On June 12, WVMA President, Dr. Robert Leder, presented Edwin Schott, of the Sauk Prairie FFA, with the State FFA Veterinary Science Proficiency Award at the Wisconsin FFA Convention in Madison. This award recognizes the student who best demonstrates an understanding of veterinary medical practices and animal health care in Wisconsin.
Schott started his Supervised Agriculture Experience by riding with his Mom, Dr. Lynae Schott, on emergency calls after school. After helping his Mom, Schott began helping other veterinarians at Sauk Prairie Veterinary Clinic. When a veterinarian at the clinic suffered a heart attack, Schott was able to work full-time during the summer for the clinic and later assisted that veterinarian with physicals tasks. This unique experience gave him a lot of hands-on experience, and he continues to work for the clinic part-time.
Future plans for Shcott include working at Sauk Prairie Veterinary Clinic this summer and attending the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in the fall where he will major in Animal Science. After graduation, he hopes to attend veterinary medical school.
The top state finalists in the veterinary science proficiency area received monetary awards made possible by sponsorship from the WVMA.
Schott has yet to find out if he will be selected as one of four national finalists. If selected, he will compete at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., in October. The four national finalists will each receive a plaque and scholarship thanks to sponsorship by the American Veterinary Medical Association.