On April 16th and 17th, Jaquae Oliver Jr. participated in the North Carolina Youth Institute, a youth program of the Global Youth Institute and the World Food Prize Foundation, where he earned recognition as a Borlaug Scholar. Jaquae Jr. was the only youth from Warren County to attend and one of only three participants representing the 4-H Northeast District.

During the two-day program, Jaquae gained hands-on experience in food, agriculture, and science through a variety of engaging activities. He extracted DNA from a strawberry, volunteered with mulching, harvesting, seed starting, and building garden boxes at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle farm.

He also completed a research paper on food insecurity in Brazil and presented his work through a poster presentation as well as an oral roundtable presentation. While attending the institute, participants enjoyed cuisines from around the world and connected with fellow youth scholars from across North Carolina who shared similar interests in global food systems, agriculture, and scientific discovery.