ST LOUIS—Meredith Arrington, agricultural educator at Effingham County High School, is one of 36 individuals nationwide who received the Teachers Turn the Key Award, given Nov. 19 at the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) annual convention in St. Louis.

The Teachers Turn the Key Award program (TTTK) is a scholarship to allow early career agricultural educators to attend the annual NAAE convention, giving them an opportunity to become involved with their professional association on a national level.  TTTK participants take part in special programming geared toward agricultural educators in the early stages of their careers.

Arrington has been the agriculture teacher at Effingham County High School since 2008. There are 1,800 students enrolled at Effingham County High School with 246 taking agriculture courses. Arrington provides effective, hands-on instruction to each student to meet his or her individual academic needs by offering a variety of courses. These courses include biotechnology, animal science, plant science, forest science and agricultural mechanics.

“We have gone from low student motivation to extreme excitement due to her personality, strong work ethic and commitment to teaching students about the science of agriculture,” said Billy Hughes, CTAE Supervisor, of Effingham County High School.

Each of the TTTK winners received a plaque and a scholarship to cover convention registration, travel expenses, and housing during the NAAE convention in St. Louis. RAM Truck Brand sponsors the TTTK program as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

NAAE is the professional association for agricultural educators.  The mission of NAAE is “professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy, and service.”  The NAAE office is located in Lexington, Ky.