Three County high school graduates received the Beaver Dam Farm Sunflowers Scholarship this year.
Kirin Miller graduated from Lord Botetourt High School and plans to attend Virginia Tech and major in International Trade and Development.
She first became interested in agriculture when two of her friends encouraged her to join F.F.A. during her eighth grade year. Kirin almost immediately fell in love with it, and in the five years since being in F.F.A., her passion for the field has only grown.
Kirin has participated in the Forestry, Stockman’s, Veterinary Science, and Dairymen’s contests in F.F.A. at the area and state levels. She has supervised agricultural experiences such as working on her school farm, doing landscaping work, pet sitting, doing her own maintenance on her car, participating in LBHS F.F.A. chapter’s catering service, doing agricultural mechanics projects, her garden, working on small engines, cooking, and working on a dairy farm.
Emma Francis graduated from James River High School and plans to attend Virginia Western her first for two years then transfer to Virginia Tech where she will continue her education in Veterinary Sciences and earn her Vet Degree.
Emma has had a love of agriculture her entire life. Ever since she was little she has been fascinated by the work that goes into what we make as farmers and all the tools/equipment needed to make even the smallest of things.
Emma has lived on a farm her entire life (raised chickens and cattle since she could understand how) She has also taken AG classes to better understand how the lifestyle of farmers work. Emma has also entered a few livestock shows as a child (chicken and egg judging)
Andrew Fowler also graduated from James River High School and plans to attend Ole Miss for Civil Engineering.
Andrew has always loved to be outside and having grown up on a farm it was easy to do that. Helping his grandpa and dad on the farm has always interested him. This past year Andrew discovered that a field in agriculture isn’t the only way he can make a difference. With civil engineering, he can assist farmers and make their lives easier. Civil engineering is a very broad field where Andrew can specialize in different things such as surveying, bridges, waterways, and many more. All of these specializations can be used to help people in the agricultural field.
He have worked on his family farm since he was a young boy feeding the cows, checking on the calves, helping make hay, plowing, etc. Andrew has worked as a tractor operator at Layman Family Farms for the last 3 years. He has also worked as a camp counselor at Woodsdale LLC. for the past 2 summers. At the camp, he assisted children with learning more about the environment, helped them identify plant and animal species, and made the outdoors an enjoyable experience.
