Media advisory issued May 30, 2002, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org.

High School Students Selected for AgVenture 2002
Noble Foundation program offers hands-on agricultural experience

ARDMORE, Okla. — Twenty-four high school students from southern Oklahoma and North Texas will be going on an agricultural adventure during AgVenture 2002, the Noble Foundation's annual educational program for students with a strong interest in agriculture.

Students were required to complete an application and write a letter detailing their involvement in agriculture, their plans for the future, how AgVenture could help them reach their goals, and what they believe the are important issues facing agriculture over the next decade. Participants were selected from a pool of 49 applicants.

Students selected from Oklahoma include: Josh Carper, Antlers; Rusty Crawford, Weleetka; Zac Foster, Faxon; Clayton Frair, Weleetka; Lauren Gibson, Lawton; Katie Gillian, Lawton; Kole Karpis, Milburn; Crystal Maggard, Thackerville; Ashli Montgomery, Comanche; Sandi Parr, Chickasha; Shana Robson, Norman; Korey Schenk, Chickasha; Dustin Scott, Thackerville; Randi Scott, Thackerville; Lance Shaw, Chickasha; Coty Smith, Lexington; Zack Thornton, Duncan; and Tarah Walker, Milburn.

Texas students chosen to participate are: Sara Cox, Bellevue; Tyler Garrison, Bellevue; Dustin James, Princeton; Micah McDonald, Denton; Justin Stroup, Princeton; and Owen Wuthrich, Henrietta.

The four-day program starts June 11 with a welcome lunch at the Noble Foundation's campus in Ardmore. Over the next three days, students will visit all five of the Foundation's research and demonstration farms as well as other agricultural businesses for hands-on experience in a wide range of agricultural activities. Pond management, pecan production, wildlife, prescribed burning and cattle handling are just a few of the topics that AgVenture 2002 participants will experience.

"AgVenture offers participants exposure to varied segments of agriculture and interaction with people who have chosen agriculture as a career," said Shan Ingram, education and special projects manager in the Foundation's Agriculture Division and AgVenture 2002 coordinator. "Participants also get to associate with peers from different backgrounds who have agriculture as a common interest."

For more information about AgVenture 2002 or other Noble Foundation programs, visit the Foundation's Web site at www.noble.org or call (580) 223-5810.

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release