2008 MASEA Regional and NSEA National Student Employee of the Year!

Hello and Happy Spring!

It is my pleasure to announce the 2008 MASEA Regional Student Employee of the year, Jessica Scruggs, of Berea College in Berea, Kentucky who also went on to become the NSEA Student Employee of the Year!

Jessica has worked at Berea College for four years on the college farm learning all aspects of the farm including managing a cattle team. Jessica supervises this team which plans and implements feeding, breeding, healthcare, purchases, sales, fence repair, and barn maintenance for the farm’s cattle.

Specifically, Jessica’s supervisor has stated:“I remember starting with a shy young woman that had more energy than any two people and with guidance and coaching have channeled that drive into one of the most productive student workers we have had on the farm. To see her mature and grow in responsibility, in using her head to plan her work and assume the role of teacher and coach herself, has been a source of great satisfaction for me.”

Jessica’s nominating supervisor is Bob Harned, and Darlene Stocker is the MASEA member who submitted Jessica’s nomination. The College, Regional, and National awards were kept secret from Jessica, but when she saw her family enter the banquet room she knew something was afoot!

I had the honor of traveling to Berea College during National Student Employment Week to attend the Labor Awards Banquet, tour the campus, and to present Jessica with the MASEA Regional and NSEA National Student Employee of the Year award. The College, Regional, and National awards were kept secret from Jessica, but when she saw her family enter the banquet room she knew something was afoot!

Berea’s beautiful campus was founded in 1855 as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South. The College promotes understanding and kinship among all people, service to communities in Appalachia and beyond, and sustainable living practices which set and example of new ways to conserve limited natural resources.

All students are required to work on campus, while Berea waives tuition for its students, many of whom would not be able to afford a college education otherwise. The College is nationally recognized for its outstanding Liberal Arts program as well as graduating students who come to employers with at least four years of good work experience on their resumes.

The Berea College Labor Program embraces the dignity of all labor by engaging students in a work experience that is student learning centered, promotes work well done, and serves the college and broader community. This vision of labor and learning was established at Berea by William Ramsay, who was actively involved in NSEA and MASEA as early as 1975, and for whom Berea has named their campus Horizon Award.

It was an honor to be a guest at Berea College, to present the Regional and National Student Employee of the Year award to a very well deserving student, and to visit and learn more about a College that has a history with both MASEA and NSEA.

Congratulations to Berea College, and to MASEA, to have a regional winner become the National Student Employee of the Year!

Cathy Taylor
MASEA President