OSU, Langston host agriculture institute for multicultural youth

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

A nonprofit organization created by Oklahoma teachers to help minority youth realize their potential through opportunities in agriculture has partnered with Oklahoma State University and Langston University.

The schools this week will host the first Retired Educators for Youth Agricultural Programs (REYAP) Agriculture Science and Technology Institute. It begins Wednesday, July 19, at OSU’s Stillwater campus and will include two-and-a-half days of research workshops and personal and professional development activities.

While exposing approximately 60 REYAP members in grades seven through 12 to agricultural degree and career options, the institute will emphasize the importance of science and math study in junior high and high school.  

“We are very pleased to host the REYAP institute at OSU and at Langston University and look forward to providing information and hands-on experiences to our state’s multicultural youth about the role of science in agriculture and new career opportunities in agriculture,” said Dr. Bob Whitson, vice president of OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. “Hosting this institute is a unique opportunity for us to show REYAP students what is available to them.”

Dr. Brent Westerman said dated notions of agriculture limit scholar recruitment and retention. At the same time, problems such as cedar-fueled wildfires, record-low wheat and orange crop yields due to drought, and the removal of products from store shelves following food safety scares point to the nation’s need for more agricultural scientists and researchers.

“Many kids today don’t know that there’s much more to agriculture than milking a cow or driving a tractor,” said Westerman, OSU senior director of the Field and Research Service Unit with the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. “We want these students to see that we’re involved in genetic modification of plants for drought and disease resistance, food safety, remote sensing applications, biofuels development, habitat preservation and many other fields that depend upon a solid background in science and math.”

Westerman and Dr. Ladonna McCowan headed OSU’s involvement in planning the institute. Both coordinate OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources’ outreach programs for high school students and were enlisted when REYAP leadership asked OSU and Langston to serve as the institute’s hosts.

“OSU and Langston have interacted with REYAP, but this is the first institute organized to introduce agricultural technology and research to its members,” said McCowan, OSU assistant extension specialist for Urban and Minority Environmental Programs with the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. “Because there are almost no minority agriculture teachers, the organization has to approach minorities in agricultural careers to mentor students and share with them about opportunities in agriculture.

“A goal of this institute is to familiarize the students with research concepts and help them develop presentation skills so that they’re comfortable having dialogue with professors."

On Wednesday, the students will tour OSU’s Food and Agricultural Products Research Center and agronomy research station. They will travel to Langston’s campus Thursday morning to visit its School of Agriculture and sample products at its goat research facility before participating in aquaculture and plant pathology workshops. When they return to Stillwater in the afternoon, the students will experience biochemistry, molecular biology, and agricultural engineering in more workshops.

“We want the students to know about non-traditional agriculture careers as well as traditional careers, but non-traditional — the agricultural engineering, genetics, biotechnology, biochemistry — is where most of the students’ interests lie,” said Rita Combs, executive director of REYAP.

“The students will take what they’ve learned and spend the rest of the year completing science projects that will be the basis for entries in REYAP contests here in Oklahoma. And then they will compete nationally at the MANNRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences) annual conference.”

REYAP was founded in 1994 by the late Sam Combs Jr., W.G. Parker, James R. Johnson, A.W. Hampton and M.E. Gamble. Its mission is to help African-American, Native American and Hispanic youth experience career-building opportunities and learn essential life skills through agriculture-related activities.

In addition to leadership, scholarship, citizenship and economic development workshops and conferences, REYAP partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Langston, OSU and others to provide internship opportunities for its 429 members at chapters in 50 Oklahoma counties.

“My father-in-law was a soil conservationist and vocational agriculture teacher, and when he retired, he realized there were no more African American vo-ag teachers in Oklahoma,” Combs said. “It was very disappointing to him because he loved agriculture, he loved children, and he loved education.

“He talked with other retired teachers who helped put together this organization that would unite the three. It took a while for their vision to evolve, but they got it going, and we stand on their shoulders today.”