WEST ALEXANDRIA — Twin Valley South High School Class of 2018 graduate and retired Twin Valley South-MVCTC FFA President Chyann Kendel has earned an Agribusiness and Production Systems Certification from the Ohio AgriBusiness Association.

The Ohio AgriBusiness Association provides an industry-recognized, agribusiness credential that verifies high school student expertise in the areas of agriculture, agribusiness and production systems.

To be eligible for the program, a student must be enrolled in a career­-technical agricultural program and complete three of the following courses, where they are engaged in learning and applying technical skills in foundational agricultural concepts:

•Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources

•Animal & Plant Science

•Agronomic Systems

•Mechanical Principles

•Livestock Selection, Nutrition & Management.

Students are also required to complete a course in Business Management for Agricultural & Environmental Systems or Global Economics & Marketing of Food. These upper­-level courses test students’ knowledge of global agriculture marketing and business principles applied in agribusiness.

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) ­- students’ out-­of-­school agriculture projects ­are also integral in attaining the new OABA credential.

To be considered, a student’s SAE must be an entrepreneurial, placement, or research-­driven project pertaining to the agriculture industry. The student must document at least 500 hours of work on their project(s) and identify the Ohio Agricultural & Environmental Systems Career Field Technical Content Standards achieved through their SAE.

The OABA congratulates Kendel for achieving this credential and wishes her much success as she attends Wilmington College this fall majoring in Animal Science and Education with the goal of becoming an agricultural educator.