A quartet of West Virginia University students received two of the highest awards available to university students during the national FFA convention.

The students, all studying in WVU s Agricultural and Extension Education program, took first place in the FFA s national Quiz Bowl and received the Program of Excellence Award. Both award programs are organized by Alpha Tau Alpha, the professional honorary agricultural education organization.

The WVU group consisted of Cole Bishop of Goldsboro, Md.; Andrea Kneer of Walkersville, Md.; Sara Kreh of Middletown, Md.; and Jamie Snider of Cumberland, Md. The four were among more than two dozen WVU students and faculty who attended the national convention Oct. 22-25 in Indianapolis.

The Program of Excellence Award was established as a way to share activities being conducted by collegiate agricultural education organizations throughout the United States and to recognize groups that have done an outstanding job of planning and executing activities in the following categories: professional development, fundraising, community service and fellowship. WVU s program was recognized for overall excellence.

The Quiz Bowl featured 12 four-member teams answering questions in the areas of technical agriculture, professional education and agricultural education organizations.

The conference was an amazing experience, and our education at WVU and in the FFA has really helped us succeed in this program,Bishop said.

I have competed as an FFA member at its national convention before, but this was a very different experience competing in a collegiate contest,Kneer said.We got to know other college students while competing, and it was interesting to learn about their agricultural education programs.