Ag Education and Classroom Grants Awarded
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Karen Schieler, Sr. Corporate Giving Specialist
[email protected] or (309) 268-0254
Compeer Financial Grants 65 Schools
Ag Education & Classroom Equipment
Sun Prairie, Wis., (June 16, 2022) – The Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America, the Farm Credit cooperative’s giving program, awarded a total of $229,852 through the Agriculture Education and Classroom Equipment Grant Program this year. Sixty-five high schools in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin located across Compeer Financial’s territory will be receiving grants of up to $4,000 each funding a variety of hands-on learning tools and new technologies for agriculture education classrooms.
The lives of 11,573 students will be directly impacted through this grant program, which is intended to support agriculture education and motivate youth to further their knowledge of the agriculture industry. With this ever-changing industry comes the need for program funding, and that’s where Compeer Financial steps in.
“The goal of this grant program is to help develop and enhance modern, comprehensive agriculture education in schools, teaching students about its importance and limitless potential,” said Karen Schieler, Senior Corporate Giving Specialist. “The agriculture industry offers a variety of career opportunities, and exposing young adults to this starts in the classroom. These grants help to fuel the inspiration and exposure students receive in high schools.”
High school agriculture departments throughout Compeer Financial’s 144-county territory were eligible to apply for an Agriculture Education and Classroom Equipment Grant.
The organizations receiving grants in 2022 include:
ILLINOIS
Minooka FFA: raised beds, stock tanks, soil, sand, drainage materials, landscape fabric and fertilizer
Genoa-Kingston High School: multipurpose welding machine, wire, TIG cups, tungsten rods, and consumables, and an argon tank
Kane County Juvenile Justice Center School: classroom and instructional materials, and all plants and material inputs for the school's teaching garden
Evanston Township High School: chicken coops, electrical, and cleaning and maintenance tools
Streator Agricultural Education Department-Streator High School: floral cooler, dissection pans, dissection equipment and drills
El Paso-Gridley High School: industrial packing tables and stools
Peotone High School Agriculture Department/ FFA: table top work table, welding tables, hand grinder, Leadership and Soft Skills Program, and Real Career Employability skills program
Herscher High School: flexible seating and drone
Prairie Central Agriculture Department: small gas engines
Momence Community School District 1: beef, swine and chicken kits; cornstalk model and rabbit model
Normal Community High School: greenhouse enhancements, including replacement of heating and cooling systems, environmental and water controls, and plant benches
Brimfield FFA: CNC machine
United High School FFA Chapter: rolling benches for greenhouse
Rockridge High School: CNC machine
Knoxville High School: welders
ROWVA Schools: high-pressure, laminate top science table
Pleasant Hill Community School: a plasma CNC cutter and water table
Payson FFA: chicken coop supplies
Orangeville FFA: water source for greenhouse
Belvidere North High School FFA: swine breeder and injection pad
Dakota High School: irrigation system for greenhouse, drone system, welding gloves, hoods, aprons and virtual welding software
MINNESOTA
Sibley East Ag Department: floral cooler
Buffalo Minnesota Agricultural Department: drip irrigation equipment for the greenhouse
Watertown-Mayer High School: welding helmets, clamps, and LabQuest devices and sensors
ROCORI Agriculture Program: floral cooler and a garden tiller
Eden Valley-Watkins: growing tower and growing tables, and equipment for kitchen lab spaces
Sauk Rapids - Rice FFA: stainless steel table carts and a chest freezer
Grand Meadow Public Schools: equipment to house and maintain bee colonies
CTECH - Rochester Public Schools: MIG-Flux core welder and a CNC plasma table and plasma cutter
Lincoln High School - Lake City Agriculture Department: new floral cooler
Lanesboro Public Schools: plasma cutter, socket sets and organizers, drive ratchets, impact tools, grinders, engine stand, wrenches, ratchet wrench set
Chatfield High School: materials for raised beds, meat saw, meat slicer and meat processing equipment; pressure canners and equipment
Southern Minnesota Education Consortium: portable livestock housing facility
JWP Agriculture Department: bovine injection simulator
Mankato East High School: food science and nutrition lab kit, food safety kit, insect identification kit and a plant mini educational hydroponics
New Ulm Public Schools: swine litter processing simulator and a swine artificial insemination simulator
Albert Lea High School: enclosed trailer and landscaping equipment
Windom Area Schools: seedling light carts and humidity tents
Mountain Lake FFA: floriculture cooler, microscopes and scales
United South Central High School: set of robotics kits
WISCONSIN
Cuba City School District: simulator with removable cervix, reproductive tract and cow hide cover; gloves;; stages of corpus luteum development models; stages of fetal development models; Quick start guide; and Online access to curriculum
Wisconsin Heights High School: hydroponic tower garden
Dodgeville FFA: fertilizer injector, cart and plumbing kit, water line, drip lines and adaptors, start-up seeds, digital scales, fertilizer, irrigation control, pollinators, growing supports, picking trays, grow bags, pruning shears, PVC pipe and components, and submersible pumps
Pardeeville Agri-Science Department: corn stalk model and butcher beef cuts model
Mauston FFA: hydroponic system and LED grow lights
Prairie du Chien High School: tables, labeling system, seed packet organizers, fertilizers and seeds; fix watering system in the greenhouse,
Weston School District- Weston FFA: walk-in poultry cage, steel garden wagon and a live stream camera
Princeton School District: 3D models of different animals and plant structures
Oakfield School District: vertical automatic feed hydroponics unit, fertilizer injector system and soil mixing table
School District of Omro: hydroponic system
Central Wisconsin Christian School: hydroponic growing systems with LED indoor grow lights and support cages
Bangor FFA: maple syrup evaporator, installation of a water hydrant for school garden, induction hot plates, and a convertible refrigerator-freezer
De Soto FFA: greenhouse controller
Brookwood High School: commercial grade egg incubator, equipment for egg candling, brooder boxes, feeders and waterers
Holmen High School Agri Science: hydroponic tower systems, chicken model, and dog uterus model
Whitehall School District Agriculture Department and FFA: calf simulator
Osceola FFA/Osceola Agriculture Department: hydroponic grow tower
Baldwin-Woodville High School: gates, mats, halters, feeding troughs, watering dishes and other equipment for the barn
Drummond Area School District: Ag Tech Systems and Mechanics Curriculum Guide and Answer Key, tool chests, tool sets, tool chest liners and securing materials
Independence Middle/High School: Advanced Veterinary Training: Critical Care Fluffy and Goldie-K9 Breath-Heart Sound Simulator, and suture kits
Colfax Agricultural Education: lab incubator, cabinet incubator, humidity pump, beef cut ID Program, tree ring dating, Electrochemical Remediation of Wastewater, tree study kit, Modeling Stream Erosion and Deposition, Conformation workbooks, Dairy Cattle Judging DVD, Practice Dairy Cow Judging, Livestock Evaluation text, tablets and CD player adaptors
Black River Falls FFA: raised bed mix in the high tunnel, storage shed brackets, shelving, ladder and fasteners; re-roof and re-side the bee equipment storage shed; paver base material in the high tunnel; beekeeping equipment and pollinator shrubs
Cumberland School District Agriculture Education Department: cheese, root beer, medication administration, kitchen science, seed, germ and soil kits; churn; scat and yeast labs; thermometers; clipper; spiralizer; peeler set; corn cutter; sheep organ - heart and brain; cow eye; dog skeleton model; photosynthesis chamber; pH strips and kit; barometer; and coriolis effect kit
Monroe High School - Agriculture Department: swine litter processing simulators and supply pack
New Glarus High School: hydroponic grow tower
About the Fund for Rural America
The Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America is the corporate giving program of Compeer Financial, structured to support Compeer Financial’s mission to enrich agriculture and rural America. Compeer Financial’s Board of Directors has dedicated one percent of annual net earnings to support the Fund’s focus areas of agricultural advocacy and development, agriculture education, cooperative initiatives, rural development and community enrichment; and youth engagement. The Fund is managed by a Board of Trustees, made up of team members from Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin and members of the Compeer Financial Board of Directors. More information about opportunities available through the Fund can be found at Compeer.com/giving-back.
About Compeer Financial
Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural communities. The $27.7 billion organization provides loans, leases, risk management and other financial services throughout 144 counties in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Based in the Upper Midwest, Compeer Financial exists to champion the hopes and dreams of rural America, while providing personalized service and expertise to clients and the agriculture industry.
Compeer Financial is the third largest cooperative of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of lending institutions supporting agriculture and rural communities with reliable, consistent credit and financial services. Learn more about Compeer Financial.
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