The Eastern Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) and Gibbs & Soell Public Relations recently awarded $500 scholastic grants to Katherine Vegas and Nigel Calderon, two Future Farmers of America (FFA) students graduating from the John Bowne High School class of 2009.

The grants, sponsored by NAMA and Gibbs & Soell Public Relations, were presented to Vegas and Calderon for their outstanding scholastic achievement and contributions to the FFA program at the school. Making the presentation was Catherine Wang, NAMA Eastern Chapter president and an agribusiness communications professional at Gibbs & Soell.

John Bowne High School, located in Flushing, N.Y., has a specialized agriculture program that is nationally recognized as an outstanding urban agricultural education offering. The school’s agriculture program is the most extensive of its kind in the state.

A graduating senior of the animal science program, Vegas has been an FFA member for her entire four years of high school. She plans to study wildlife management at the State University of New York – Cobleskill. As an agriculture major, Calderon gained broad experience in animal health studies on the Small Animal Care and Exotic Animal teams at John Bowne. He plans a career in zoology or veterinarian medicine.

“Katherine, Nigel and the other John Bowne High School students represent the future of the agriculture industry,” Wang said. “By recognizing the achievements of these hard-working students, we hope that they are encouraged to vigorously pursue their careers in animal health.”