Program Awards Environmental Education Grants LEESPORT (Berks Co.) Students from high schools across the state are conducting a variety of “hands-on” environmental edu cation activities thanks to grants made available by the Pennsylva nia Envirothon Program. Funding for the grant in the amount of $4,000 has been provided by the Pennsylvania Electric Association through its Special Committee on Energy Education. The Envirothon is an environ mental education program target ed toward high school students. Teams of students are provided with a variety of educational ma terials throughout the year and use their knowledge to compete with other students in their county. Winning teams proceed to slate and national events. This is the first year in the his tory of the Envirothon that grants such as these have been made available to schools. The grants were made available to all teach ers who participate in the Enviro thon Program. Teachers from more than two dozen schools ap plied for grants. Up to this point, students have been concentrating on learning. These grants will provide an addi tional aspect to the program by al lowing students to implement the knowledge they have accumulated in a practical way. At the same lime, students are completing tasks that will benefit their entire community by allowing educa tional opportunities for the general public. One such example is the crea tion of a nature trail with teaching 'stations which can be used for classrooms and adult education activities. Other activities range from stream monitoring and cleaning to producing a slide show on eneigy production in Pennsyl vania for science classes. All of the activities will place a special emphasis on energy or energy conservation. “We are very excited about this program and hope that it will pro vide teachers with the opportunity to expand their Envirothon exper ience by conducting activities that show the close interdependency between energy and the environ ment;” said Bill Baltic, chairman of PEA’s Education committee. For more information about the Pennsylvania Envirothon Program or this grant program, write to the Envirothon at 225 Pine Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, (717) 238-4998 or contact your local conservation district office. Ag Republicans HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Republican State Committee Chairman, Anne Anstine, whose family owns Annlick Farm Supply in Port Royal, has been chosen as the Keystone Speaker for the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylva nia Ag Republicans. The meeting will be held at 2:00 on Monday, January 10th in Room C of the Farm Show Building, in Harris burg. Mrs. Anstine has served in the capacity of State Chairman since 1990. Previous to that, she was the Vice-Chairman for six years. The entire membership is encouraged to attend this meeting. Agenda items for the meeting include upcoming dates and event announcements, committee reports on membership, public policy and public relations and a legislative update given by Rep resentative John Barley, House Policy Chairman. Berks Sheep Family Club. For Fashion Revue, she always makes something out of wool. Last year at the Reading Fair, she won the senior lead line for her outfit—a wool dress with a wool. Bolero jacket. The hardest part about the pro ject is finding the wool, some of which must be boiled, Nancy said. “We have to get it in Philadel phia or send away for it,” she said. In her spare time, which isn’t much, Stephanie tries her hand at spinning wool on her spinning wheel. It’s fun, she said. It just takes time and patience to keep the yam even. Nancy and Roger also are active in the community. They are both 4-H leaders, and Nancy is on the 4-H development committee, whose chief project at the moment is to build a pole bam behind the 4-H community Center in Lees port Roger is vice president of the Berks County Wool Growers Association. In a unique twist, Michael is involved in a work-study program where he works part-time on the Barry Gauker farm in Fleetwood. For this he gets paid and receives two course credits. For all of his efforts in FFA, he will receive the Keystone degree at the Farm Show. In between all these activities, there’s the Farm Show to get ready for. This will be the seventh year at the Farm Show for Stephanie, who has received two third-places in showmanship. Last year she also won fourth place in the crossbreed market hogs category. Hogs are animals Stephanie likes a lot, but, with all the sheep on the farm, there is no room for pigs. “I would love to have them,” Stephanie said. “They’re easy to get ready for show and to fit. (Continued from Pag* AM) They’re a lot less work than sheep.” In the junior shepherd contest at the Farm Show the last two years, Stephanie finished sixth place out of 20. In the fleece division, Roger said their entries usually do well, taking first and second in ram fleeces and second and fourth in ewe fleeces. But the market lamb division is what the Bowmans want to capture. “Our sheep are a little on the small side,” Roger said as he ushered a visitor into the bam to unveil their hope for the future: a large yearling Corriedale ram named “Dick.” Stephanie and Michael with ewes In the background Lwiimr,nwiiw.uw)Hy, ft mx m* A large animal, Roger said Dick is considered to be an “extreme ram,” whose genetic characteris tics ought to help the rest of the flock in height and length. About a dozen of the ewes are bred to Dick, and the next few months will tell them how good he is as lambing season starts. Before then, Stephanie and Mike hope their 10 animals pull in more prizes at the Farm Show. Each will show five of the animals. “We work together," Stephanie said about their lack of competi tion between each other. That spirit is the kind Rick Kauffman, Berks County 4-H extension agent, said is what helps build a good 4-H community. “They arc extremely hard work ing people and very dependable,” he said about the family. “They really work well together and they give a lot back to the program.”
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