High school students got the college experience last week staying on both Bloomington-Normal university campuses and learning from professionals from different career fields.
Unique IMPACT's [Individuals Making Plans to Change Together] inaugural Roots to Results Summit offered high school students hands-on learning in sustainability, agriculture, STEM [Science, technology, engineering and mathematics], entrepreneurship, leadership and future workforce opportunities. It was held in partnership with the Illinois State TRIO Association, which helps those who come to campus as first-generation students, from low economic backgrounds or with an identified disability.
More than 100 students, mostly from Illinois but with some from Ohio, attended the two-day conference Thursday and Friday. Events included a campus tour and an overnight stay at an Illinois Wesleyan dorm building and a visit to the Illinois State Esports Arena and Hancock Stadium on the first day. On the second day students visited Dearing Country Farms near Danvers, west of Bloomington-Normal.
The visit taught students what an agriculture career would be like through the farm’s produce garden, orchard and farm animals.
“There was a few of them that were really into [aspects of agriculture],” said Brad Dearing, owner and operator. Dearing and members of the family farming operation showed groups of students each aspect of the farm.
“When they were planting, they were really interested in making sure they did it right, and they seemed to have a genuine interest in it,” added Dearing of some of the most engaged students.
Dearing retired a year ago after 29 years of teaching agriculture and STEM at both Illinois State and University High School in Normal.
The event was led by Unique IMPACT founder Shatoya Black, of Bloomington. Black is formerly the project director of TRIO at Illinois State.
“It's discovering careers in the things that people enjoy,” said Black. “Sometimes we don't know the ‘why’ behind it. We just kind of enjoy it. We love food, but this gives us the background of some approaches that people take, as it relates to agriculture.”
Students stay engaged
Despite the hot weather, students showed no signs of struggle when it came to enjoying the lessons on the farm. For several students it was their first experience on a farm.
“Helping out, looking at the animals, feeding the animals and getting to know new people here — it’s fun,” said Karina Brown, a freshman from Cleveland, Ohio.
Gerard Fleming is a senior from Crete-Monee High School, in the south Chicago suburbs. He said the experience helped him to think about his career path.
“I wanted to go into agricultural science or agricultural engineering, and I wasn't really sure which one. And this kind of helped me understand more what each one entails,” said Fleming.
Agricultural science is a broad field where people study agriculture. Agricultural engineering applies that knowledge to the designs and plans of an agricultural project.
Alyssa Swanson, of Cleveland, plans to pursue an education to become a lawyer, but still said she enjoyed the experience. She will remember planting flowers, feeding chickens and learning more about STEM fields.
“All education is good education, so maybe if I do change my field in life, I might use this one day,” said Swanson.
