POPLAR RIDGE - A freshman from Southern Cayuga Central School was one of four students in the state to be selected to discuss world poverty and hunger with well-known experts on the subject.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Southern Cayuga freshman Erin Mattoon stands outside the school with teacher Pat Brennan Thursday morning. Mattoon was chosen as one of four New York state delegates for the World Food Prize Institute to talk about poverty and hunger around the world with experts.
Southern Cayuga freshman Erin Mattoon stands outside the school with teacher Pat Brennan Thursday morning. Mattoon was chosen as one of four New York state delegates for the World Food Prize Institute to talk about poverty and hunger around the world with experts.
“I wrote an essay on the food struggles in Ethiopia,” said Erin Mattoon, the freshman chosen as a New York state delegate for the World Food Prize Youth Institute. “It centered on the implementation of irrigation, education and genetically engineered seeds.”
Mattoon's essay was originally just a class assignment, she said. As she researched more and more about Ethiopia's struggles, she became fascinated with the country and the causes of its poverty.
“They live with drought all year,” she said. “I thought irrigation would help that.”
Mattoon also noticed, through her research, that Ethiopia had few education systems in place, and that the ones that did exist weren't teaching about agriculture.
“There was also the issue of funding irrigation systems,” said Mattoon. “Genetically engineered seeds resistant to drought could be less expensive but have the same effect.”
Because of her essay, Mattoon was selected to go to Cornell University with 25 other students to read and defend their ideas.
“They picked four out of 26 (at Cornell) to go to Iowa for this and I was one of the four,” Mattoon said.
Des Moines is the home of the World Food Prize Foundation. The World Food Prize “recognizes the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world,” according to the prize's Web site. The Youth Institute is an offshoot of the World Food Prize, raising awareness of the prize's mission among students.
When students are selected to be delegates at the institute, they participate in a three-day program where they can discuss their research with peers and world-renowned leaders, ministers and ambassadors. Junior and senior high school students who attend the institute are eligible to apply for a fully-paid, eight-week summer internship in a developing nation, said Mattoon. Mattoon, as a freshman, is too young to apply for the internship, but will be eligible to apply later, as a junior or senior, said her mentor teacher Pat Brennan.
Brennan originally assigned some of his students an essay that could be about a global food security issue of their choosing, according to an article written by Brennan and Southern Cayuga High School principal Luke Carnicelli.
“As a class project, it was initially taken on with a little resentment by the students,” said Brennan. “But once they got into it, they did very well. It was a very loaded assignment for the beginning of the year, but they met the challenge well.”
Brennan registered eight essay writers for the New York Youth Institute, held at Cornell on Sept. 19, according to the article. The result of that day was Mattoon's trip to Iowa. Brennan and Mattoon's parents joined her.
“It was just a tremendous opportunity for Erin,” said Brennan. “She is respected by a lot of her peers and will hopefully get her classmates excited about this.”
Mattoon was able to take part in roundtable discussions with world-renowned experts on food crises. Speakers at the institute included Bill Gates, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi and many authors, ministers and former presidents from around the world.
“I didn't know a lot about this before, but I went there and heard about all the problems (Ethiopians) are facing,” said Mattoon. “It really was enlightening. It has changed my views on the world and may have influenced my future career.”
Staff writer Kelly Voll can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or kelly.voll@lee.net
Mattoon's essay was originally just a class assignment, she said. As she researched more and more about Ethiopia's struggles, she became fascinated with the country and the causes of its poverty.
“They live with drought all year,” she said. “I thought irrigation would help that.”
Mattoon also noticed, through her research, that Ethiopia had few education systems in place, and that the ones that did exist weren't teaching about agriculture.
“There was also the issue of funding irrigation systems,” said Mattoon. “Genetically engineered seeds resistant to drought could be less expensive but have the same effect.”
Because of her essay, Mattoon was selected to go to Cornell University with 25 other students to read and defend their ideas.
“They picked four out of 26 (at Cornell) to go to Iowa for this and I was one of the four,” Mattoon said.
Des Moines is the home of the World Food Prize Foundation. The World Food Prize “recognizes the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world,” according to the prize's Web site. The Youth Institute is an offshoot of the World Food Prize, raising awareness of the prize's mission among students.
When students are selected to be delegates at the institute, they participate in a three-day program where they can discuss their research with peers and world-renowned leaders, ministers and ambassadors. Junior and senior high school students who attend the institute are eligible to apply for a fully-paid, eight-week summer internship in a developing nation, said Mattoon. Mattoon, as a freshman, is too young to apply for the internship, but will be eligible to apply later, as a junior or senior, said her mentor teacher Pat Brennan.
Brennan originally assigned some of his students an essay that could be about a global food security issue of their choosing, according to an article written by Brennan and Southern Cayuga High School principal Luke Carnicelli.
“As a class project, it was initially taken on with a little resentment by the students,” said Brennan. “But once they got into it, they did very well. It was a very loaded assignment for the beginning of the year, but they met the challenge well.”
Brennan registered eight essay writers for the New York Youth Institute, held at Cornell on Sept. 19, according to the article. The result of that day was Mattoon's trip to Iowa. Brennan and Mattoon's parents joined her.
“It was just a tremendous opportunity for Erin,” said Brennan. “She is respected by a lot of her peers and will hopefully get her classmates excited about this.”
Mattoon was able to take part in roundtable discussions with world-renowned experts on food crises. Speakers at the institute included Bill Gates, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi and many authors, ministers and former presidents from around the world.
“I didn't know a lot about this before, but I went there and heard about all the problems (Ethiopians) are facing,” said Mattoon. “It really was enlightening. It has changed my views on the world and may have influenced my future career.”
Staff writer Kelly Voll can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or kelly.voll@lee.net
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teacher1 wrote on Oct 23, 2009 8:04 AM: