A local high school student gave her interpretation of the area’s agriculture and progression in a logo drawing, and won the 2014 Beaufort County Ag Expo Logo Contest.

Amy Arnold, a senior at Washington High School, grew up on a farm. She has been a member of the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter and became president of the chapter her senior year. Needless to say, Arnold loves agriculture, which is the primary reason she entered several pieces of artwork for the contest, she said.

“I joined the FFA because I have a strong love for agriculture,” Arnold said. “I enjoy being outdoors, and I love working with other people and learning about agriculture and educating them with the community, classmates — anyone who is interested.”

The Expo, in its second year, brings local and regional agriculture-related businesses and educates area students on agriculture-related opportunities, employment or post-high school education for agriculture studies, according to the Beaufort County Schools website. Through a partnership between BCS and Beaufort County Farm Bureau, it will be held Nov. 25 at Northside High School. It will feature Arnold’s work in the form of T-shirts, banners and other materials, according to Sarah Hodges, BCS public information officer. Around 600 students are expected to attend.

Arnold said the expo is a time when the community connects with agriculture and see what it has to offer. Submitting three entries total, her winning entry was a rendition of the Beaufort County seal with a spin on the progression the county has made through agricultural-related business and industry. Arnold’s winning entry included historical, industrial, recreational and agricultural interpretations of the county, she said. Among some of the signifying features of the piece includes: fish, which illustrates the county’s relationship with the river and the fishing industry; rows, fields, wheat, corn; three lines, which featured a man on a plow, a man on a tractor and a man on a combine.

“I really wanted to incorporate our county as well as some things that go into our county’s agriculture,” Arnold said. “It’s an outline of Beaufort County. I put in a tobacco leaf, and our theme is plowing and cultivating our future of sorts, so I wanted to make sure this logo symbolized our county and the progress we’ve made.”

Arnold was surprised with a visit in class from Dr. Don Phipps, as well as Hodges and other BCS staff and administration, which informed her she submitted the winning entry, she said.

“I was shocked and excited,” Arnold said. “I’m really appreciative they took the time to come visit me. It means a lot to have my logo symbolize this great event, but also to have that connection and that they feel it’s important. It was just wonderful.”

Hodges said the Expo will feature about 30 exhibitors, ranging from Beaufort County Community College, Tideland EMC and other agriculture-related business, farms and organizations.

“We want to broaden the horizons of all students who have agricultural interests so they have as many opportunities as they possibly can,” Hodges said.

Arnold said she plans on attending N.C. State University after graduation and major in horticulture. She aspires to operate a nursery and enjoys working with plants, she said.

“High school has helped me prepare for that because I can see interaction with other classmates,” Arnold said. “I’ve helped out with agriculture and the classes here, and it’s really opened up my mind to what I can do with my schooling. I can see how I can interact with the world around me. I’m really glad for the opportunity to share something I love, which is drawing and agriculture and being able to display what the county has to offer with those skills.”

For more information about the 2014 Beaufort County Ag Expo, visit http://beaufort-county-ag-expo-2014.beaufort.schoolfusion.us.