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Jacque and Cyndee Roszel

Jacque and Cyndee Roszel, of Monmouth County, met one another on the campus of Delaware Valley College where they earned their Bachelor of Science degrees in 1972 and 1974 and were married in 1975.

After graduation, the Agricultural industry was fortunate that the Roszels both came to teach Agricultural Education at Allentown High School to begin such dedicated careers. Teaching at Allentown High School allowed them to make a positive difference in the lives of over 5,000 students.

They also each earned their Master’s of Science degrees in education from Rutgers University and their devotion to the agricultural education profession has been exemplified by their commitment to student success. The agricultural education program has been in existence at Allentown High School since 1938, but for many years only included production agriculture classes for males.

In 1974, with the support of the Advisory Committee, Jacque and Cyndee began the work of converting the traditional program into a modern Ag Education format. With classes such as Animal Science, Plant Science, Equine Science and Environmental Science, Allentown was one of the first agricultural education programs in the state and region to change to this innovative layout.

The teaching methods of Jacque and Cyndee emphasized student responsibility and confidence by providing students with both knowledge and hands on experience. Jacque and Cyndee’s students have been taught through real world experience by participation in debates, hands-on demonstrations, and various farming projects. Through the basic principles of experiential learning, many former students of Jacque and Cyndee have been highly successful in the agricultural industry.

Under the Roszels, the achievements of the Allentown FFA Chapter were numerous, including over 100 first place finishes in State Career Development Events, more 85 Allentown members earning the State FFA Degree, more than 15 members attaining their American Degree, and more than 40 members serving as state FFA officers.

Jacque and Cyndee’s commitment have also participated in many local, state and national organizations including the National Association of Agricultural Educators, New Jersey Agricultural Education Association, the Vocational Education Association of New Jersey, and life members of the National FFA Alumni Association. Jacque and Cyndee have been on the NJAEA executive board for more than 45 combined years and have both served terms as the NJAEA executive board president.

Dan Kluchinski

Dan was born in 1963 in Passaic, NJ and graduated from Rutgers University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Plant Science/Agronomy with G.H. Cook Scholar Honors.  He worked under the direction of his mentor the late Dr. Richard Ilnicki, who encouraged a “city boy” to pursue a career in agriculture.  Dan graduated from Purdue University in1987 with a MS in Weed Science.  

Dan joined the faculty of Rutgers University in 1988, serving as County Agricultural and Resource Management Agent in Mercer County, achieving the rank of Professor in 2004.  Dan’s area of expertise included agronomy and sustainable agriculture supporting growers in Mercer County and the state.  His greatest programmatic efforts were research into the use of municipal collected tree leaves as a soil amendment.  This research is a critical component of guidance on the use of municipal leaves on farms and continues to be used for best practices documents.

Dan served as Department Chair and Associate Director of Extension (2003-2017).  As Department Chair Dan’s passion was supporting County Agricultural agents through mentorship, administrative support and the development of career guidance materials.  Dan also served as chair of the North East Agricultural and Resource Management Program Leaders Committee.  He served on numerous committees including co-chair of the Rutgers’ Cook College and NJ Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Strategic Planning Committee and co-chair, Rutgers Cook College’s Transforming Undergraduate Education Committee, as well as many other school and university committees.

Dan was the first Rutgers Cooperative Extension person to serve as an Advisor on the Certification Board, member of the Executive Committee and Secretary, and member of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Organic Farming Association -New Jersey (NOFA-NJ).  He was instrumental in establishing NOFA-NJ’s educational outreach efforts including the Organic County Fairs and Winter Conference educational meeting.

Dan was a long-time member of the American Society of Agronomy.  Dan served in numerous leadership capacities with the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) including Extension Development Council Chair, Board of Directors, Chair of NACAA Futuring Committee and National Chair, Early Career Development Committee twice.  Dan was instrumental in the formation of the Northeast Association of County Agricultural Agents and served as their first president.

He was recipient of numerous awards for his educational programs and materials development, including National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Achievement Award, Search for Excellence in Crop Production Award and the Distinguished Service Award.