Faculty and students from Texas Tech's Department of Agricultural Education & Communications display the department's First Place and Awards of Excellence trophies from this year's Ag Media Summit.
Texas Tech's Department of Agricultural Education & Communications emerged as one of the nation's top collegiate programs at this year's Ag Media Summit, earning top honors and reinforcing its reputation as a national leader in preparing the next generation of agricultural communicators.
'We are incredibly proud of our agricultural communications students. It is amazing to see their success celebrated at the national level.'
Students captured 23 awards in the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) Professional Improvement Conference contests, including four awards of excellence, nine first-place finishes and seven second-place honors during the annual conference in St. Louis. The department also claimed four of the contest's six prestigious awards of excellence, recognizing the highest scoring entries across competition categories.
Hosted by the Agricultural Communicators Network, Ag Media Council/Connectiv and the Livestock Publications Council, the Ag Media Summit is the country's premier gathering of agricultural journalists, editors, designers, photographers, public relations professionals and digital communicators.
Texas Tech agricultural communications senior Kirsten Bezner (center) holds the Forrest Bassford Award, presented annually to the nation's outstanding Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow student.
Among the conference's highest honors, Kirsten Bezner, a senior from Texline, Texas, received the Forrest Bassford Award, presented annually to the nation's outstanding Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow student. Savannah Sinclair, a senior from Panhandle, Texas, was named a finalist for the award, continuing Davis College's run of success. Students from the department have won three of the past four Forrest Bassford Awards and have produced finalists in each of the last four years.
Tayla Wiedeman, an agricultural communications major from Eaton, Colorado, was awarded the Agricultural Communicators Network Past President Scholarship.
“We are incredibly proud of our agricultural communications students,” said Courtney Meyers, professor in agricultural communications and co-advisor for the Texas Tech ACT Chapter. “It is amazing to see their success celebrated at the national level.”
The department's faculty also received national recognition. Lindsay Kennedy, associate professor of practice and publisher of The Agriculturist, was elected secretary/treasurer of the Livestock Publications Council Executive Committee.
Davis College students earned recognition across virtually every major competition category, reflecting the department's hands-on curriculum.
In writing, Sinclair placed second in long personality profile, while Kyra Holt claimed first place in short personality profile. Rylan Garza finished second and Tayla Wiedeman third in the same category. Emma Roberts earned first place in news release writing.
The design and layout competition produced another strong showing. Emma Roberts received an award of excellence and first place in page layout. Addie Carlson placed second in small-format publication and first in infographic design. Kyra Holt earned second in print advertisement, while Tayla Wiedeman captured first in web design.
Photography proved to be one of the department’s strongest divisions. Brenna Francis received an award of excellence, while also placing fourth in plant photography. Torrance Thedford earned first place in scenic photography. Berkley Carver placed second in both animal and food photography, Morgan Minnick finished third in black-and-white photography, and Kyra Holt took second in people photography.
In electronic media, Brenna Francis, Cydney Newson and Emma Henrickson earned both first place and an award of excellence for long video production. Students also excelled in public relations. Torrance Thedford received both first place and an award of excellence in social media campaign, while Kyra Holt earned second place in public relations campaign.
Davis College students also collected numerous honors in the Livestock Publications Council Student Contest. Berkley Carver won first place in photography, followed by Addison Carlson in second and Braelyn Pointer in third. Tayla Wiedeman earned first and third place awards in short form writing, with Addison Carlson finishing second. Sinclair captured both first- and second-place honors in long form writing.
“Each year, we encourage our students to submit their work to these competitions because we know the high-quality products they are creating,” Meyers said. “We’re excited they received so many accolades from industry professionals who judged their entries. This recognition helps demonstrate our students’ excellence in all facets of agricultural communications.”
Texas Tech's Department of Agricultural Education & Communications serves approximately 280 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. The department offers bachelor's degrees in agricultural education and agricultural communications, master's degrees in both disciplines, a doctoral program and an online Doctor of Education program designed for working professionals.
CONTACT: Scott Burris, Chair, Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-8689 or scott.burris@ttu.edu
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