PIKE COUNTY, Ohio – Pike County’s Ag Career Connections program has far exceeded expectations. When the program launched, the goal was to reach 200 students. “To date, we have surpassed our goal by hundreds,” said Kim Harless, Pike County Farm Bureau Organization director. “As of today, we have presented to over 1,200 students.”

The program, presented to Pike County students, is designed to increase awareness of career opportunities connected with agriculture, food and natural resources. 

Ten agriculture career pathways are featured on large banners. Each banner lists occupations associated with that pathway. In addition, job cards were developed for each occupation. Each card has a color picture on the front that tells what pathway it is, and on the back, it outlines the education required, recommended high school courses, the fields associated with the job, salary range, and average salary.

The pathways are agricultural business, agricultural mechanics, animal science, environmental science, food science, natural resources, plant science, skilled trades, sustainability, and technology.

The 12-member Pike County Farm Bureau board came up with different occupations in the career pathways and they researched elements associated with each job.

“They did homework,” Harless said. “They had a couple of months to do this, and we wanted to know the education involved. Do they just need a high school diploma? Do they need a bachelor’s? Do they need more than that? What would the basic annual salary be, could they do this job in Pike County, Ohio, even? And then just a little description about what that job entailed.”

Pike County Farm Bureau partnered with Ohio State University Extension to develop the Ag Career Connections Program. It’s based on an existing program called Real Money. Real World. “We knew there was a 4-H program about money,” Harless said. “So, we kind of took the idea from there, but we wanted to make it about careers with the cards, descriptions, and all that.”

Harless said when they started brainstorming a few years ago, due to a limited budget, they would focus on a few pathways. However, an Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation grant for $5,000 helped to expand that number. “First we thought about three or four (pathways) and then once we knew we had that grant, we went with 10 different pathways,” she said.

Classroom visits are scheduled and the career pathways are introduced to participants, ranging in age from 3rd through 12th grades. Occupations are included in each pathway.

Harless makes the case that the best audience is in middle school. “We feel like 7th and 8th grade is a great time to start talking about this because those kids are just really starting to think about what they want to do when they get to high school and what their career paths are going to be,” Harless said.

However, the program is adaptable to younger kids. “We have gone into 3rd-grade classrooms and tried to make it a little easier for them to understand,” Harless said.  “We don’t overwhelm them – we try to let them know that agriculture is in everybody’s lives every day at some point.”

Over 4,200 students are served by four Pike County school districts. Slightly over a third of graduates from Eastern Local, Waverly City, Scioto Valley Local and Western Local enroll in some form of post-secondary institution. Most are gainfully employed.

Ag Career Connections shows students how an agriculture career may be achieved with or without college.

“Kids in our area sometimes don’t go to college – they don’t have the means and they don’t want to,” Harless said. “We try to tell them there are jobs out there that touch agriculture and sometimes you don’t have to have a college education to do it. You just need technical training or a diploma from high school.”

In addition to Harless, Pike County OSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Educator Tammy Jones, and Pike County Farm Bureau board president Tracy Robinson serve as presenters.

Ideally, sessions require less than an hour to be effective. The presentation itself takes 15-20 minutes, allowing time for students to participate. “Forty-five minutes is a great time because you don’t feel rushed and you get really good interaction from the kids,” Harless said. “If anybody answers a question I toss some piece candy – I’m rewarding them – because at that age, they don’t want to speak up in front of their peers.”

Following the classroom presentation, students get to turn over the job cards they have selected and read about the various aspects connected with the occupation.

So far, presentations have only occurred in the four Pike County school districts, but the program will travel to schools in Vinton, Jackson and Scioto counties in the future. “Our goal was just to start with Pike County and to spread it to all of my four-county area,” Harless said.

Harless said Pike County teachers who have seen the program in their classrooms say, “This is spot on. This is exactly what the kids need to hear.”

The group also presented at a Youth Safety Day in Jackson County, which covered Jackson, Oak Hill and Wellston high schools, as well as Vinton County High School. In November, they will be presenting at a Growing Tomorrow’s Ag Leaders Day camp which will be held at Canter’s Cave for all high school-age students.

Earlier this fall the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) County Activities of Excellence Award recognized Pike County for its Ag Career Connections.

Harless feels the model has long-term sustainability. The only updates may be to the education requirements for the job and the salaries. “The good thing about this program is other than updating stuff, probably in a couple of years, it can go on forever,” she said. “The concept will never change because it’s a great concept.”