Nichole Neubauer grateful for the honour of receiving the Alberta Award of Excellence

Courier/Commentator Photo Submitted by Samantha Johnson. HIGHEST HONOUR: Nichole Neubauer, far left, with her daughter Evie, son Logan and husband Mark outside Clover Hill School, a one room schoolhouse located on their property east of Irvine. Nichole Neubauer introduced the student-led board of the Agriculture Discovery Centre to members of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce who came for a tour of the site.

By Samantha Johnson
Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer

Nichole Neubauer will be one of nine Albertans to receive the province’s highest honour and be received into the Alberta Order of Excellence this year.

Dr. Reagan Weeks, Superintendent or Prairie Rose School Division, who nominated Neubauer for the award said, “Nichole Neubauer have been integral in providing agriculture education to our whole region. Our students have certainly benefited substantially from that, but so have K-12 students served by other school divisions. Her projects – Agriculture Discovery Centre (ADC), AgPro CTF courses, Prairie Rose Honey – not only provide education about agriculture, but they also give students hands-on opportunities, increase confidence and create ownership and responsibility. It’s beyond farming and ranching. There are so many opportunities out there to explore and Nichole does a fabulous job of bringing that to life in our school system.”

Neubauer already had a personal connection to the Honourable Salma Lakhani after meeting her when she visited Neubauer Farms in September 2023 for an event. “She commented on how she remembered coming to Neubauer Farms and how much she’d enjoyed the evening and how beautiful it was to see so many people come together and so many partnerships created all for the good of children,” explained Neubauer. “It is very profound to receive this kind of honour. The recognition was overwhelming but as I’ve had time to let it sink in and think about it, I’m also incredibly grateful. To have the work I’ve been doing for the better part of 20 years be recognized with this high regard tells me we are on the right track with the importance of agriculture education and, ultimately, youth empowerment and providing students with an authentic appreciation of future careers, skill development and leadership development.”

The day after learning she will receive this prestigious award, Neubauer was cleaning out livestock stalls and repeated one of her signature statements, which is the work keeps her humble. Not one to slow down, Neubauer is already well immersed in the next project – her biggest ambition yet – the South Alberta School of Agriculture (SASA). With the ADC now in its fourth season of operation, Neubauer felt it was time to address the gap in ag education for high school students.

Weeks explained PRSD has received collegiate funding for SASA and bringing the many partners together to pull that project across the finish line is a high priority. “With people as tenacious and motivated as Nichole and Mark Neubauer, I have no doubt we are going to take ag education to the next level in SE Alberta. Mark has a ton of project and project management experience along with being an agriculture expert,” stated Weeks. “As a team, we’ve really leaned on them to guide us and create the kind of learning experience we think will provide the education, skills and hands-on experience students need to pursue a career in agriculture.”

Neubauer added this project has been in the planning stages for almost two years where she and PRSD staff have been putting together the dream on paper about what an agriculture program could like for high school students in the Medicine Hat region. Learning about agriculture is not something that can be done as a self-study or distance learning course.

“Agriculture is very hands-on and mentorship is crucial. It is something I firmly believe one needs to be a part of, sometimes for years, to create that visceral connection and become inspired to be part of it,” stated Neubauer. “Agriculture is the barn roof that houses all the disciplines within STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – because in the industry those skills are what we really need to optimize production and to do a better job of growing food in a sustainable way.”

The ideas keep flowing for Neubauer, who concluded by saying, “there are so many things yet to do and I feel like my story is continuing to unfold and there are many chapters still to write.”