- For 3 years, the classroom at St. Johns Agroliquid IQ Hub has been in development for 3 years.
- Now, the project is finished and is allowing young minds to take a break from the normal classroom and learn about agriculture.
- Video shows the classroom and the benefits it will have during the school year.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I’m your St. Johns neighborhood reporter, Russell Shellberg, showing you how a new classroom is getting students excited about agriculture.
This isn't just any ordinary day of school for these students at Durand Area Schools...
It’s a day to learn about agriculture at the IQ Hub in St. Johns, this time in a brand-new classroom.
"You’re going to take the blue bead and add that," said an IQ Hub Instructor.
"It came together quickly, but it did take a while," said Sue Kadlek, IQ Hub's Administrator.
Kadlek told me the project took a total of three years and $237,000 from grants and an anonymous donation, all to fund the education of agriculture—specifically, harvest, planting, and how farming benefits our state.
"Years ago, in the '60s and '70s, about 40 percent of students grew up living and working on a family farm. Today, nationwide, that number has gone down to about 2 percent," said Kadlek.
Kadlek says this is worrisome for the farming industry, but teachers like Mrs. Highfield understand the need, which is why she brings her students to the IQ Hub.
"We are a very agriculture-heavy classroom. I raise chickens in my classroom; I have animals at home that sometimes venture in. We do different experiments with growing corn and things like that. So I definitely enforce it, and after coming here, it becomes something that they love as well," said Highfield.
Now that the students have a permanent place to learn at the IQ Hub, Kadlek says the possibilities for education are endless.
"There are some really cool technologies in farming. If they have a drone at home, they can be a drone operator when they grow up. These drones come on semi-trucks and they will spray and apply nutrients or chemicals to fields," said Kadlek.
Kadlek told me the IQ Hub is open to all schools looking for an in-depth experience with agriculture. To learn more about the IQ Hub, click here.
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