The Hoosier Farmer

This summer, students from the Carroll High School (CHS) horticulture and landscape classes and the Carroll Fort Wayne FFA Chapter joined members of Allen County Farm Bureau to spruce up the landscaping around the show arena at the county fairgrounds. Weeks later, the public was able to see their hard work during the Allen County Fair.

“It had a refreshed look,” said Allen County Farm Bureau President Darin Hadley. “We value the opportunity to work with local organizations and the future of agriculture. We budget opportunities for participation in various events throughout the county and community.”

Allen County Farm Bureau considered redoing the landscaping project last year before reaching out to CHS.

“A committee went out and identified the issue and realized that we didn't have the expertise or the time to tackle it, so it got tabled,” said Hadley. “I reached out to see what level of interest they would have and they jumped on it, which was great.”

Through the project, CHS Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor culture Cheyenne Karst said students were given a real-life example of what it is like to design a landscape for a client – complete a site evaluation, develop both digital and physical renderings of their designs, present their proposals and implement the design.

“This project allowed my students to put into action skills that they had been building through their time in our agriculture courses and gave them a physical end product that they are able to show off and can look to as a source of pride in the future,” she said.

While initially concerned about asking students to voluntarily work after the end of the school year to plant their design, Karst was pleasantly surprised by the number of students that participated.

“They all worked extremely hard and were all very dedicated to ensuring the design matched their initial plan as closely as possible, while working with the slight changes that often must be made when a plan is actually put into action,” she said. “I know that they were all very happy and proud of themselves, and I was extremely proud of them as well.”

Karst said the partnership with Farm Bureau is extremely beneficial for her class.

“This allowed me to provide my students with an experience that would be hard to replicate without a group like Farm Bureau. It out can be difficult to find individuals who are willing to allow a group of high school students to redesign and implement a project like this on their personal property. Farm Bureau trusting us with their time, funds and image allows me to expand my teaching beyond what can be taught in the classroom alone, and to simulate real-life experiences,” she said. “This project was such an amazing opportunity, and I hope that we are able to continue our partnership in the future for the betterment of our agriculture program and our community.”

As part of the process, Karst received approval from the fair board for the landscape changes. Since then, the result has been so well received that the fair board has asked the school to work with them on additional projects around the fairgrounds in the coming years.

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Robert Herrington

(317) 692-7871

RHerrington@infb.org