Sue Wentzel, IEA Education Committee Chair stated, "This gives adult IEA members and leadership an avenue to hear the youth voice and to offer and opportunity for leadership to IEA youth members."
The Youth Board is structured with one student representative from each of the eight zones. After an extensive application and election process, the first ever IEA Youth Board Members have been chosen, and they are:
• Zone 1: Jocelyn Pratt - a senior from Acton, Massachusetts, and member of North Gate Equestrian Team
• Zone 2: Kimberly Pokstis - a junior from Warwick, New York, and member of Greystone Stables IEA Team
• Zone 3: Shaw Castleman -a sophomore from Charlotte, North Carolina, and member of Carolina Country Acres IEA Team
• Zone 4: Jessica Sherman - a junior from Maryville, Tennessee, and member of Last Lap Ranch
• Zone 5: Caroline Gute - a senior from Dublin, Ohio, and member of Autumn Rose Equestrian Team
• Zone 7: Alexandra Prymek - a junior from Shreveport, Louisiana, and member of Hidden Acres Equestrian Center
• Zone 8: Elle Haugland - a junior from Scottsdale, Arizona, and member of Scottsdale Equestrian Team
• Zone 10: Corine Astroth - a junior from San Rafael, California, and member of Strides Equestrian Team
Each of these representatives submitted their application for candidacy with a resume and two letters of recommendation. After verifying each application, an election was held in each zone and the members of that zone elected their representative. The IEA Youth Board will board will be counseled by two IEA Alumni and two IEA advisors:
• Alumni Representative - Hannah Bentz from Boca Raton, Florida and former member of Wall Street Farm Wellington IEA Team
• Alumni Representative - Aubrey Braham from Grove City, Pennsylvania and former member of Grove City Area Equestrian Team
• Adult Advisor - Sharalyn Prieskorn, IEA Membership Office Coordinator and Advisor
• Adult Advisor - Sue Wentzel, IEA National Steward
About the IEA
Founded in 2002, the IEA has more than 12,500 middle and high school student-riders across the United States. The IEA was organized to promote and improve the quality of equestrian competition and instruction available to middle and secondary school students and is open to public and private schools and barn teams. Its purpose is to set minimum standards for competition, provide information concerning the creation and development of school associated equestrian sport programs, to generally promote the common interests of safe riding instruction and competition and education on matters related to equestrian competition at the middle and secondary school levels. For more information, please view the IEA website at www.rideiea.org.