Ruby Howell
Pratt Tribune
Several summers ago, Kanza Coop sponsored me to attend the Kansas Cooperative Council leadership camp at Rock Springs 4H Center. One of Kanza’s primary goals was to invest in youth to ensure a strong future for the cooperative. The camp was in its first year, and Kanza sponsored me because my father is on the Board of Directors, and my family has been longtime members of Kanza. I have also always enjoyed strengthening my leadership skills, whether it be through 4H, at school, or in the community. Here is what I learned about coops:
Imagine, the year is 1940, and electricity is coming to your home in rural Kansas for the first time. Farm resident Clyde Ellis recalls, “I wanted to be at my parents’ house when the electricity came. We’d all go around flipping the switch to make sure it hadn’t come on yet. We didn’t want to miss it. When they finally came on, the lights just barely glowed. I remember my mother smiling. When they came on full, te
Pratt Tribune
Ciara Hodgkinson of Pratt, Kansas, a December graduate in agribusiness, along with Summer Smades of Leoti, Kansas, a senior in agricultural economics, has been awarded the David and Susan Barton Cooperative Leadership Scholarship through the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center and the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University.
Hodgkinson was an active student after transferring from Pratt Community College to Kansas State University. She served as president of Alpha Zeta and served as secretary and vice president of Collegiate Farm Bureau. She has been involved in many other organizations including K-State Agricultural Economics-Agribusiness Club, Gamma Sigma Delta, Block and Bridle and Phi Theta Kappa. In addition, Ciara finds time to volunteer on service projects. She has completed internships with Skyland Grain, Kansas Farm Bureau and also worked with CoBank on an extended internship. Ciara graduated in December 2020 and will start a career with