Since October, students from five Omaha Public Schools high schools have visited East Campus to boost their understanding of careers in agriculture and natural resources and experience educational opportunities offered by the university’s instruction in those fields.
Through a collaboration with OPS and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, visits in the last week of January included nearly 300 students and teachers from Burke High and Bryan High schools — hitting the milestone of more than 1,000 visiting students.
Presentations and hands-on activities helped students understand CASNR education pathways in fields including entrepreneurship, business, ag engineering, natural resources, plant sciences, food science, and animal biology.
In one exercise, OPS students learned about designing a mock variable rate irrigation system. Lyla Mayle, a Burke High freshman, said she found the activity worthwhile and stimulating.
“It was fun. It got my brain working,” Mayle said. “We had to come up with solutions to the problems we had to solve.”
The visits aim to help urban students learn about the breadth of career opportunities in modern agriculture and natural resources studies. Bryan High School’s Urban Agriculture Academy is home to a large FFA chapter, for example, and offers students hands-on experience in agriculture.
The university lists more than 400 ag- and natural resources-focused career choices for students. Professional options include agronomist, agricultural commodity broker, banker, animal nutritionist veterinarian, forester, food scientist, precision ag technologist, meteorologist, wildlife manager, data analyst, communications professional and more.
“There was a whole sheet of careers related to programs here,” said Rebekah Gliske, a Burke High freshman. “It's a ton of careers.”
Mayle had the same reaction and said she was impressed that CASNR encompasses such a wide range of disciplines.
Sponsors for the OPS student visits are Farm Credit Services, Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, Ag 40, members of Ag Builders of Nebraska, and ag and natural resources commodity groups and industries across the state.
“No milestone this big, this fast, could happen without the commitment of a team,” Tammy Mittelstet, CASNR’s statewide education and career pathways coordinator, said in noting the 1,000-student milestone.
The visits’ success is due to teamwork from the sponsoring organizations, Mittelstet said, and from partners including OPS leaders, administrators and teachers, plus the CASNR recruitment team, faculty and staff, and the East Campus dining staff.
“Your dedication and passion to provide opportunities for all students to come and visit campus, so they can see themselves here in the future, is imperative to the work we all do,” Mittelstet said.
Gliske said she would encourage the next set of Burke High freshmen to visit East Campus.
“It's really fun,” Gliske said. “You get to learn about college and the college experience.”
The visits show the long-term value of the OPS-CASNR partnership, Mittelstet said.
“We look forward to the next 1,000 OPS students visiting East Campus in the near future and working together as a team for their collective future,” Mittelstet said.
