March 13, 2007

Ryan Sell - New Bremen Schools Vo-Ag Program

New Bremen Vo-Ag Instructor Ryan Sell addressed the club about various activities organized through the Vo-Ag program at the school.

Among the activities are the State Livestock Competition in April where the Dairy Team took 3rd place and 4 of the 5 entrants from the school finished in the top 25.  Having done so, the team qualified for the World Dairy Expo in Madison Wisconsin in the Fall which he describes as the highlight of the year for him and the students.  It entails a 5 day trip for 5 students and includes a stop at the Fair Oaks Farm which is a large dairy operation of 9 farms of 3,000 cows in each.  The group also stops in Chicago for sight seeing along the way to the Expo.

Other activities include the FFA Banquet, the Ag-Mechanical Contest in March and Small Engine Contest.  The National FFA Conference in Indianapolis is held in April.  January and February are some of the busiest months with Ryan having spent 135 hours outside of the school with related activities.  During the summer, a 5 day camp is held in Carrolton and the group also participates in trap shooting, paint balling and the Auglaize County Fair with various animal and shop projects.

Ryan is a 1997 graduate of Wapakoneta High School, and attended OSU for his undergraduate studies and UD for graduate studies.  He has been affiliated with the New Bremen Schools since the fall of 2000 when he began his student teaching.  He shared that one of the things he enjoys the most is getting to know the students outside of the classroom.

Hosting Rotarian: Tom Quellhorst