If you worked in this career, do you think you would spend your time working indoors, outdoors, or both?
What would you wear to work if this was your job?
What STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills do you think you might use in this career?
Why is this career important to society?
Do you think you would like working in this career? Why or why not?
These are some of the questions pondered by 436 students who recently experienced 5th grade “Exploring STEM Careers in Agriculture” lessons conducted in 19 classrooms around DeKalb County.
Volunteer Landon Faivre shares ag career descriptions with 5th graders at St. Mary School in DeKalb during a recent “Exploring STEM Careers in Agriculture” presentation.
During the presentation, each student studied a photo and description of a different ag-related career. They then answered the above questions and discussed them in small groups and as a class. In doing so, students explored a variety of farm and non-farm careers, what those jobs might involve, and which career areas seemed most appealing.
To emphasize the fact that there are many non-farm opportunities in agriculture, presentations were delivered by volunteers from areas like soil conservation, agronomy, finance, public policy, and farm management. Each volunteer shared information about their own careers and what makes their work unique and fulfilling.
Each presentation concluded with students reinforcing their new knowledge via several rounds of STEM Career Bingo.
Volunteer presenters for the program included Katie Betz, Bronwyn Burgweger, Brett Dienst, Landon Faivre, Dean Johnson, Eric Lawler, Steve Meisch, Bob Pritchard, and Evan Quinn.