July 19, 2022 – Students with Richland Community College’s Agriculture Education Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program had the opportunity to visit with executives at ADM to tour ADM’s North American Headquarters.
The RCC Agriculture program was selected by the Illinois State Board of Education to administer a new grant initiative that is designed to recruit and retain agricultural teachers in Illinois to address the agriculture teacher shortage. Eight future agriculture teachers from Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, and University of Illinois were selected to complete a 9-week summer internship.
As part of their internship, the students had the opportunity to hear from ADM Colleagues who shared their expertise and experiences working in the food and agriculture industry. They offered insight into the different types of careers that ADM provides as well as discussed the different skill sets to become successful in agribusiness.
Jess Smithers, Director of Agriculture Programs at RCC, stressed the importance of the internship program to these students’ development as future agriculture educators. Smithers says that hosting the program is both an honor and a big responsibility.
“The main goal for this internship is to recruit and retain teachers, making sure they’re well prepared for this very important job,” said Smithers. “It is great exposure for RCC and the Decatur area.”
According to Smithers, as educators, their job will not be only to teach about agriculture but to inspire students to pursue careers in the field.
“For these students to be here, to hear directly from ADM employees, is certainly something they can draw upon when they’re in the classroom. The students self-identified their areas of need at the beginning of the nine-week internship, and the program is built upon what they are seeking to learn. “They get a wide range of industry experience that builds their knowledge of agriculture as a whole. It’s not just about farming.”
Kennedi Knackmuhs, a junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, spoke to the impact that the panel had upon her aspirations to bring hands-on learning to her classroom. She plans to teach agriculture classes at a smaller school post-graduation.
“What we were talking about in our conference today — having someone come into our classroom that’s actually from ADM, putting the pieces together — will be very beneficial for my students,” said Knackmuhs. “Having those actual industry professionals’ perspective will ultimately help them see what the real world is like.”
As a graduate of Sangamon Valley High School, Knackmuhs highlighted the importance of her own agriculture education. “I learned so much from my agriculture teacher. We really connected on a personal level too; I would like to do that for my students as well. If I didn’t have her, I don’t know where I’d be.”
Emily Friese will be a senior this fall at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Agriculture Education in hopes of having a career as a high school agriculture teacher. Friese was surprised by all the different things the company offered.
“Coming into ADM, I had the misconception that they only did grain, but they talked about their protein, amino acids, sustainability, and transportation. I am involved in agriculture, but I had no idea ADM did all of that.”
Another intern, Zoey Dye, just graduated from Parkland College in Champaign, where she received her Associate’s Degree in Agriculture. In the fall, she will be transferred to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign to major in agriculture education. Zoey expressed that being one of the first eight students to experience a nine-week internship with RCC has been one of the best experiences she could ever have for her future career. On top of the advice she received from ADM colleagues, she said she has learned valuable lessons from RCC as well.
“I’ve done more than I thought I would be able to”, Dye said. “My favorite part of my experience was the electricity unit at RCC. Growing up, I’ve always watched my dad fix things in the house, and I knew how to do it by watching him, but being able to understand it and then be able to teach someone else how to do it was such a big moment; for me.”
In addition to the presentation by ADM, the students spoke with ADM colleagues who encouraged them to invite ADM into their teaching programs.
Speaking to the students, ADM Vice President and Director of State Government Relations, Gregg Webb said “we want to help you make connections for your students to the many roles in agribusiness. We want to help you be a success any way that we can.”
The pre-service teacher internship program will be expanded next summer to accommodate 16 interns and future agriculture teachers.
Find out more about the internship program as well as the ADM tour by listening to the podcast with Dr. Cris Valdez, President of Richland Community College, Jess Smithers, Richland Director of Agricultural Programs, Greg Webb, ADM Vice President – State Government Relations and Elliott Brammer, ADM Vice President – Amino Acids on Byers & Co.
