Unprecedented growth in SSCC's agriculture program
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Students at Southern State Community College have a lot on their plates: classes, families, work schedules. But those enrolled in Tom Smith’s agriculture courses have added something extra—a home-grown dinner.
Barbecued chicken, potato salad and side salad. Sound yummy? It’s their final exam.
Smith, the new full-time faculty member in the agriculture program, wanted to give his students real-world experience, allowing them to follow the food cycle from farm to table. The greenhouse on Central Campus has been a flurry of activity since the beginning of fall quarter, with tomatoes growing on vines, potatoes plumping beneath the soil and salad greens greening up the flats.
But the real flurry is taking place in the far corner of the greenhouse. Forty newly hatched chicks took up residence there in early October. The flock included 15 laying hens, five each of Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rocks and Golden Comets, along with 25 Cornish Rock meat hens.
For six weeks, students in Introduction to Animal Science plotted the growth rate of the chicks, measuring and averaging their weight against the diminishing weight of the feed supply. Since that time, the meat hens have been sent away for processing.
“This quarter’s gone very well,” said Smith. “We jumped right in the beginning. The students are very involved and interested. I’ve heard a lot of comments on the new program, the hands-on aspect of it; the students seem to be very happy with it. They haven’t thrown tomatoes at me yet!”
The students’ work will culminate with a holiday dinner for college employees. At $10 a plate, guests will get to sample the fruits of the students’ labor. And though the holiday dinner isn’t really the students’ final exam, diners would probably give them all A’s for their effort.
Specializing in animal science and agronomy, Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from Wilmington College, master’s degree from Virginia Tech, and is in the process of completing his dissertation for a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. During his formal schooling, he also worked full-time on educational farms and on several small farms that focused on the farm-to-table type of production.
“My future projects will be student-driven” he said of his plans for Southern State’s agriculture program. “It will be based on their interests and their excitement, and being able to tie it to classwork.” He did say, however, that his spring quarter class will raise annual crops for a spring plant sale.
His fall quarter classes included Introduction to Horticulture, Plant Materials I, Survey of Agriculture, Introduction to Animal Science, and Weed Control and Management. Apart from the planned holiday dinner, his students also conducted a poinsettia sale and participated in field trips.
His combined horticulture and plant materials classes visited Natorp’s, a nursery and landscaping business in Cincinnati, while the animal science class did a “whirlwind tour” of local agricultural sites, including Master Feed Mill in Hillsboro, the Wilmington College Farm, Mann O Mann Stables in Wilmington, and Cedar Grove Farms in Loveland.
“I’d love to see this program grow, to get more students involved and have more projects and opportunities for them,” Smith said.
Southern State offers an associate of applied science degree in agriculture production, with three options for specialization: agronomy, animal science and horticulture. A one-year certificate in horticulture also is available.
To learn more about the agriculture and horticulture programs at Southern State, contact Smith at 1-800-628-7722, ext. 2693, or tsmith@sscc.edu, or visitwww.sscc.edu/academics/degrees/agriculture.htm.
Students at Southern State Community College have a lot on their plates: classes, families, work schedules. But those enrolled in Tom Smith’s agriculture courses have added something extra—a home-grown dinner.
Barbecued chicken, potato salad and side salad. Sound yummy? It’s their final exam.
Smith, the new full-time faculty member in the agriculture program, wanted to give his students real-world experience, allowing them to follow the food cycle from farm to table. The greenhouse on Central Campus has been a flurry of activity since the beginning of fall quarter, with tomatoes growing on vines, potatoes plumping beneath the soil and salad greens greening up the flats.
But the real flurry is taking place in the far corner of the greenhouse. Forty newly hatched chicks took up residence there in early October. The flock included 15 laying hens, five each of Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rocks and Golden Comets, along with 25 Cornish Rock meat hens.
For six weeks, students in Introduction to Animal Science plotted the growth rate of the chicks, measuring and averaging their weight against the diminishing weight of the feed supply. Since that time, the meat hens have been sent away for processing.
“This quarter’s gone very well,” said Smith. “We jumped right in the beginning. The students are very involved and interested. I’ve heard a lot of comments on the new program, the hands-on aspect of it; the students seem to be very happy with it. They haven’t thrown tomatoes at me yet!”
The students’ work will culminate with a holiday dinner for college employees. At $10 a plate, guests will get to sample the fruits of the students’ labor. And though the holiday dinner isn’t really the students’ final exam, diners would probably give them all A’s for their effort.
Specializing in animal science and agronomy, Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from Wilmington College, master’s degree from Virginia Tech, and is in the process of completing his dissertation for a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. During his formal schooling, he also worked full-time on educational farms and on several small farms that focused on the farm-to-table type of production.
“My future projects will be student-driven” he said of his plans for Southern State’s agriculture program. “It will be based on their interests and their excitement, and being able to tie it to classwork.” He did say, however, that his spring quarter class will raise annual crops for a spring plant sale.
His fall quarter classes included Introduction to Horticulture, Plant Materials I, Survey of Agriculture, Introduction to Animal Science, and Weed Control and Management. Apart from the planned holiday dinner, his students also conducted a poinsettia sale and participated in field trips.
His combined horticulture and plant materials classes visited Natorp’s, a nursery and landscaping business in Cincinnati, while the animal science class did a “whirlwind tour” of local agricultural sites, including Master Feed Mill in Hillsboro, the Wilmington College Farm, Mann O Mann Stables in Wilmington, and Cedar Grove Farms in Loveland.
“I’d love to see this program grow, to get more students involved and have more projects and opportunities for them,” Smith said.
Southern State offers an associate of applied science degree in agriculture production, with three options for specialization: agronomy, animal science and horticulture. A one-year certificate in horticulture also is available.
To learn more about the agriculture and horticulture programs at Southern State, contact Smith at 1-800-628-7722, ext. 2693, or tsmith@sscc.edu, or visitwww.sscc.edu/academics/degrees/agriculture.htm.
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