The new STEAM addition isn’t all about Tech Ed. A big part of the new building is devoted to the Agriculture department. And Ms. Loehrke has become the full-time Ag teacher and FFA advisor. So I talked to Ms. Loehrke to see what she had to say about the changes and the new addition.
“I love the new upgrades!” Loehrke said. “From my experience in the Ag room and Tech shops last year, I was so excited to hear of the remodeling projects happening.
“The new extensions have so much potential. My mind has been racing with ideas of how we can utilize the new spaces just within the Ag department. Each area of the STEAM wing has had huge advances by bringing in new equipment, new technology, and overall more resources, [including] some as simple as having a board to write on or room to work on different labs.”
With the bringing in of new resources, the Ag Department got a brand new greenhouse. Almost everyone has remarked about this part of the addition, mainly because the previous greenhouse was built in the late 1970s and there was little to no technology inside.
“I am so excited to use the new greenhouse,” Loehrke said. “It has huge technological advancements compared to the old greenhouse that had virtually none and was very manual-dependent. [Earlier in the year], I was trained on how to use some of the controls. Although we currently don’t have any plants in the greenhouse, it has been cool to see the system work through balancing temperature and humidity by opening or closing different vents on its own. The last [greenhouse] was very much falling apart so I’m excited for the growing season to start.”
I also asked Ms. Loehrke about the new equipment and technology coming to each of the STEAM wings, because I was curious to see if she thinks the extensions will give kids a better education and understanding of each of the different departments in the STEAM extension.
“Yes, I believe the new extension is helping with the education of students because it gives them more ability to gain those hands-on experiences,” she said. “With all the potential of the new building, it is connecting students to real-world examples of items in that career pathway, giving them resources and examples to be more college and career ready. After all, that is what these Career Technical Education, or CTE, classrooms strive to do!”
With this ability for students to gain those hands-on experiences, I had to ask about the new animal lab. Once school started, it didn’t take long to find students and community members who were willing to bring in their animals. The first visit happened on September 17.
“[It] went great the first day we brought animals into the new Ag Department’s Animal La,” Loehrke said. “We had a two-year-old Holstein heifer and a three-year-old goat join us for the day. Students and staff alike were in awe and very curious about learning more about them, surprising me with how much some people didn’t know. It just goes to show that individuals who don’t grow up on a farm, or in that culture, don’t have the same experiences, yet it is crucial to have these opportunities as everyone should know the basics on animal agriculture and help to answer the long-standing question of where does their food come from.”
Loehrke explained that in the future, to make the animal visits even better, we’ll need to invest in more clean-up items, such as brooms, water hoses, a hay rack, power washer, animal combs, extra halters, and more.
