Southampton Teacher Wins Farm Bureau Scholarship

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A Southampton teacher will be back in the classroom herself in June.

Southampton Intermediate School family and consumer sciences teacher Christina Cassel will be garnering new agricultural skills that she can pass on to her students. Cassel is the recipient of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s $1,500 White-Reinhardt Scholarship, which provides her with the opportunity to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, the district said.

“It is an honor to be a recipient of the White-Reinhardt Scholarship,” Cassel said. “With the knowledge gained from the conference, I can enhance my classroom lessons on promoting agriculture, and students will gain skills that will prepare them for real-life responsibilities at home, at school and in the workforce.”

Cassel has been teaching eighth-graders at Southampton Intermediate School for the past four years. An East End native, agriculture has always been a part of her life — her parents are dairy and poultry farmers who instilled in her a love of agriculture and taught her the importance of understanding food systems, the district said.

Cassel studied food service and management and culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. She is an ardent supporter of organic and local farming and has taught her students how to grow food in the school’s garden and then use the produce in culinary creations.

Photo courtesy of the Southampton School District.