ACRS21

Meet Our Team

Headshot photo of Dr. Sharon Freeman.

Dr. Sharon Freeman

Principal Investigator

Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21)

ACRS21 Project ManagerAnimal Science and Agricultural Education Department

sfreeman@mail.fresnostate.edu

Dr. Sharon Freeman’s grant responsibilities include, managing development of the ACRS21 Certificate Pathway guidelines (HS, CC, and University), 30 teaching modules, marketing plan, workshop development and presentation, research, and undergraduate/graduate student supervisor. Dr. Sharon Freeman will also be responsible for the creation of an Advisory Committee, serving as a liaison for local USDA agencies, soft skills assessment, and assisting in the program evaluation process.

Experience: Dr. Sharon (Sherri) Freeman joined the Fresno State animal sciences and agricultural education faculty at California State University, Fresno in August of 2019. She is excited to return home to her birth city and share her passion for agricultural education, continue her research, and create impactful student learning opportunities. Dr. Freeman has extensive experience teaching agricultural education at the high school level for 18 years, the community college level for 2 years, and at the university level for 5 years. She earned a doctoral degree in Agricultural Education with Texas A&M and Texas Tech Universities and her dissertation focused on analysis of soft skills development. She has conducted soft skill research at the high school, community college and university levels.

Education: BS - Cal Poly Pomona (Agricultural Business), MS - Cal Poly Pomona (Agricultural Science), EdD - Texas A&M/Texas Tech (Agricultural Education)

Personal: Dr. Freeman resides in the foothills above Fresno and enjoys riding horses, packing mules, and working cattle with family and friends. She has three children, a son-in-law, and two granddaughters that are the light of her life.

Nancy Vue

Co-Principal Investigator

Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21)

Coordinator of Internships and Professional Experiences

Jordan Advising and Career Development Center

nvue@csufresno.edu

As the Co-Principal Investigator for ACRS21, Nancy is responsible for developing the job shadowing, internship, and mentoring guidelines for all three educational levels, assisting with the creation of the ACRS21 Certificate Pathway, managing student certificate progress, and serving as the USDA student internship coordinator.

In addition to her work with ACRS21 Nancy is the Coordinator of Internships and Professional Experiences with the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Imelda meets with all students from the college. She assists with student professional development, resume review, searching for internships or jobs, coordinating recruitment events and overall student career planning.

Education: Nancy graduated from Fresno State with a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education Administration and Leadership in 2020 and a Bachelor's degree from UC Merced in 2018.

Personal: Nancy is a competitor at playing games of all nature and frequently relaxes in the comfort of her home with a movie or show playing in the background. She enjoys spending time with her family and loved ones, while also learning about interior/event decorating in her spare time. Recently, she germinated and planted a mango seed, feel free to ask about it next time you see her!

Jocelyne Juarez

Community College Liaison & The Wonderful Education Liaison

Agriculture Careers Readiness Certification Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21)

Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education Department

joju1221@mail.fresnostate.edu

As the community college liaison for ACRS21, Jocelyne is responsible for investigating how community colleges that offer agriculture programs assist in developing careers, personal, and soft skills for their students and how those activities align with Career Technical Education Standards. Through this, a college version of Agriculture Experience Tracker (AET) will be used to follow student progress. In addition, Jocelyne will be utilizing her previous work and education experiences and connections with Wonderful to guide the ACRS21 Certificate Pathway Program.

Experience: Jocelyne joined FFA and began learning about agriculture her freshman year of high school. She also enrolled in the Ag Prep Wonderful Program to become a dual enrollment student. After becoming involved in FFA all four years of high school, Jocelyne continued to stay involved in agriculture throughout college. She has served as a Multicultural Agricultural Ambassador, on the FFA Field Day Committee, and continued as a Wonderful Scholar. Jocelyne also got accepted to the Jordan Honors Program where she is conducting a research project to identify what experiential learning activities contribute the most to soft skill development at the community college level, which is directly tied to the ACRS21 certification.

Education: Jocelyne graduated from Bakersfield College with an Associates of Science in Agribusiness in May of 2019 and then from Wasco High School later that same month. She is in her third year at Fresno State where she graduated with a Bachelors in Agricultural Education in May of 2022. Jocelyne is now attending graduate school to earn her masters in Agricultural Science.

Personal: Jocelyne was raised in Wasco, California where her parents are educators. In
her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and dogs. She also enjoys
watching crime documentaries, going to Dodger’s games, and crocheting.

Stacy VanScoy

Agriculture Careers Readiness Certification Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21)

Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education Department

stacyvanscoy@mail.fresnostate.edu

Besides contributing to team meetings and discussions, Stacy’s individual responsibilities include gathering resources to develop training modules for educators. These modules align content standards with the ACRS21 pathway, and teach educators how to help students earn their certificates.

Experience: Stacy discovered her passion for the agriculture industry as an FFA member in high school. As a Fresno State student, Stacy has deepened her knowledge of the agriculture industry through hands-on learning experiences. From working on the Fresno State Dairy, to serving as a Jordan College Multicultural Ambassador, and even being part of the state-wide Agricultural Ambassadors conference planning committee, she has seized every opportunity in the industry that has come her way.

Education: Stacy is a Senior majoring in Agricultural Education with an Animal Science emphasis. She plans to further her education by earning a teaching credential from Fresno State, and eventually become an agricultural educator at the high school level.

Personal: In her free time, Stacy enjoys watching true crime documentaries and spending time with loved ones. She loves dogs, coffee, and Taylor Swift.

Ivan Trujillo

Agriculture Careers Readiness Certification Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21)

Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education Department

itrujilllo1@mail.fresnostate.edu

Ivan's role on the ACRS21 grant is to work on counseling and career guidelines for colleges and universities, setting up internships with USDA, and helping students find internships within our program. As, well as to design and update the website and assist with the creation of marketing materials.

Experience: Ivan has deepened his knowledge of the agriculture industry through hands-on learning experiences. From working on the Fresno State Ag Discovery program, to serving as a Jordan College Multicultural Ambassador, and even being part of the state-wide Agricultural Ambassadors conference planning committee, He has seized every opportunity in the industry that has come his way.

Education: Ivan is currently a Junior at Fresno State majoring in Agricultural Education with an emphasis in animal sccience.

Personal: Ivan grew up in Greenfield, California where he discovered his love for agriculture and animals. When he is not working, Ivan enjoys spending his free time with friends and family or spending time riding roller coasters.