Ag program growing at Faribault’s Bethlehem Academy

On the fourth day of this school year at Bethlehem Academy in Faribault Sept. 2, it was time to unload tomato plants from the back of teacher Casi Story’s Dodge pickup.

Four boys hopped eagerly to the task, grabbing armfuls of red and green and hauling it all back to the school greenhouse, a 24-by-32-foot structure completed a year ago.

The ripe and near-ripe fruits were returning home, having been planted in the greenhouse back in the spring, then transplanted to Story’s family farm about 10 miles outside the city limits. The truckload of plants returning to the greenhouse became a show-and-tell of sorts for students in her Introduction to Agriculture class.

Some of those tomatoes were later on students’ plates during lunch hour, becoming one of the “fruits” of an agriculture program that started in 2017 and has moved steadily forward.

Story came on board as an “ag” teacher at the school at the beginning of last year. She has lofty goals for the program. This semester, 26 students have signed up for the elective classes that make up its core.

“Honestly, the sky’s the limit for classes I could add,” said Story, 37, who grew up on her family’s farm and graduated from Faribault High School in 2002. Just this school year, she is adding three classes — fish and wildlife, animal science and small gas engines. Those classes are in addition to the plant science and general agriculture classes already in place. They are part of a larger network of classes that include woodworking, metal working and a form of artistic woodworking called intarsia.

Building and growing such a program makes sense, given the school’s rural location and the fact that some of its students live on farms or have some background in agriculture, if not ambitions to pursue a career in the field.

“I think the program’s great,” said senior Teagan Ferrin, the president of the school’s FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) chapter, who plans to become a veterinary technician after she graduates from BA. “I think it’s a good program to have in school to get hands on and learn about agriculture. I’m pretty passionate about it. I think it’s a good business to get into.”

In 2017, Brent Halvorson, a BA teacher and alumnus, got the program started with encouragement from some students. One of those students, Breanna DeGrood, went on to study animal science and agriculture business and marketing at South Dakota State University, and got a job for an animal pharmaceutical company in Northfield after her graduation last December.

It was her father, Pat DeGrood, brother of Bishop Donald DeGrood of Sioux Falls, who approached Story about the job opening for an agriculture teacher after Halvorson left to take a job in agriculture.

DeGrood’s second daughter, Karlie, is a junior and already steeped in agriculture, both from living on her family farm and taking agriculture classes at school. Pat is hoping one of his two daughters will one day make working on the family farm a career. In the meantime, he gets to watch, not only his daughter, but other students at BA gain valuable exposure that will benefit them no matter what career path they choose.

“I’m ecstatic about” the BA agriculture program, said Pat, 49, who belongs to Divine Mercy in Faribault with his wife, Clarice, and children. “I think it’s a really needed course selection for these students. … It’s going to teach them some life skills, whether it’s something they want to get into (or not). At least they’ll have some knowledge and some background of ‘Where did my food come from, and how was it grown?’”

He called the overall field of agriculture “huge” and thinks exposure to it in the agriculture program at BA could help inspire students’ thoughts and dreams of someday working in the field.

It’s already happening. Junior Paul Moening is taking the Introduction to Agriculture class this year, his first step into the program. Like many of his classmates, he lives out in the country and has had natural exposure to rural life.

“I’ve kind of been around ag my whole life,” he said. “My grandparents had farms, but they got sold, so I didn’t get the privilege of being on a farm, growing up on one. But I’ve always been around neighbors and helped neighbors. I’m kind of trying to get into it myself. Got a little 10-acre field. Put (in) alfalfa in the spring and (am) seeing where it goes.”

In just a matter of weeks, he has experienced the tough side of farming, with the extended drought stunting his alfalfa crop. That has not deterred him from thinking about the possibility of making a living from the soil. If anything, the challenges are making him the kind of realist most farmers eventually become.

“I would personally like to farm, but (am) trying to find kind of a niche thing where you can actually make money,” he said, “because it’s kind of hard to make money farming the traditional way today, with milk prices low, crop prices low. Everything’s low — hogs, steers (beef cattle). But there’s non-traditional ways that some guys are making it, and I’m trying to observe that and see how they do it and see what I can figure out.”

Moening is trying to maximize the opportunities in the agriculture program at BA. In addition to the agriculture class, he is taking wood shop and the small gas engines class this semester. Others are doing the same. His classmate, Jordan Simones, who works for a local sod farmer and has learned the business, is taking those same three classes. He wants to pursue diesel mechanics and attend a trade school after he graduates from BA next year.

He is also in the school’s FFA chapter, and he finds value in that and in the classes.

Riley Langenfeld, also a junior, lives out in the country and has worked for his uncle doing landscaping. He has relatives who are farmers. After graduation, he wants to continue working for his uncle in landscaping.

All three are happy to have the opportunity to study agriculture, not only to help them in their future careers, but also to solidify knowledge they think is both valuable and lacking in today’s culture.

“It’s great to teach people where their food comes from,” Moening said. “Everybody’s so far removed from the farm now that they don’t really understand what it is and where their food comes from. I mean, it’s just crazy. I’ve heard things where people are, like, ‘Why don’t farmers just go buy their meat from the store? Why do they have to raise animals?’ … That’s kind of scary.”

He called farming “one of the most important things. If there’s no food, there’s no people.”

BA President and Principal Melinda Reeder said the agriculture program is not only beneficial for learning practical skills, but it also helps in the overall formation of students according to the Dominican spirituality that inspired the founding of the school in 1865.

“Everything we do falls under one of the Dominican pillars here at Bethlehem Academy — prayer, study, service and community,” Reeder said. “So, as you look at that and how Pope Francis cares for the earth and really reminds us of all the things that we need to be thinking about … hopefully, it (the agriculture program) inspires our students to understand what is needed in our world so that we can continue to improve and take care of what God has given us.”

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FFA REBIRTH

Up until last year, Bethlehem Academy’s agriculture classes also enrolled students from Faribault High School. The local public school now has its own program and its own FFA chapter.

FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership, with chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Bethlehem Academy is the only Catholic school in Minnesota with an FFA chapter and an agriculture program, and one of only a handful of Catholic schools across the country with an ag program, according to the National Catholic Education Association.

FFA was established in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, and currently has more than 735,000 members from ages 12 to 21, according to its website. The organization offers classroom and hands-on opportunities, career exploration and competitions. Minnesota schools began offering FFA in 1930, with Faribault public schools opening a chapter in 1938. According to Pat DeGrood, Faribault was without an FFA chapter for about 20 years before both the public school and BA opened chapters last year.

BA President and Principal Melinda Reeder and agriculture teacher Casi Story say FFA interest at BA is growing. A seed was planted in younger students when FFA members at BA held a Baby Animal Day in May for elementary school students at Divine Mercy Catholic School next door. Reeder observed the event and said the youngsters “were just beaming” as they got the chance to look at and even touch and hold some of the animals. The high school students, meanwhile, were able to gain leadership experience.

“The kids love it,” Reeder said of both FFA and the Ag program at BA. “We have people step into leadership roles who might not otherwise… . They feel confident in what they’re doing and in their knowledge” of agriculture.