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HERSHEY, Pa. – Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation (PFAF) has presented Crawford County Farm Bureau member Cathy Vorisek with the 2021 Partnership in Agricultural Literacy Award during the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s 71^st Annual Meeting in Hershey. The first-time award is sponsored by the Foundation and is presented to an individual whose efforts have increased agricultural literacy among Pennsylvania students.

“I didn’t know if I was going to get it or not,” said Vorisek of the Partnership in Agricultural Literacy Award. “I was really excited about it. I was buzzing all over the place.”

Vorisek is a Pennsylvania certified educator, an active teacher in the Mobile Ag Education Science Lab program, and a regular participant in Ag Literacy Week. She is also a member of the PFB Ag Promotion Committee and serves on the board of the Crawford County Farm Bureau. She and her husband, Charlie, operate a bee farm in Linesville.

“Cathy is well known to her students and really connects with kids in an educational setting,” said PFB President Rick Ebert. “Her upbeat, positive attitude that she brings to the classroom really gets kids excited to learn about agriculture’s role in their daily lives.”

Vorisek, known to her students as the “Bee Lady,” has also presented workshops on beekeeping at local, state and regional meetings, and she has given talks at schools on the importance of bees in agriculture. She has done demonstrations on honey extraction, swarm removal, and has made connections with the public while manning the honey display area at the Pennsylvania Farm Show with the Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association.

She has also presented bee-focused workshops at the Pennsylvania Educator’s Ag Institute and National Ag in the Classroom events.

Vorisek said she sees the impact of her teaching when former students approach her and ask her how they can get started in farming.

“Basically, for me, it’s the education, the importance of farming,” said Vorisek.

Hundreds of farmers from across the state attended Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s 71st Annual Meeting at the Hershey Lodge from November 15-17, to set policy for the statewide organization on issues affecting farm and rural families.

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The Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation is an educational charitable organization supported by Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.