Two scholarships were awarded during the MAGIC of Conservation convention in Springfield in July. Evan Kraft was awarded the 2024 Illinois Soil & Water Conservation District Employee Association Scholarship. And Bailee Stratman was awarded the 2024 George McKibben Scholarship from the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts.
Evan Kraft, son of Mark and Jackie Kraft, is a sophomore at Illinois State University, majoring in Agribusiness. He has recently completed a credit internship at GROWMARK this summer. Evan’s passion lies in conservation, agriculture, and economics. Jackie works at the McLean County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Evan Kraft – 2024 ISWCDEA Scholarship Winner
A 2024 graduate of Pontiac Township High School in Pontiac, Bailee Stratman maintained a GPA of 3.683 on a 4.0 scale and has secured financial aid from FAFSA, The Martin Scholarship fund, and The Chesebro Scholarship fund. Their extracurricular activities include serving as an officer in FFA, a member of Key Club, Student Council, and Growers Group. Notably, they authored an article for the Illinois Audubon Society magazine on prairie preservation and contributed to the passage of the 30×30 conservation legislation (SR632). They also collaborated with their community to establish a food forest offering free produce to locals.
In the next five years, they plan to complete a degree at ISU focusing on agricultural and environmental studies with ambitions to secure an internship with the USDA or Evergreen FS. Post-graduation, they aim to pursue a career in crop scouting and possibly further their education with a master’s degree in agronomy. Their dedication to learning, fieldwork, and research positions them as a future leader in agriculture, committed to helping farmers optimize their crop yields, and address field-related challenges.
Pontiac is served by the Livingston County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Bailee Stratman – 2024 McKibben Scholarship Winner
The awards were presented by ISWCDEA Co-Chairs Sarah Earles, administrative coordinator/resource conservationist for Ford County SWCD, and Becky Taylor, resource conservationist for Livingston County SWCD, at the MAGIC of Conservation – 2024 Annual Meeting & Summer Training Conference at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield in July.
Jackie Kraft accepts her son’s scholarship from ISWCDEA Co-Chairs Sarah Earles, AC/RC for Ford SWCD, and Becky Taylor, RC for Livingston SWCD.
