Horticulture Instructor, Students Experience Industry Events

A member of Penn College's horticulture faculty recently attended the GIE+Expo in Louisville, Kentucky, and "Landscapes 2016," a simultaneous educational/networking event sponsored by the National Association of Landscape Professionals. Carl J. Bower Jr. was joined by four students in the college's landscape/horticulture technology: landscape emphasis – three who traveled to the expo and a fourth who represented Penn College as a student ambassador for the NALP. Attending the trade show were Taylor J. Corbett, of Ramsey, New Jersey; Joseph M. Brown, of Erie; and Griffin T. Fulton, of Mertztown, and the student ambassador was Justin M. Rinehimer, of Mountain Top. Alumnus Jeremy L. Thorne, who graduated in 2013 with a pair of horticulture-related degrees, was an ambassador as a student and still volunteers to help NALP run its ambassador program. Ambassadors are chosen from landscape and horticulture programs across the country, and Rinehimer was one of nine students nationwide to be selected. The ambassadors help the NALP register individuals, set up the educational sessions and introduce the speakers. "This gives them a great chance to network with industry leaders and listen to a wide range of professional education, which is attended by leaders from across the nation," Bower noted, adding that they also get to visit more than 750 exhibits and tour a 19-acre demonstration area. “Getting the opportunity to represent Penn College at this year's GIE+Expo was something that I will remember for the rest of my life," said Rinehimer, who is scheduled to graduate in the spring. "The opportunity to meet with industry leaders, as well as making connections with business owners ..., was something that I am glad to achieve. I hope that future students will realize what a great opportunity it is to be a student ambassador and hopefully experience the same things I did."
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