Area Star and other State/National Award Info

The Area Star award is designed to award those students who have exceptional SAE programs. They look for students with unusual SAE's, students who have gone above and beyond what other students do, and those who are simply extraordinary.

• A student who shows one pig each school year may apply but the odds of them making it through the first round are slim to none. This does not mean that their SAE was not worthwhile, it just means it does not fall in that "exceptional" category.

• A student who shows a pig as an eighth grader, keeps that pig to breed, buys a new show pig the next year, sells the piglets from the first pig, keeps the show pig from year two and breeds both, sells the piglets from both, and over the course of 5 years builds a small business falls into that exceptional category. That does not mean that they will win but they have a better chance of winning.

• A student who works in a local greenhouse is not likely to win.

• A student who takes a job at a local greenhouse and does something like convince the company owner to let them (the student) design a website for the greenhouse and keep the website updated and functional to increase business would be more likely to win.

Some of the Area Star winners I have personally seen/helped:

A) student interned at a vet clinic in the summer. The next year after turning 16 started working at the clinic. Within the next 18 months was promoted and given more responsibility than just cleaning and walking animals. The next year they took a few classes so that they were certified to perform basic procedures. This was enough to get the student to the point of Area Star, while they did not win state star it is still a huge accomplishment and an award. The summer following graduation the student did some out of state vet internships to help meet the American Degree requirements.

B) student