Northeastern Junior College held the 50th Annual Agriculture Awards Banquet this past spring in the Hays Student Center Ballroom on campus. The banquet celebrated the history of the agriculture department and the Aggies Club with Braedon and Peyton Kloberdanz as masters of ceremonies. Top-performing students in various agriculture and extracurricular activities were recognized by the faculty, staff and their peers for their outstanding work.
The Jack Annan Agriculture Achievement Award is given to the top performing sophomores each year; the award has been given to students since the first agriculture banquet in 1969, first known as the Dekalb Award, until 1992 when the name changed to the Outstanding NJC Ag Student Award. In 2017, the award donned a new name – the Jack Annan Agriculture Achievement Award, in honor of Mr. Jack Annan. For more than 50 years, Jack has played a key role at Northeastern – first as an agriculture instructor and later as a vocational counselor – in recruiting students to this small, personal college where the students always come first.
Stephanie earned an Associate of Science with an Agriculture Education degree of designation and an Associate of Science with a degree of designation in Animal Science. She was active in the Aggies Club, Collegiate Farm Bureau, Ranch Horse Versatility Team, Honors Program, and Associated Student Government; was a student ambassador, the agriculture department work-study and a Crossroads Student Ministry leader. “Stephanie has been a standout leader since early in her freshman year,” said Mike Anderson, Agriculture Department Chair. “She has been a great asset to Northeastern Junior College, Stephanie has a passion for agriculture and educating others and will do great things in her future in the agriculture industry.”
Patrick earned an Associate of Science with an Agricultural Education degree of designation. He served as the 2018-2019 President of the Associated Student Government and 2018-2019 President of the Collegiate Farm Bureau; along with being a member of the Aggies and a volunteer in the Office of Admissions. “He is one of the best student leaders I have ever seen,” said Tim Stahley, Director of Residence Life. “He has a very special way of making friends with anyone he comes across. He is one of the most caring on campus and we have been lucky to have him.”
Each year the agriculture department awards more than $50,000 in scholarships to Northeastern freshman and sophomores. The 2019-2020 scholarship recipients were congratulated by Bob Plank. Bob has always been a supporter of the agriculture program at Northeastern. He raised over $12,000 in conjunction with the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative for the agriculture department. The scholarship recipients are:
- Caleb Baker of Snyder, Colo., recipient of the Bank of Colorado Scholarship and the BJ Langdon Scholarship
- Sandra Lockard of Otis, Colo., recipient of the Glosson Construction Co., Inc. Scholarship, the Brickel Brothers Scholarship and the Fleming Saddle Club Scholarship
- McKenna Carnahan of Julesburg, Colo., recipient of the Colorado Garden Foundation Scholarship and the Darryl W. Rhodes Scholarship
- Brittany Leist of Brush, Colo., recipient of the Colorado Garden Foundation Scholarship
- Cooper Carlson of Atwood, Colo., recipient of the Kasey Jo Walker Warner Scholarship, the National Western Stock Show Scholarship, the Sterling Livestock Sales Commission Scholarship, the Randy Carruthers Scholarship and the Doug and Shelly Stumpf Scholarship
- Cora Johnson of Watkins, Colo., recipient of the Plank Family – In Memory of Neil R. Sandstedt Scholarship and the Trinidad Benham Scholarship
- Alan Diaz of Lochbuie, Colo., recipient of the Plank Family – In Memory of Neil R. Sandstedt Scholarship
- Britney Filter of Weldona, Colo., recipient of the Bank of Colorado Scholarship
- Josie Bifano of Gunnison, Colo., recipient of the Trinidad Benham Scholarship
- Sydney Bowman of Brighton, Colo., recipient of the National Western Stock Show Scholarship
- Brooke Sigmon of Peetz, Colo., recipient of the First FarmBank Scholarship
- Justin Traxler of Akron, Colo., recipient of the Alan Baer Agency Scholarship and the Akron Auto Scholarship
- Cecil Shannon of Kim, Colo., recipient of the James Piper Scholarship
- Jessica Grisenti of Florence, Colo., recipient of the James Piper Scholarship
- Holly Heckendorf of Wellington, Colo., recipient of the James Piper Scholarship
- Quenton DiDonato of Morrison, Colo., recipient of the James Piper Scholarship
- Sarah Benson of Sterling, Colo., recipient of the Doug and Shelly Stumpf Scholarship
- Zach Arbuckle of Littleton, Colo., recipient of the Adam Ginther Scholarship
- Tanner Burge of Grant, Neb., recipient of the Brickel Brothers Scholarship
- Kirsten Wood of Weldona, Colo., recipient of the Carl Fonte Scholarship and the Justin Covelli Memorial Ag Scholarship
- Jacey Taylor of Montrose, Colo., recipient of the Dean and Vay Lousberg Livestock Judging Scholarship and the Fred Sneath Scholarship
- McKenna Young of Loma, Colo., recipient of the Hilbert Kahl Memorial Ag Ed Scholarship and the Jeffrey Grauberger Memorial Scholarship
- Lauren Froid of Greeley, Colo., recipient of the Keith Propst Memorial Ag Scholarship
- Modesta Everett of Salida, Colo., recipient of the Keith Propst Memorial Transfer Scholarship, she will be transferring to Colorado State University
- Devin Littlefield of New Raymer, Colo., recipient of the Michael and Sandy Underwood Scholarship
- Kade Dutton of Anton, Colo., recipient of the NE Colorado Bull Test and Great Western Beef Expo Scholarship and the Baker and Baker Seed Scholarship
- Riley Maranville of Ramah, Colo., recipient of the NE Colorado Bull Test and Great Western Beef Expo Scholarship
The agriculture department faculty congratulated the following outstanding award by department recipients:
- Lindsey Wagner of Otis, Colo., recipient of the Outstanding Ag Business Student award
- Stephanie Bushnell of Fort Lupton, Colo., recipient of the Outstanding Agriculture Education Student award
- Chase Markel of Wheatland, Wyo., recipient of the Outstanding Animal Science Student award
- Kaylee Traxler of Akron, Colo., recipient of the Outstanding Agri-Business Student award
- Conor Alsup of Sterling, Colo., recipient of the Outstanding Crop and Soils Science Student award
- Tara Hiatt of Elizabeth, Colo., recipient of the Outstanding Equine Science Student award
- Bradley Ferguson of Texhoma, Okla., recipient of the Outstanding Equine Management Student award
- Max Sorenson of LaJara, Colo., recipient of the Outstanding Production Agriculture Student award