AUDIO: Cheryl Lesko, National 4-H Council and Darren Wallis, Bayer
American youth can win a trip to the National Agri-Science Summit through a photo contest.
The National 4-H Council and Bayer encourage American youth to consider how science impacts their daily lives through the ?Why Science Matters to Me? photo contest. The photo contest kicks-off the collaborative program Science Matters. Cheryl Lesko, with the National 4-H Council, talks about the photo contest?s purpose.
?Our hope for (the photo contest) is to have kids ages 14 through 18, whether they?re in a 4-H club or not, submit a photo ? showing how science is a part of their everyday life,? Lesko said. ?We want to inspire them to think that it?s not just something they learn in a classroom or a subject they have to take. (When) they submit that photo to us, they then will have a chance to win a trip to the National Agri-Science Summit, in Washington, D.C., in January.?
To participate in the photo contest, students can submit a photo to the 4-H website or Instagram. The photo should include a 300-word maximum caption explaining why science matters to them. All posts must include #ScienceMattersContest and be submitted by November 26.
A panel of judges comprised of both Bayer and National 4-H Council employees will review all entries. The panel will then select 10 finalists. Following the panel selection, the public will help choose the winners by voting for their favorite photo on the 4-H website. Public voting will be open from December 1 through December 6.
Three grand prize winners will receive a trip for three to the National Youth Summit on Agri-Science in Washington, D.C. The National Youth Summit on Agri-Science will be held January 12 through 15, 2018.
?It?s a great opportunity for (youth) to learn about modern agriculture and how science might apply in agriculture,? Lesko said. ?It also gives them an opportunity to talk to folks such as Bayer employees, so they can learn about careers in Ag and science.?
Darren Wallis serves as Vice President of Communication for Bayer?s Crop Science Division. Wallis says youth participating in the Summit will one day determine science?s future.
?For Agri-science and the future, it?s tremendous to have youth excited about science,? Wallis said. ?It?s about educated policymakers and consumers ? who understand how science positively effects their life every day.?
