NEWPORT — Kyle Goulette of Norton received a Land Stewards Award presented by the Vermont Land Trust, along with a check for $300. Nine other students across the state also received awards.
Sam Nijensohn, Natural Resources instructor at Newport’s North Country Career Center, first met Kyle Goulette a few years ago when the freshman became involved in the local FFA (Future Farmers of America) club.
Nijensohn noticed that Goulette was eager to learn anything that would help him pursue a career in land stewardship.
Now a senior at the Career Center, Goulette was nominated by Nijensohn for the Land Stewards Award.
According to Nijensohn, Goulette is focused on quality work and doing his best, and has a thoughtful and caring personality that lends itself to wanting to be a good steward of his community, his animals, and our forests.
Goulette participated in a “job shadow” last spring, joining consulting foresters in the field. He was the school’s FFA president, promoting the natural resources program to incoming prospective students and travelling to the National Convention to represent the career center and state.
Goulette will be attending Paul Smith’s College in New York State next year, to major in Forest Operations.
He plans to immerse himself in the forest products industry as a logger, trucker and sawmill operator.
“With the opportunities I received and hard work I have put into the forestry program, I have found a love for the work it includes,” said Goulette. “My career goal is to one day own and operate my own forestry-related business.”
Since 2005, the Vermont Land Trust has recognized outstanding high-school students who are dedicated to agriculture and forestry. Juniors and seniors enrolled in agricultural, food and natural resource programs in Vermont schools are nominated by their teachers
“Vermont’s youth have always stepped up to the challenge and opportunities of caring for our farms and forestland, and it’s exciting to see the next generation taking shape,” said Tracy Zschau, Interim President of the land trust. “We’re proud to celebrate Kyle as a winner of this year’s Land Stewards Awards.”
