As a result of successfully completing the intensive program, which runs from eighth to 12th grade, eight Denison students will be receiving four-year, full-tuition scholarships to attend Iowa State University. Among the requirements of the program, students have to complete a science fair project, maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0, and participate in 75 percent of the program’s activities.  

The students, graduates, and their families will have the chance to celebrate all their hard work at the Learners to Leaders/Science Bound Spring Honors Banquet on Wednesday, May 16, at the Boulders Conference Center in Denison. Guest speakers include Todd Gerken, Farmland’s vice president of operations, and Dave Townsend, Smithfield’s assistant vice president of environmental affairs.     

Since 2007, Farmland Foods and Smithfield Foods have sponsored the Learners to Leaders/Science Bound program, an educational partnership with Denison local schools and Iowa State University. The program’s goal is to inspire ethnically diverse students to work toward degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

As part of its mission of “inspiring minds to strengthen communities,” Learners to Leaders challenges participants to achieve excellence in science-related courses that go beyond their school’s curriculum. And students are rising to the occasion. For example, the program stages an annual science fair that has produced projects as advanced as solar cars and wind turbines.

Now in its sixth year, the program receives more applicants at the 8^th grade entry level than it can accommodate. Of the over 60 current participants, many students are the first members of their families planning to attend college. Upon graduation, successful students receive scholarships to pursue a science-related degree at Iowa State University.

Larry Pope, president and CEO of Smithfield, believes sound education is the bedrock for building strong communities. “Everyone deserves a fair shot to pursue excellence, but some students face extraordinary challenges that interfere with their dreams,” he says. “That’s why Smithfield will keep investing in quality education for the deserving youth of Denison and other communities.”

To learn more about the students in Denison, Iowa, visit http://www.sciencebound.iastate.edu/denison/index.html.

When the TeamMates Program in Crete, Nebraska, was in danger of losing funding, Farmland Foods’ plant in Crete, Nebraska leapt into action. By forming a partnership between TeamMates and Learners to Leaders, an educational initiative of Farmland’s parent company, Smithfield Foods, they helped ensure TeamMates functions during the 2011/12 school year received continuing funding.

Farmland’s actions reflect Smithfield’s commitment to continue investing in the future of communities across the country through Learners to Leaders partnerships to provide support for school-aged youth in communities like Crete.

Visit http://www.teammates.org/chapters/crete.htm to learn more about how Smithfield continues its support of Crete’s TeamMates program.