from this region included the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, along with other colleges from throughout the nation.
The National Parliamentary Procedure Contest rules require teams to participate together in a joint assembly. Each team competes for 50 minutes, rotating leadership responsibilities for ten minutes each and being active participants in the assembly for the other 40 minutes. Providing proper meeting leadership, total team member involvement and correctness of business transactions are all considered in the final scoring. This method of competition does not allow for “set” or prescribed meeting planning, but rather requires the leadership team to react appropriately and spontaneously to the flow of the meeting from competing team assembly members.
The University of Minnesota, Crookston is the only college in Minnesota to have a collegiate FFA chapter. This allows students enrolled in agriculture or natural resources majors to continue participating in the organization that they may have been involved with in high school. Students interested in majoring in agricultural education, agricultural business, animal science, agronomy, agricultural systems management, equine science, horticulture or a natural resources area should contact the UMC Admission’s Office at 1-800-862-6466 or visit www.UMCrookston.edu for more information.
The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) delivers more than 24 different undergraduate degree programs, including online options, in agriculture; arts, humanities and social sciences; business; math, science and technology; and natural resources. UMC is dedicated to helping students and the region aim higher, reach further, and dream big dreams. To learn more, visit www.UMCrookston.edu.
Winning Parliamentary Procedure Team
Amanda Edberg (Maple, Wisconsin) along with three FFA members (Josh, Mike, and Matt) practice for the upcoming Dairy Foods CDE with Lyle Westrom, UMC Agricultural Education faculty member. Amanda is in her second year of teaching Agricultural Education at Northwestern High School in Maple, WI. She is a 2003 UMC graduate who attended UMC in the joint UMTC/UMC Agricultural Education program. Lyle Westrom recently visited Northwestern High School and offered a few suggestions for training a Dairy Foods team. |
The Crookston Collegiate FFA chapter traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to attend the 76th National FFA Convention. Ashley Bell, Shell Franks, Jonathon Gorentz, and Brent Arndt, all received their American Degrees. The American FFA Degree is the highest degree a member can attain, and only about one half of one percent of the total national membership of the organization attain this high honor. Lyle Westrom, chapter advisor and UMC associate professor, received the Honorary American Degree at the convention. Another UMC student, Dustin Heitkamp, received his American Degree and obtained a National Dairy Proficiency Award. Congratulations to all on their accomplishments.
- November 2003
UMC’s Collegiate FFA Chapter will hold its Annual Banquet Friday, January 10, at the River Bend restaurant in East Grand Forks. Special guest speaker will be Amber Haugland of Ambrose, North Dakota, who served as the 2001-2002 National FFA Central Region Vice President. - January 2003
Haugland, 20, met with thousands of FFA members during her year of service as she and the five officers on her team each traveled more than 120,000 miles promoting agricultural education, FFA, and the industry of agriculture. In addition to meeting with members on the local, state, and national levels, the officers met with leaders in government, education, business, and agriculture. They also traveled to Japan to provide a forum for discussion of global agriculture and trade issues. - January 2003 |
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Congratulations to Lyle Westrom, Associate Professor, Agricultural Education, who was selected by UMC students as the advisor making the most impact on students' lives! Voting was sponsored on November 13 by the Crookston Student Association.
- November 2002
 Dawn (McClean) Melbye (UMC ’97 alum) of Thief River Falls, MN, received the Outstanding Young Educator Award from the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE). She currently teaches at Lincoln High School in TRF (She’s pictured with TRF Superintendent Irving Peterson) and was instrumental in establishing the ag program there as well as a growing FFA chapter that boasts over 40 students.
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