Penn College Students Attain Beneficial Pesticide Certification
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Eight Pennsylvania College of Technology students recently passed the Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator Certification examination, a three-hour test that boosts their employability by adding a valuable credential to their job-hunting toolkit.
"This definitely gives the students an advantage," said Carl J. Bower Jr., a member of the school's horticulture faculty. "The employers love to hear that our students are offered this test and that many take advantage of it and succeed." In just the past two years, nearly 30 Penn College students have been certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
The latest exam was administered Nov. 16 by Jeffrey W. Bastian, an agronomic products inspector in the department's Bureau of Plant Industry.
The state's commercial designation applies to properties not owned or rented by the pesticide applicator, to nonagricultural uses, and to settings that include golf courses, parks, playgrounds/athletic fields, education/research institutions and schools. A private license applies to agricultural production on land that is owned or rented by the applicator or his or her employer.
Passing the commercial examination, conducted at the college's Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood, were brothers Benjamin P. and Drew M. Hodgson, of Pine Grove Mills; Michael J. Knepp, of Swiftwater; Aaron F. McFarland, Macungie; Garrett M. Book, of Lebanon; Joshua D. Snyder, of Milton; and Jeremy D. Vonada, of Belleville. Joseph H. LaMent, of Ranshaw, passed the private applicators' test.
Benjamin Hodgson, Knepp, Book, Snyder and Vonada are majoring in ornamental horticulture: landscape technology; McFarland and LaMent major in ornamental horticulture: plant production.
Drew Hodgson graduated in May 2008 with an associate degree in landscape/nursery technology; he now is a technology management student in Penn College's School of Business and Computer Technologies.
For more information about the School of Natural Resources Management, visit online or call 570-320-8038.
For more information about Penn College, visit on the Web , e-mail or call 800-367-9222.
"This definitely gives the students an advantage," said Carl J. Bower Jr., a member of the school's horticulture faculty. "The employers love to hear that our students are offered this test and that many take advantage of it and succeed." In just the past two years, nearly 30 Penn College students have been certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
The latest exam was administered Nov. 16 by Jeffrey W. Bastian, an agronomic products inspector in the department's Bureau of Plant Industry.
The state's commercial designation applies to properties not owned or rented by the pesticide applicator, to nonagricultural uses, and to settings that include golf courses, parks, playgrounds/athletic fields, education/research institutions and schools. A private license applies to agricultural production on land that is owned or rented by the applicator or his or her employer.
Passing the commercial examination, conducted at the college's Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood, were brothers Benjamin P. and Drew M. Hodgson, of Pine Grove Mills; Michael J. Knepp, of Swiftwater; Aaron F. McFarland, Macungie; Garrett M. Book, of Lebanon; Joshua D. Snyder, of Milton; and Jeremy D. Vonada, of Belleville. Joseph H. LaMent, of Ranshaw, passed the private applicators' test.
Benjamin Hodgson, Knepp, Book, Snyder and Vonada are majoring in ornamental horticulture: landscape technology; McFarland and LaMent major in ornamental horticulture: plant production.
Drew Hodgson graduated in May 2008 with an associate degree in landscape/nursery technology; he now is a technology management student in Penn College's School of Business and Computer Technologies.
For more information about the School of Natural Resources Management, visit online or call 570-320-8038.
For more information about Penn College, visit on the Web , e-mail or call 800-367-9222.