Aug 7, 2009

Shinoda Foundation Selects First-Ever Scholar of the YearSource: Pen & Petal Inc.

The Joseph Shinoda Memorial Scholarship Foundation has named Hillary Snavely, a Delaware Valley College horticultural student, as its inaugural Shinoda Scholar of the Year. The prestigious award honors the best of the best in floriculture, horticulture or a related field. The winner receives $5,000, a plaque and a letter of recognition.

“”This esteemed award celebrates the future of our industry,”” said Paul Ecke III, president of the foundation. “”Through it we put the spotlight on the growth, potential and possibilities these students represent for us nationwide.””

Snavely’s love of horticulture began with a part-time high school job at a local greenhouse and grew into a true career. “”After graduation, I would like to begin raising vegetables on my family’s farm in the hopes of combining my love for growing things with my passion for agriculture,”” she said.

Raised on a farm in Manheim, Pa., she is now a junior majoring in ornamental horticulture with a specialization in floriculture, nursery production and marketing, and a minor in commercial crop production and marketing.

Ranked first in her class at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa., Snavely was a Delaware Valley College Agricultural Ambassador and is a member of Collegiate FFA and Horticulture Society. She has received a number of awards, including the FFA American Degree, Keystone Degree, Red Rose Degree, Chapter Degree and Greenhand Degree.

Snavely interned with the research and variety trials at the Penn State Southeast Ag Research & Extension Center in Landisville, Pa., and leads a landscape maintenance crew at the Henry Schmieder Arboretum at Delaware Valley College.

For more information, visit the Shinoda Scholarship website.