Ag Construction and Home Repair is designed to provide students with introductory level experiences in the area of agricultural construction. Introductory woodworking and how to make repairs in your own home are covered.  Skills used to maintain a home such as framing, electrical wiring, plumbing and concrete construction will be demonstrated.  Students will also examine home design and the cost of housing and repairing.  

Ben Miller and Dallas Nye

Jameson Lammer

Joel Shetler

Jordan Miller

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Spencer Schrock

Reggie Hostetler & Joel Shetler

Nikhil Thacker

Lee Ebersole & Nick Wagner

JW’s Foods donated the flowers for the Horticulture class to plant.

Molly Heusinkveld and Dillon Bender

Katie Bender, Teresa Miller, Justin Boller

Horticulture Class

Iowa Mennonite would like to thank JW’s Foods for supplying the perennial flowers to help make Kalona look great for the upcoming spring season. The horticulture class went on a work project field trip to Kalona on Wednesday. The class, led by Ag Instructor Karen VanDeWalle, planted a variety of small perennial flowers around the tree outside the old Kalona Library. Students Dillon Bender, Justin Boller, Teresa Miller, Katie Bender and Molly Heusinkveld are in the horticulture class. Each student helped dig holes and plant each flower to establish the roots before the first frost approaches.

Reggie Hostetler, Cody Miller, Cameron Gingerich, Joel Shetler, Spencer Schrock

Exploring Agricultural Careers was held at Iowa State’s Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville on Thursday, September 6^th.  Instructor Karen Van De Walle took her Ag Business class to the event. Seniors Cameron Gingerich, Cody Miller, Joel Shetler, and Juniors Reggie Hostetler and Spencer Schrock attended. They rotated through three sessions: 1) Learn about the College of Agriculture at ISU and ask questions of present and former students; 2) High Technology Agriculture Experiences; 3) Agriculture and a Sustainable Environment.

Cameron Gingerich commented, “It was cool to see the new technology in crop scouting.”

Cody Miller went on to say, “It was a good chance to hear a bit about what Iowa State has to offer and interesting to hear about the new technology in agriculture.”

Timothy Bender identifies various cuts of meat.

Justin Litwiller identifies various flowers.

Miguel Sanchez completes the favorite station – identifying types of cheese.

Jacob Schmieder is determining how many hits of the hammer it takes to drive the nail into the board.

Rosina Ropp is evaluating horses.

Jenna Boller is identifying various smells.

Madeline Leichty is identifying seeds.

Instructor Karen Van De Walle is introducing her Ag Science and Leadership class to CASE (Curiculum for Ag Science Education). Today various stations of career development events in FFA were set up and the students rotated to the different spots to complete their assignments.

Cody Miller

Recently in Ag Projects class, Cody Miller completed his restoration of a 1983 John Deere 318 garden tractor. When the tractor was first brought in it had rust spots and the hood needed some fabrication work. With lots of sanding, sand blasting, welding, priming, more sanding, painting, and a considerable amount of time and effort this old beat up tractor was transformed into a “like new” work of art. Cody is now working on the mower deck and the blade to complete his restoration project.

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The first job fair was held last Thursday, March 15th thanks to a grant awarded from the Iowa Food and Family Project (Iowa FFP). The job fair showcased local businesses in various sectors of agri-business.

Students had the opportunity to meet local business representatives in the morning to learn about all aspects of the business. Following lunch, students practiced their interviewing skills by being interviewed by the job fair participants.

Thanks to the following businesses for participating:  BT Farms, Federation Bank, Gingerich Well & Pump Service, Hills Bank & Trust, Kalona Auto, Progressive Grower Solutions, Schnoebelen, Inc., Syngenta Seeds, and Wellman Farm Center.  Their willingness to give students an opportunity to learn about the diversity of job opportunities in the local agricultural economy.

BT Farms: Brent & Tara Yoder

Federation Bank: Jenelle Escher & Sherry Crow

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Gingerich Well & Pump: Mark DeWolf & Joe Allen

 

Hills Bank & Trust: Jace Bailey & Emily Miller

Kalona Auto: Lynn Helmuth

 

Progressive Grower Solutions: Terry Erb

Schnoebelen, Inc: Mike Eden & Ralph Schnoebelen

 

Syngenta Seeds: Jim Chenhall & Abe Ales

Wellman Farm Center: Chase Gingerich

 

Enjoying a lunch break!