Delaware Farm Bureau essay contest winners announced

Delaware Farm Bureau's Promotion and Education Committee expanded its annual Ag in the Classroom essay contest to include ninth- and 10th-graders this year.

First-place winner at the high school level was ninth-grader Aaron Jeffery, who received $300. Second place and $200 went to Cameron Curran, a 10th-grader. Both winners are students at William Penn High School in New Castle. Their teacher, Karen Ferrucci, received a $200 Staples gift card.

Alexia Inhof, a seventh-grader at Smyrna Middle School, won first place among middle school students. Third place went to Farrah Charles, also a Smyrna seventh-grader, who received $100. Their teacher is Stefanie Freimuth. Second-place prize of $200 went to Allison Aquino, a seventh-grade student of Debbie Kirk at Louis L. Redding Middle School in Middletown. Both teachers were awarded Staples gift cards.

Students were challenged to write about careers in agriculture, Delaware's No. 1 industry, and to describe their favorite of the many agricultural jobs in the state. Some of the careers mentioned were agricultural communicators, ag educators, veterinary technicians, plant breeders, dairymen, florists, accountants, engineers, agronomists, crop advisors, salesmen, food inspectors and crop farmers.