10 Students Awarded for Commitment to Vermont’s Working Landscape The Vermont Land Trust awarded ten students from across the state for their commitment to agriculture, forestry, and land stewardship. The students, who will be graduating from Vermont’s technical and career centers, received $250 each. This is the fourth year that the Vermont Land Trust has made this award. “Again this year, the Vermont Land Trust has the great privilege of honoring a group of motivated, accomplished students who have specialized in farm and forest management,” said Gil Livingston, president of the Vermont Land Trust. “The future stewardship of Vermont’s operating farms and working forests depend on the talents of people like this group of honorees.” The intention of the award is to acknowledge outstanding student achievement, encourage future land stewards, and increase the visibility of Vermont’s vocational agriculture and forestry programs, which are vital to Vermont’s future. The students who received the award are: Cecil Bromley (Wallingford)
Cecil is graduating from the Stafford Technical Center. He is a fifth-generation Vermont farmer who will work on his family’s dairy farm. He is starting his own herd and currently has a dozen cows, of which, five are milking cows. He likes working on the land and the quietness of farming. Nicholas Brochu (Hardwick)
Nick is graduating from the Green Mountain Technical Center. He’s spent the past couple of years working on the Lussier Farm in Hardwick, where he has been responsible for agricultural equipment operation and field work. He has received industry certification with LEAP, a loggers training group focused on good land management. He has also completed the Game of Logging program, a timber harvesting training program. Keith Downing (Bradford)
Keith is graduating from the River Bend Career and Technical Center and plans to attend the field naturalist program at Johnson State College. Before heading to college, Keith hopes to spend six weeks with the Youth Conservation Corps camping in the woods a working on trail maintenance and construction. He just completed levels three and four of the Game of Logging, a timber harvesting training program. Keith is especially interested in wildlife and has completed an internship at the Vermont Raptor Center. Timothy Foster (Middlebury)
Tim is graduating from the Hannaford Career Center and plans to study agronomy at Kansas State University. He helps out on his family’s farm by plowing, harrowing, planting, and harvesting, and is a member of the Middlebury FFA. Tim is also a member of the National Technical Honor Society, he received Outstanding Student of the Quarter, and placed 16 out of 115 students at the Vermont Soil and Land Judging competition. John Franklin (Guilford)
John is graduating from the Windham Regional Career Center and plans to study dairy management at Vermont Technical College. John works on his family’s 270-acre organic dairy. In additional to milking responsibilities, John helps out with the 2,500-tap sugarbush, a farm store, and a managed woodlot. He placed first individual and was a member of the winning team at the winter Vermont FFA forestry contest at the Barre farm show. John is also a member of the Guilford fire department.  Mike Jacques (Brookfield)
Mike is graduating from the Randolph Technical Career Center and will study conservation and wildlife biology at Paul Smith’s College in New York. Mike has participated in many community service projects such as Green Up Day and Firewood for the Elderly. He has also helped with the management of the Randolph town forests and with building the school’s new sugarhouse lab. Mike loves being outdoors and hopes his future involves a lot of time outside.
Evan Lockwood (Weathersfield)
Evan is graduating from River Valley Technical Center. He grew up on a dairy farm, where he worked with his father from the age of eight. Over the past two years, Evan has helped out at Black Watch Farm, which raises highland beef cattle. He participates in haying, feeding, managing fields, installing fencing and handling the animals. Even has volunteered for community service events promoting agriculture and has maintained an “A” average during his two years in the school’s natural resources program. He plans to attend the forestry program at Paul Smith’s College.  Joseph Marszalkowski (Panton)
Joe is graduating from Vergennes Union High School and plans to study dairy management and agronomy at Vermont Technical College this fall. He has been working on his family’s farm since he was big enough to reach the tractor’s peddles. This year he is helping plant 1,800 acres of soy and corn. Joe has been an active member of Future Farmers of America (FFA) serving as an officer for two years. He has been in many competitions, attended state and national conventions, the Vermont farm show and the Big E. His long-term goal is to come home and work with his dad on the farm, and to someday take it over.
Dave Myers Jr. (Island Pond)
Dave will be graduating from the North Country Career Center. He is a member of Future Farmers of America (FFA) and works on a farm on the weekends and in the evenings. “Dave is a take charge individual with great common sense and work ethic,” said his teacher, Fern Fontaine. Dave hopes to study dairy herd management at Vermont Technical College and to one day have his own sugarbush.  Caleb Swainbank (Enosburg)
Caleb is graduating from the Cold Hollow Career Center. He has worked on his uncle’s and grandfather’s farm since he was in fifth grade. Caleb was involved in the planning and building of a new milking parlor and freestall barn. Caleb has been president of the Enosburg FFA chapter for two years. He also won the state’s Master Milker Award and an award for horse proficiency. Caleb has his own team of draft horses that his family uses for sugaring. The farm has 180 cows and they are currently expanding the herd to around 250. They are adding on to the barn to allow for the growth and that Caleb will soon be able to work full time.
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