Class Pictures

 Our Agri-business class was privileged to have Erin Yost from American Bank and Trust come and talk to us about the lending process.

She taught on the 6 C's of Credit: Character, Capital, Capacity, Collateral, Conditions, and Cranium.  We are blessed to have professionals in the community supporting our program and we enjoyed hearing her
experience in the banking industry from an agricultural perspective.

 The landscaping class is reinforcing the benches for our fire-pit area.

Power Equipment Safety

Please read the safety information on the equipment you are assigned to and come up with a 3-minute safety presentation to give to the class on your piece of equipment.  The presentation will be recorded so be creative in your approach.  Costumes are highly encouraged!

Lawn Mowers:
http://www.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/support/maintenance-how-to/push-mower-engines/lawn-mower-safety-tips
http://safetyandhealth.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/22008

Chainsaws:
http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/saw/saw.html
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/3269-10N-05-english-06-27-2007.html

String trimmers:
http://safety.ucanr.edu/files/3142.pdf

Leaf blowers:
http://www.stihlusa.com/information/how-to-guides/safe-and-courteous-use-of-leaf-blowers/

Skid Steer:
http://extension.psu.edu/business/ag-safety/vehicles-and-machinery/other/top-10-suggestions-for-skid-steer-safety
http://articles.extension.org/pages/64425/skid-steer-safety

UTV:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/AEX-597.1
https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/BSE/BSE-44/BSE-44NP-PDF.pdf

Hedge Trimmer:
http://nasdonline.org/919/d000763/using-hedge-trimmers-safely.html
http://www.greenindustrypros.com/article/10233992/hedge-trimmer-safety-tips

Tractor/PTO
http://extension.psu.edu/business/ag-safety/vehicles-and-machinery/tractor-safety/e33
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/agsafety/equipment/ptosafety.cfm

Pie Auction 2016

 A big thank you to our FFA students for another successful pie auction!  A fun time was had by all and money was raised to help with a variety of projects at SBA including our FFA convention.

The rest of January

 Well, the rest of January flew by and here are some pictures from the last 2 weeks.  Our Agri-business class is studying a series by Compass Financial Ministries called "Business God's Way".  It is an outstanding resource and has challenged us to objectively look at our FFA chapter and how we can better serve God in it.  The above picture is sample of our class discussion on values of our FFA chapter.

 The Landscaping students are studying landscape prints and figuring out how to use scale measurements in drawings.

 The class split up in teams of 2 and then created a quiz for the other students from their print.

 The Animal Science class experimented with the energy value of different feeds including prairie hay, corn silage and popcorn.  In order to do that, we burned the feedstuffs and then measured how much heat the feed produced.  Guess which one had the most calories?

 We received 2 Lab Quests, which are like a scientific i-pods, from a grant from Dupont Pioneer to help accurately measure the temperature change in the water.  The Lab Quests also have soil moisture probes and ph level senors to use in our activities.

 Another successful experiment without burning down the shop!

Positive Aspects of FFA

This past week, PETA took some shots at FFA and Agricultural Education.  The following article was written in response to those attacks and I believe it paints an accurate picture of what FFA and Agricultural Education programs are doing in the lives of our youth today.  http://celestelaurent.com/the-truth-about-ffa-and-agriculture-education/

Class Projects

 Our landscaping class assembled benches for the fire-pit area this week.  They worked in teams of 2 and made quick work of the project.  We will put a couple coats of finish on them before we bring them outside this spring.

 The landscaping class researched careers in landscaping and created posters with their findings.  We have quite a creative bunch!

 Pictures of the teams in action.

 Our animal science class taught the lower elementary students about digestive tracts of animals.  I'm holding a digestive mural of a horse while the student teaches about how feed moves through the animal.

A month's worth of highlights

  Semester Finals, Christmas Break and now the Spring Semester is well underway!  Above is a picture of a senior student with a cattle handling facility model he built for his final project in Animal Science.

 The Agri-business students read a Beef book to the lower elementary students.  The book was written by a student at the University of Nebraska and was provided by funds from the beef checkoff.

 The book included great pictures, most of which came from a modern livestock operation.  After the students went through the books, we gave a quiz to the elementary students and they each got a prize.

 The Beef books do a great job communicating facts about the beef industry to a  young generation.  The elementary students receive a copy of the book and there are beef recipes in the back for them to try at home with their parents.

These high school students will make great parents someday!  Perhaps a couple of them will even enter the teaching profession.