MOOSE JAW — A Vanier Collegiate student has received an agriculture-related university scholarship for his efforts in promoting the industry and attempting to address students’ ignorance about this important provincial economic driver.
The Ministry of Agriculture recently gave out a total of $15,000 through the Agriculture Student Scholarship program to four students across the province, including Noah Skoropad, who attends school in Moose Jaw and lives on a farm near Chamberlain.
The Grade 12 student received $3,000 for the video he produced; the grand prize winner, from Gerald, Sask., received a $6,000 scholarship. All four recipients plan to attend the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources next fall and pursue a bachelor of science in agriculture degree.
“It is an incredible honour to be selected because I know there was a lot of good applications (that were entered) … ,” he said.
It was important for the 17-year-old to participate because he’s going into agriculture at university and wanted to acquire as much extra funding as possible. He pointed out that this scholarship could let him redirect his finances to areas such as rent or groceries.
The topic that Skoropad had to address in his video — filmed similarly to videos that Saskatchewan-based internet sensation Quick Dick McDick produces — was about creating awareness of the industry, its sustainable practices, the effect those actions have and how farmers and producers can use their voices to promote their field and educate the public about what they do.
The 17-year-old’s solution was integrating agriculture classes into the high school curriculum.
“I had interviewed people from my high school and there was a lot of them that had no idea what agriculture was,” Skoropad said. “The fact they’re in Saskatchewan, there’s fields all over, and it’s kind of just bland. It’s just flat land to them.
Therefore, he believed that making an ag class mandatory for students in grades 9 to 12 could address this ignorance.
Skoropad took a day off school to create the video, with five to six hours spent editing the script and eight to nine hours filming the video. With a chuckle, he said that that amount of time was sufficient for a three-minute video.
The Vanier student thought the video turned out well, even though the weather wasn’t ideal since he filmed parts of it in the winter. Yet, overall, he was proud of what he produced, while the message he hoped to communicate was that agriculture is important, farmers and producers “do it best,” and everyone should know and be educated about those efforts.
Skoropad added that what he enjoys most about being part of the agriculture industry is the connection with the land, the hands-on experiences and meeting other great people.
For more information on the scholarship winners and their submissions, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/ag-public-trust.
