Watch now Richland AG programs offer a variety of student opportunities

Decatur – Students at the Richland Community College Vegetation Development Program do more than produce vegetables for sale at the weekly farmers’ market.

Fr Brian Tucker selects one or two items a week for a special meal to serve at Bistro Five Thirty-seven. For needy students, four seats were provided in the fine Samaritan lodge, which manages the college’s food warehouse.

And students who like to get their hands dirty learn skills that they can take to an employer or start their own business.

“I do everything here a little bit,” said Erset Gates, a student at the Fruit and Vegetable Program and Green House Assistant. We distribute houseplants, oversee watering and fertilization programs, and assist with a variety of designs that we sell in the market, houseplants and substitutes. We have a Mother’s Day plant sale in the spring, so starting and selling seedlings from January to sale is a complete product. ”

Gates talks about her lifelong love of plants and how important they are. They are important for food, but it is also a pleasure to be around living things and what she calls “hands in the experience of waste.”

“There are so many wonderful places to go,” Gates said. I hope I find something that fits.

In Illinois, one in four jobs and one in five jobs are in the agricultural sector, said Jess Smithers, director of Richland Agricultural Programs.

“There are opportunities for everyone,” he said. “Og is so vast that students can find a home on a farm, regardless of their needs. It’s a big industry, so no matter what you do, in Illinois or anywhere, any business that is involved in aging, it’s important to have an understanding (of agriculture).

Richland agricultural students are also encouraged to be active students outside the classroom. Students are encouraged to gain agricultural part-time jobs or experience and participate in other leadership development opportunities. Students participate in Illinois Professional Agricultural Student Competitions and participate in agricultural future US events that improve communication skills, develop their technical skills, build leadership skills, and network through networking opportunities.

The program was relaunched in August 2018 and includes degrees in applied sciences in applied sciences in agriculture, crop science, and horticulture. Graduates with a degree in agriculture or science may transfer to University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, and other universities. The campus covers more than 120 hectares of farmland, hosts an annual agricultural development exhibition, and is located in the World Agricultural Trade Capital, all of which enable the agricultural program to fulfill its mission of exposing, preparing and connecting students to careers. Agriculture.

Demi Strigglos earned a degree in agricultural relations, but she decided she wanted to know more about fruits and vegetables and possible careers.

“I was very excited to take my first fruit and vegetable course last spring, and I really enjoyed Dina (Koingigs) and her experience,” says Strigglos.

That led to him being sent to the horticultural department during the summer, and this gave him experience of managing a booth in the Richland Farmers’ Market, and she found it to be one of her favorites.

Coinig recently visited students at DeCatur Public School who are interested in the program, and explained that crops are typically grown, dried, stored and shipped in bulk, but vegetables include vegetables, fruits, seedlings, trees and shrubs.

“Fruit and fruit are crops that provide food, comfort, and beauty,” he said.

“Agricultural program workers are actively involved in high school agricultural programs and FFA chapters in our district,” he said. For example, we host a number of FFA events on campus each year and are willing to host several FFA competitions throughout the year.

Years later, not all high schools in Macon County now have programs.

He said all high schools in Macon County, Richland, are still positive. They are being exposed to those opportunities in Aga, and it is more likely that those students will be exposed to it and develop that interest in the work in Aga. It is a way of making a difference. If a student wants to have a career in agriculture, there is nothing more important than making and producing the food we eat every day.