The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $10,000 Agriscience Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Michele Sutton

Tompkins Seneca Tioga BOCES
Ithaca, New York

Michele Sutton grew up in Greenville, NY, on a small hobby farm with her parents and three siblings. She was active in FFA and 4-H, and worked in many facets of agriculture--inspired by her own Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor.

Michele left her ten-year career in government, to pursue an education degree when she realized that her true calling was to work with young people in a field she was truly passionate about - agriculture. During her first secondary school teaching position, she transformed an outdated, struggling program of 13 students into a program of more than 100 students in two short years. In 2005, she became the Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES teacher of the New Visions in Life Sciences program at Cornell University where she has taught agricultural science for the past six years.

Michele earned her bachelor's degree from the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Cornell University.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $10,000 Agriscience Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Melissa Braun

Gillett Secondary School
Gillett, Wisconsin

Melissa Braun's passion for agriculture has always been a part of her life, as she was raised on a dairy farm in northeast Wisconsin. After teaching agriscience to students in grades 7-12 for the last eight years, this Fall she begins a new venture at Shawano High School in the agriculture department.

Melissa teaches a wide array of agriscience courses, but has a great interest in the areas of food science, horticulture, and greenhouse management. Her teaching includes many hands-on activities and field trips to reinforce the scientific principles throughout her lessons. Her students succeed because of their immersion in the complete agricultural education model which involves all three components: classroom instruction, FFA involvement, and a Supervised Agricultural Experience project.

Melissa is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, River Falls with degrees in agricultural education and agricultural marketing communications.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $10,000 Agriscience Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Paul Heasley

State College Area School District
State College, Pennsylvania

Mr. Paul Heasley has taught Agricultural Sciences in grades 9th - 12th for 30 years. The program's courses are grouped in Career Paths including: Ag Mechanics, Animal Science, Natural Resources, and Plant Sciences. A senior year option includes a "Dual Enrollment" with The Pennsylvania State University's (PSU) College of Agricultural Sciences and 18 different Agricultural Science courses provided on campus or through the World Campus. The program has active chapters in the FFA and Young Farmers.

Mr. Heasley also has instructed pre-service students in Agricultural and Extension Education for the past 14 years through the Professional and Personal Development Center at PSU. He has earned many teaching awards including national finalist in the National FFA Organization's "Agricultural Science Teacher" of the year in 2009.

He and his students presented their biofuels project to the Association of Career and Technical Educators' Congressional Caucus on "Growing Greener." A Glycerin Whitetail Deer Feeding study with PSU's Whitetail Deer research facility lead to a patent investigation and will conclude this summer.