LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation has awarded 22 teachers with funds to support agricultural education and FFA programs across the state.
The awards, known as the Dr. Allen G. and Kay L. Blezek Teacher Retention Awards, aim to help keep early-career agricultural education teachers in Nebraska classrooms. Recipients are all within their first five years of teaching and are eligible for increasing awards as their impact grows in the classroom, in FFA chapters, and within their communities.
“The Dr. Allen G. and Kay L. Blezek Teacher Retention Award is an investment in the future of Nebraska agriculture,” said Megahn Schafer, executive director of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation. “We are very proud to support these teachers as they get established in their classrooms and communities. Since agriculture is Nebraska’s leading industry, we know that investing in agricultural education and its teachers will continue to produce returns for years to come.”
The award, a long-standing program of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, was renamed in recognition of an estate gift from Dr. Allen Blezek. Dr. Blezek was an agricultural education teacher, the first director of the Nebraska LEAD program, and a founding member of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation board of directors.
This year’s 22 award recipients represent schools across Nebraska, including:
- Kiley Codner, Hall County
- Andra Smith, Cherry County
- Kelsey Steinkraus, Chase County
- Megan Skibinski, Valley County
- Kaydie Brandl, Platte County
- Colton Husa, Gage County
- Maren DeJonge, Richardson County
- Toriann Holly, Jefferson County
- Nick Birdsley, Douglas County
- Trevor Mann, Lincoln County
- Hallett Moomey, Buffalo County
- Tanner Nun, Gage County
- Payden Woodruff, Hall County
- Jocelyn Pohl, Morrill County
- Kealey Widdowson, Buffalo County
- Mikayla Martensen, Platte County
- Kylie Kinley, Nuckolls County
- Emily Kammerer, Lincoln County
- Mai Lee Olsen, Banner County
- Kayla Mues, Dundy County
- Caleb tenBensel, Custer County
- Lexi Meister, Cuming County
The Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation’s mission is to engage youth, educators, and the general public to promote an understanding of the vital importance of agriculture in the lives of all Nebraskans. It operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
For more information about the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, visit www.nefbfoundation.org.