Arkansas High teacher leads FFA students to win national award

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 26, 2004 – Curtis Mudford and the FFA at Arkansas High School will be presented the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service’s 2003 National Earth Team Volunteer Group of the Year award at 11 a.m., April 2, in the high school library at 1500 Jefferson in Texarkana Ark.

Mudford, FFA advisor and agriculture science teacher at Arkansas High, and his FFA and agriculture science students built 160 bluebird nesting boxes that were installed throughout Miller County in 2003 for Eastern Bluebirds migrating into the area.  In 2004, Mudford and his students built an additional 100 Eastern Bluebird nesting boxes that were distributed throughout Arkansas.

Mudford led his FFA students in outreach and promotion of the Arkansas portion of NRCS's South Central Region Earth Team Bluebird Trail.  In the 2003 Bluebird Trail, adjoining counties of the four states -- Arkansas (Miller County), Louisiana (Caddo Parish), Oklahoma (McCurtain County) and Texas (Bowie County) -- joined together to form a trail of more than 600 bluebird boxes.  The Miller County Conservation District was the local host of the Bluebird Trail in Miller County.     

Kalven L. Trice, state conservationist of the NRCS in Arkansas, will present the award Friday.  Barbara Horn, Arkansas state senator; David Haak, state representative; Hubert Easley, Miller County judge; Horace Shipp, mayor of Texarkana; Dr. Kathy Lease, superintendent of the Texarkana Arkansas School District; Chairperson Nedra Turney and members of the Miller County Conservation District; and Sonja Coderre, volunteer coordinator for the NRCS South Central Region will participate in the ceremony.

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