The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2013 $10,000 Agriscience Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Sara Clark, Ph.D.

Sonoraville High School
Calhoun, Georgia

Sara Clark grew up in Waycross, Georgia, working in a commercial greenhouse. She has taught agricultural education for over 20 years and motivates secondary school students to develop their personal interest from the many fields of Agriscience. She provides opportunities and facilitates the learning process by providing an environment that encourages students to explore.

On any given day, her room will have at least 10 students after school creating surveys to determine vegetable buying preferences of teachers, to practicing livestock evaluation oral reasons. By encouraging students to be independent learners and setting high expectations, she says it is truly amazing to witness their discoveries as they unfold. Sonoraville High School’s Agriscience student body has won many State and national FFA CDEs through the implementation of inquiry-based learning, teaching others, and self-directed learning.

Sara has taught at Sonoraville for six years and was recognized as Sonoraville’s Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Agricultural Instructor for Georgia, National FFA Alumni Instructor for Georgia, and a finalist for the National FFA Agriscience Teacher Award. She completed the National Agriscience Teacher Ambassadors’ program last year and is National Board certified.

Sara earned her Bachelor, Masters, and Specialist degrees in Agricultural Education from the University of Georgia. Last year, she completed her Ph.D. in Agricultural Education from Auburn University and completed research concerning correlation of secondary agricultural education students’ science achievement to number of agricultural education courses passed.