Cooperative Resources International (CRI) has awarded five high school seniors with $750 college scholarships. The scholarship recipients include Taylor Behnke of New Glarus, Wisconsin; Klay Oland of Sheldon, North Dakota; Emily Daniel of Tiffin, Ohio; Clint Dallas of Shawano, Wisconsin; and Dustin Salter of Eden, Wisconsin.
The scholarships are part of the cooperative’s Founders’ Scholarship program. This program, offered to children of CRI or CRI subsidiary employees, was established to honor the agricultural organization’s pioneering leaders. Scholarships are awarded based on academics and leadership involvement, with emphasis given to those pursuing a career in agriculture.
Scholarship recipient Behnke is the daughter of Lisa Behnke, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications for CRI subsidiary AgSource Cooperative Services. Behnke proved academic excellence along with outstanding leadership skills. She was involved in multiple extracurricular activities and held officer positions in both Spanish club and FFA. She also was involved and held officer positions in 4-H and the Green County Junior Holstein Association. Behnke has been accepted to the School of Nursing’s Freshman Direct Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nursing School and plans to become a neonatal nurse.
Oland is the son of Ken and Judy Oland, both of whom are employed at the Central Livestock West Fargo, North Dakota, market. Central Livestock is part of the CRI subsidiary Genex Cooperative, Inc. Throughout high school, Oland was active and held leadership roles in football, basketball, FBLA, National Honor Society and student council. Oland also held officer positions in FFA and 4-H, where he had the opportunity to further his leadership roles. Oland plans to attend North Dakota State University where he will pursue a degree in agriculture business.
Daniel is the daughter of Genex Distribution and Laboratory Technician, Roger Daniel. Daniel exemplifies academic excellence and outstanding leadership skills through graduating in the top 10 of her class and being involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, high school musicals and National Honor Society. Additionally, Daniel served as president of her 4-H club and was involved with the Seneca County Junior Leadership Club. Daniel also held officer positions in FFA and earned her State FFA Degree. She plans to further her education at the Ohio State University ATI and earn a bachelor’s degree in agriculture business.
Dallas is the son of Terri Dallas, CRI Vice President of Information and Public Relations, and Chuck Dallas, Genex Vice President of Diversified Programs, Services and Process Management. In high school, Dallas maintained a high GPA while being involved in orchestra, jazz band, Tri-M, FBLA and FFA. Dallas was also a 12-sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball. He further demonstrated his leadership skills through activism in the Wisconsin Club Lamb Association and holding officer positions in 4-H. Dallas plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison to major in animal science.
Salter is the son of AgSource DHI Field Technician, Dan Salter. During high school, Salter maintained a high GPA and played a big role on his varsity football and baseball team. Salter was a member of National Honor Society and active in his school’s club trap shooting team. Outside of school, he was involved in 4-H and the Life Teen program. Salter will attend the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to pursue a career environmental engineering.
Each of CRI Founders’ Scholarship recipients demonstrated hard work, academic excellence and outstanding leadership qualities. CRI is pleased to award scholarships to these individuals and wishes them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
CRI, a member-owned holding cooperative, is comprised of three subsidiaries: AgSource Cooperative Services, Genex Cooperative, Inc. and MOFA Global. The CRI mission statement summarizes the goal of CRI: “To provide products and services as effectively as possible to maximize the profitability of members and customers worldwide while maintaining a strong cooperative.”
