Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

Members of the Watertown Area FFA Chapter show off their new FFA jackets. These agriculture education students are charter members of a high school program offered by Lake Area Technical Institute. Tri-State Neighbor photo by Lura Roti

Before he even received his agriculture education degree from South Dakota State University, Jason Frerichs, 23, knew where he wanted to teach - Watertown, S.D. The challenge standing between him and his dream job was the fact that Watertown lost its high school agriculture education program in 2004.

Seeing this challenge as an opportunity, Frerichs, worked with Lake Area Technical Institute and Watertown High School to start a new high school agriculture education program and charter the Watertown Area FFA Chapter inside the walls of Lake Area Technical Institute.

“It was disappointing to see the FFA chapter go away after they cut the agriculture education program so I wanted to find a way to integrate things and to get it to work,” said Frerichs, who served as a state FFA officer the year the Watertown agriculture education program was cut.

A year and a half ago Frerichs met with Jim Clendenin, head of the agriculture department at Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) to pitch the idea of LATI helping revive the program.

“His visit came completely out of the blue. It was Friday night when Jason stopped by and talked to us,” said Clendenin, who says that his involvement in the Watertown FFA and agriculture education classes kept him from dropping out of high school. “As we listened to his idea, we realized it was exactly what we had been looking for to reinvigorate the program.”

The administration at LATI thought Frerichs' idea of the career and technical school offering agriculture education classes for high school students was a great fit.

They started the ball rolling by creating a student-teacher position for Frerichs who was still enrolled at SDSU and needed this experience to complete his degree.

He graduated from SDSU this December with his degree in agriculture education and started teaching high school and college-level agriculture classes at LATI this January.

“What is unique about Lake Area is it already provides hands-on learning in agriculture education (to its students) with a little more focused approach,” said Frerichs, who indicated that the resources LATI already had were key to him focusing on the school as a good fit for the high school program.

“Housed within Lake Area is a lot of resources - so my job was finding a way to link these resources to the high school students,” he said. “The school has the latest in technology and a knowledgeable staff that have experience in the workforce and out in the field.”

The sky's the limit

Frerichs says that recruiting students to sign up for the new agriculture education course option was not a challenge. This year, his first semester of teaching, he has 20 students, freshman through seniors, enrolled in his classes and the FFA chapter.

“I really wanted to learn about this stuff because growing up on a farm I love agriculture and plan on going into an agriculture career in the future,” said Cameron Mack, 16, the chapter's vice president and a Watertown High School sophomore. “I enjoy getting to do the hands-on stuff in class and going to judging events.”

Mack and his classmates are currently studying the ruminant digestive system in class. A firm believer in hands-on learning, Frerichs had Mack's class divide into three groups, gave them a variety of items - like a garbage bag, string, tubes, Styrofoam cups and bowls and latex gloves - and asked them to create a model of a ruminant's digestive system.

“I want them to picture it. In their high school biology classes they learn about the human digestive system, however, the ruminant system is very new to them.” Frerichs said. “I do a lot of hands-on activities and field trips with the class. One of the biggest goals I have for the students is exposure to what is available in the agriculture industry. I want to help them take it to the next level and be able to apply what they learn in class to real life.”

Along with the classes that Frerichs teaches, high school students have the option of taking other agriculture classes from LATI. These classes will count for high school and college credit.

Because this is the Watertown Area FFA, students from other area high schools that do not offer agriculture education classes, can also attend classes at LATI or through distance learning options.

“We don't set up any walls. We are not tied to just one high school or district,” Frerichs said. “We do what we can to tailor the program to fit each student's needs.”

Backed by what Clendenin and Frerichs refer to as tremendous community support, the student's tuition is covered by two $5,000 donations from two South Dakota ethanol plants, VeraSun Energy of Brookings, S.D., and Glacial Lakes Energy of Watertown.

“You can never have too much community support,” said Nick Tesch, 16, the chapter's president and a Watertown High School sophomore. “We recently invited our parents and local agriculture business owners for a community night at LATI. We showed them a video that we made of our activities - we wanted to show our appreciation for staying behind us and show them that we aren't here to ‘goof around.' ”

Tesch is on the chapter's livestock judging team. To prepare for their first contest, area producers invited the students to their farms to practice by looking at hogs, cattle and sheep. Cow/calf producer, Phil Tesch, says he was happy to help the students out.

“I really enjoyed having the students come out and look at a few heifer classes. We have been trying to get a chapter going again for a long time and we weren't getting anywhere,” said Tesch, who is a Watertown FFA alumnus and served as a 1975-76 state FFA officer. “For me, having the Lake Area Technical Institute here and having a FFA chapter was a no-brainer and something that we thought was really important to have back in Watertown.”

Greg Endres, a livestock producer and FFA parent, agrees with Tesch.

“We are very glad to have it going again. The No. 1 reason was my dad and I had both been in the Watertown FFA, so for tradition reasons it's nice that Emily can be involved. No. 2 we were glad because Watertown is the ag center for northeast South Dakota and it's just not right not to have an agriculture program in the ag center of the state,” he said.

Endres says that the innovative way that the agriculture program was resurrected, is a good example of how adapting to change can lead to success.

“Thinking outside the box is key to anything you do nowadays, whether it's farming or another business - you have to adapt and make changes that are needed to make it work. I think this is a good quality that the Lake Area Tech instructors and administrators have - the ability to do what it takes to get it done.”

Even though they are a new FFA chapter, Frerichs has three teams under way and one student, Ana Schweer, that has already received state FFA recognition. A senior at Watertown High School, Schweer lives and works on her family's dairy farm. Her first week in class she applied for the FFA Dairy Production Proficiency, an application that looks at a student's involvement and skill-sets learned while working in a specific area of agriculture. On the state level, Schweer was among three finalists.

With his first semester teaching agriculture education classes and serving as the Watertown Area FFA adviser well under way, Frerichs is encouraged by how well everything has come together.

“The most enjoyable thing about my position is getting to see the students grow from day one when we first met to today,” he said. “The students took a huge step - they had no idea what to expect. Developing trust with the students has been rewarding.”