FARMS – Central Valley NORTH: Madera and North Fresno Counties

Agriculture the Bulldog Way

FARMS Leadership | Central Valley North | Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Location of Field Day:
California State University, Fresno
5241 N Maple Ave, Fresno, CA 93740

Field Day Host(s) and Mentors:
Dr. Susan Pheasant – Director of Institute for Food and Agriculture at Jordan College of Agriculture Sciences and Technology
Michelle Perez, Recruitment Counselor & Social Media Coordinator Liaison to Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
Rick Chacon, Assistant Director of Admissions & Recruitment
Dr. Sherri Freeman, Teacher Educator Jordan College of Agriculture Sciences and Technology
Kate Norum, Project Manager Center for Irrigation Technology Water, Energy and Technology Center

Theme: Agriculture in College

On Wednesday, February 5, 2019, the Central Valley North Field Day group that consisted of LeGrand High School, Firebaugh High School, and Madera South High School gathered at Fresno State Institute for Food and Agriculture meeting room.
Here we were welcomed by Dr. Susan Pheasant, Director, Institute for Food and Agriculture at Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
Students worked on their soft skills by introducing and thanking our speakers. Students also practiced writing thank you and learned how to address an envelope.
Next, we were joined by Michelle Perez, Recruitment Counselor & Social Media Coordinator Liaison to Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology for a walking tour of the Farm. Next, Rick Chacon, Assistant Director of Admissions & Recruitment lead a True Colors leadership activity on Leadership qualities. At lunch, Dr. Freeman visited us and welcomed us to Fresno State. Then we visited Fresno State Water and Energy Technology (WET) Center. Here students learned about their independent testing facility. We also learned about the Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT), the independent testing laboratory and applied research facility for the irrigation industry. Finally, students were treated with Fresno State Ice Cream from the Gibson Farm Market. We had a wonderful day full of different experiences and opportunities at Fresno State. Go Dogs!

“Nothing Runs Like a Deere”

FARMS Leadership Program | Central Valley North | Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Location of Field Day:
Fresno Equipment Company
4288 S Bagley Ave, Fresno, CA 93725

Field Day Host(s) and Mentors:
Reid Pinion – Controller
Philip Christensen – Integrated Solutions Manager
Matt Miller – Sales Representative
Luke Prys – Sales
Paris Gallaher – Wholegoods Specialist
Shelley Smith – Order Coordinator
John Dias – Parts Counter Sales Person
David Fishman – Service Technician

Summary of the Day:

On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, the Central Valley North FARMS Leadership Program, comprised of LeGrand High School, Madera South High School and Firebaugh High School visited our local John Deere dealer Fresno Equipment Company. Students met as a group to touch up on their leadership introduction and thanking skills. We also discussed what they knew or would want to know about John Deere and Fresno Equipment Company on their KWL worksheet.
The group toured the large facility with Matt Mill that houses administrative staff, human resources, sales representatives, parts staff, and service technicians. During this part of the tour and throughout the day the staff kept mentioning the ways of technology in agriculture. Every person at Fresno Equipment works with some sort of computer. It was also mentioned many times if you are willing to learn and work hard to go up in the company that it was possible.
After the 45 minute rotation, the groups switched and the students participated in a ride and drive course with Luke Prys. The students drove a small tractor with a bucket. In the bucket was a ball that the students drove across the cone lined course, they then used the lever and dropped the ball into the bucket. Some students had never driven before, let alone driving a tractor. What a great skill for our students to learn.
Next we had lunch and then were joined by 4 on site staff, Paris Gallager, Shelley Smith, John Dias and David Fishman. These individuals sat with 4 different groups of students where our students asked questions and were very dialed in to what the staff was saying about their job and how they ended up with Fresno Equipment Company.
Four different students thanked each person for sharing with us and taking a little bit of time out of their busy day. Students followed the end of the day with a career assessment and finishing out their KWL worksheets of what they learned about the day. We truly had a great day! Thank you again Fresno Equipment Company for your generosity with hosting a great field day for your students.

Aquaculture Education

FARMS Leadership | Central Valley North | Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Location of Field Day:
California Department of Fish & WildLife – San Joaquin Hatchery – 17372 Brook Trout Drive, Friant, CA 93626

Field Day Host(s) and Mentors:
William Branch
Cheryl Moxley
Brian Erlandsen

Theme:
Aquaculture and Natural Resources

Summary of the Day:
Students from LeGrand High School, Madera South High School and Firebaugh High School met on Wednesday, December 11th at The San Joaquin Hatchery of California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Students met and practiced an introduction and thank you practice for use in the day for introducing our hosts. Students also learned about the end of the year Community Action Project they would need to complete as a requirement of the FARMS Leadership Program. The Community Action Project is any project undertaken by students that applies the skills and knowledge attained throughout the program to address problems or concerns in the students’ own communities. Students will present what they have contributed to their communities during the last field day in April. Next, we were joined by Cheryl Moxley who runs the FINS Program. The FINS Program is an interpretive nature trail designed to teach children the life cycle of trout. Given the slightly older nature of our group, she covered other more age-appropriate information such as native plants, grant funding information, and interpretive design. Next, students rotated between two programs with lunch provided by FARMS to split up these two rotations. The first was SCARF: A salmon restoration project for the San Joaquin River. This covered topics such as conservation, endangered species, and the science behind genetic matrix and testing. Followed by SJH: The hatchery itself, where we discussed what it takes to raise fish, plant it out, and deal with such things as water quality, biosecurity, and fish health. At the end of the day, students presented thank you’s to all of our hosts. We had a really enjoyable hands-on day. We were very impressed with what the state of California does for our natural resources. Thank you again, William, Cherly, Brian and your entire team.