The Sleepy Eye FFA members had a fun-filled day of learning on the Summer Ag Tour. Pictured at CHS baseball field, Home of the St. Paul Saints is front, l to r: Travis Mages, Noah Rossbach, Carsten Nienhaus, Kaytlyn Romberg, Ruby Tauer, Aranza Tovar, Kenedi Wersal, Camryn Maher. Back: Emerson Johnson, Zack Dominguez, Colton Romberg, Ari Krzmarzick, Kayden Klein, Robert Romberg, James Moore, Cameron Moore, Jaden Stone, Michael Pool, Ella Arkins, Karina Martinez.
On Monday, July 15, 20 FFA members visited a variety of places from the surrounding communities in order to learn about each and the career opportunities within them. Paul Hendrickx and Katie Emmett (Sleepy Eye FFA Advisors), and Morgan Hoffmann (Summer Assistant) attended the tour as well.
The day started with a trip to CHS Field, a baseball park in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is home to the St. Paul Saints of the International League of Minor League Baseball, as well as Hamline University’s baseball team. Students learned about the field, its history, and about turf management and careers associated in this industry.
Next, the group traveled to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The garden showcases more than 40 works from the Walker Art Center’s collections, including the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry, The sculptures are from artists from 10 different countries worldwide and the area attracts more than 700,000 visitors per year. Seeing how different forms of art are made and seeing how welding is used in art is a great connection to skills learned in the agriculture classes.
The third tour was to Minnehaha Falls. Minnehaha Falls is a wilderness waterfall in an urban setting. Overlooking the Mississippi River, Minnehaha Park is one of Minneapolis’ oldest and most popular parks, attracting over 850,000 visitors annually. This was a stop focusing on Natural Resources and Forestry. The park contains oak, elm, silver maple, basswood, hackberry and cottonwood trees, as well as native and prairie woodland wildflowers.
Next, was a quick stop at the World’s Largest Candy Store. This store, which is as long as a football field in length, is home to over 3000 varieties of candies, including rare and imported sweets. Ms. Emmett even found some Irish treat essentials while in the store.
The final tour was to Schmidt Farm. The Schmidt family, including Sarah, Aubree, Kate, and Britta informed the students about livestock. Members learned about swine feed rations and beef genetics as well as how to care for, feed, and show these animals.
The day ended with supper provided by FFA and volleyball in the school gym. Each year, Sleepy Eye FFA conducts one-day tours in the summer with at least three educational stops. This is a fantastic way for our members to gain first-hand knowledge of different aspects of careers and explore the various career pathways and places around the state of Minnesota. From turf grass management to the metal art to the farm, the trip provided a range of numerous career opportunities and aspects of agriculture.