MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – The front of the Jackson Family Farm looked like a school bus parking lot when they held AgFest, a Workforce Development Event, there. About 1,200 elementary kids took part in the event from Butler County 4-H, Ohio State University Extension Butler County, and partners. The goal was to teach the students about possible career paths in agriculture.

The idea was for youth to realize agriculture doesn’t just mean farms – there are also opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, and working overall in the food industry.

“This is 4-H’s biggest project of the year,” said Emily Masters, Extension educator, 4-H youth development. “We have around 30 presenters who are talking about different jobs in agriculture. They range from honeybees to livestock production, anything in STEM, that’s science, technology, engineering and math. Technology is so important right now and there are tons of ag jobs with a technology aspect.”

The kids in grades four through seven came from Butler, Preble, Warren and Hamilton counties, said Erin Simpson-Sloan., 4-H program assistant, youth development.

“They’re learning about different career paths to get them into the future because these kids are our future,” Simpson-Sloan said. “For example, hydroponic growing is something new because we are running out of farmland. As long as you have the facility, you can grow year-round. Even in Ohio, you can grow lettuce all year, even in the colder months.”

At one popular station, Emma Powell and Krystal Bunger, with Talawanda/Butler Tech FFA, were making “mud pies” with the kids.

“We are teaching them about soil,” Powell explained. “We are doing that with little pudding cups, Oreos (crumbled up), and gummy worms. The pudding is the clay, the Oreo represents the sand, and the silt, which is the soil. And the gummy worms represent the worm, obviously. We teach them that earthworms are important because they help fertilize the soil.”

Occasionally the entire group of students were interrupted by a call to watch the pumpkin launcher. They didn’t need to be told twice – it was amazing.

“We have a Powered Pumpkin launcher and a 500-gallon propane tank,” explained farm owner Jason Jackson. “At 25 pounds per square inch, we’re shooting (a pumpkin) about 2,000 feet.”

Jackson, a former teacher and now principal at Madison Local School District, and his wife, Jessica, bought the farm years ago. They also hold a farm festival weekends in the fall.

“The hope was to always be able to share this farm,” Jackson said.

With 1,200 kids in their front yard, that hope seems to be realized. After seeing the pumpkin launched, the students returned to the stations.

They were a little surprised at one station to see several pairs of dirty, holey underwear hanging on a line. Butler Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) was sharing its Soil Your Undies results with the kids.

“One of our partners is Butler SWCD,” Simpson-Sloan explained. “They have planted underwear throughout the county in different farmer’s fields to see how well the undies are breaking down (the more holes, the healthier the soil). The kids are learning that the soil here on Jackson Family Farm could be totally different from the farm around the corner because of the different types of soil we have.”

Added Brady Smith, Butler SWCD rural specialist, “We’re trying to encourage them and their classes to do this experiment, share the results, see what they find, get their hands dirty, and realize what is going on in the ground beneath their feet.”

Finally, the teachers did not mind a beautiful day spent on the farm with their students.

“My class and all of my team’s classes went to different stations to learn about things on the farm,” said Mindy Whisman, seventh-grade teacher at Madison Local. “Whether it was about animals, or we just finished a station with the Butler Rural Electric about solar power and energy. We had a presentation on different types of apples. The students were enthusiastic. It was a different place for us to go so we appreciate it.”

Her student, Carson White, added, “It was a lot of fun to learn about things other than what we learn about in school.”

Schools attending were Lakota, Middletown, Madison, New Miami, Fairfield North, Queen of Peace, Immanuel Lutheran, St. Anne’s, Preble Shawnee (Preble County), and several homeschool groups.