Search
The World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute is growing rapidly into a model STEM program, reaching and inspiring students statewide to fight hunger in their hometowns and to explore STEM career paths. Students will participate in engaging activities and interact with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, ISU President Leath, and 2010 World Food Prize Laureate Jo Luck.
(Des Moines, Iowa) April 11, 2014 -- The World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute at Iowa State University is growing rapidly – it has more than tripled in size in three years - and on Monday, April 14, will bring together over 230 high school students and 120 teachers from across Iowa to explore critical global issues and academic and career paths in STEM fields. A highlight of the day will be student interaction with 2010 World Food Prize Laureate Jo Luck, Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, and ISU President Steven Leath, who is a plant scientist himself.
Dr. Norman Borlaug, whose centennial is being celebrated this year and whose statue Iowa recently installed in the U.S. Capitol, envisioned this and other World Food Prize youth programs as the way to inspire the next generation of scientists and humanitarians to go into critical fields.
The Iowa Youth Institute will connect students interested in science, agriculture and related fields with Iowa leaders and innovators on the cutting edge of science and research. Each participating high school student has written a research paper on a key issue that impacts hunger in another a country, such as water scarcity or gender inequality. The students propose their own solutions in small-group roundtable discussions facilitated by academic and industry experts, and students and teachers also participate in hands-on “immersion” activities in research facilities and labs at Iowa State University.
The impact of this event is having much more lasting effects that go past the day itself. Participating students and teachers have begun taking lessons they learn back to their hometowns to create and host hunger-fighting programs
- In Boone, a student and teacher organized a community hunger banquet and raised nearly $800 to send children to school and equip a school feeding center in Tanzania.
- Sumner-Fredericksburg High School recently hosted a school-wide hunger banquet and raised $250 for Oxfam America and the Fayette County Food Shelf.
- At Emmetsburg High School, one teacher assigns all sophomore biology students to prepare posters on world hunger, using World Food Prize curriculum, and encourages them to bring canned food to donate to the Upper Des Moines Food Pantry on the day of their presentations.
"These programs connect real-world issues and challenges that need solved to actual academic pathways and research that's going on right here in the state of Iowa," said Amb. Kenneth M. Quinn, president of The World Food Prize Foundation. "Our goal is to enthuse high school students about the huge realm of possibilities out there, and to dream big when it comes to choosing their future paths."
Maria Belding, a Pella High School senior, attended the Iowa Youth Institute two years ago, and says the World Food Prize youth programs changed her life. "I met other kids who were driven and passionate about major world problems, and met my best friend and business partner," Maria said. She and her friend have since authored "Fighting for Food: A Guide for Running Successful Food Drives in High Schools," which is being picked up by organizations nationally, and she has also spearheaded a new database that allows food pantries to post information about unneeded supplies on a website that can be searched by other organizations serving the hungry. The database is approved to begin a pilot phase in Iowa and North Dakota and is called MEANS, for Matching Excess And Need for Stability.
This year marks the third anniversary of the Iowa Youth Institute, and the 20th anniversary of the very first World Food Prize youth program, the Global Youth Institute.
EVENT DETAILS: This year's Iowa Youth Institute will take place Monday, April 14, at the Scheman Center at Iowa State University in Ames, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Media are welcome to attend.
WHEN:
8-9 a.m. Participants arrive.
9-9:30 a.m. Morning keynote, featuring 2010 World Food Prize Laureate Jo Luck.
9:30 a.m.-Noon. Half the students will present their research, and half will participate in interactive activities on campus.
12-1 p.m. Students will have roundtable discussions over lunch with Iowa business leaders, university faculty experts and researchers, and the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and ISU president Steven Leath. Teachers will network and share how they are incorporating the program into their curriculum.
1 to 1:30 p.m. Afternoon keynote, featuring the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and ISU President Steven Leath.
1:30-4 p.m. Half the students will present their papers and half will participate in immersion sessions on campus.
4-4:30 p.m. Closing remarks and time for students to interact with ISU students and former World Food Prize interns.
WHO: 350 high school students and their teachers from schools across Iowa will collaborate with Iowa business leaders, faculty experts, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and 2010 World Food Prize Laureate Jo Luck, former CEO of Heifer International. ISU President Steven Leath will also participate.
WHAT: The 3rd annual World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute at Iowa State University.
WHERE: The Scheman Center at Iowa State University, Ames. (Located at the corner of University and Lincoln Way; Enter from Center Drive.)
MEDIA DETAILS: Please check in at the registration desk on the first floor of the Scheman Building. Media are welcome to attend any and all parts of the day.
SOCIAL MEDIA: @WorldFoodPrize will tweet the event, using the hashtag #IYI2014.
More information is available at www.worldfoodprize.org/iowayouth.
Press Contact: Megan Forgrave, Director of Communications 515.245.3794 (direct) or 515.229.1705 (cell)
ABOUT THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE YOUTH PROGRAMS
The World Food Prize holds statewide youth institutes in several states to inspire young people to continue the legacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug and fight hunger by pursuing educational and career paths in global agriculture; the goal is to eventually have every school in our home state of Iowa participate. The top students each year and others from around the country are invited to attend the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute in October, where they participate in other World Food Prize events such as the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium, which annually draws 1,200 people from 65 countries, and the Laureate Award Ceremony. There, youth interact with experts, participate in hunger relief programs and activities, and present their research findings to peers and global leaders. Over 20 students from the programs each year are then selected as Borlaug-Ruan International Interns, and are sent on all-expenses-paid, eight-week internships at research centers in Asia, Africa, Latin American and the Middle East. Finally, students who participate in the World Food Prize youth programs are also eligible to apply for Wallace-Carver internships with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ABOUT THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE
The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, The World Food Prize has honored outstanding individuals who have made vital contributions to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food throughout the world. Laureates have been recognized from Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Ethiopia, India, Israel, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United Nations and the United States. The World Food Prize Foundation is based in Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States.
# # # #