The school has specific curricular components in which students receive technical content in the areas of food, fiber, energy, bioscience and the environment, Jennings said, noting that Ag Day is a celebration of that and the industry as a whole.
The academy has one of the largest Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters in Ohio, as all of its students are members. In addition, about 60% of GISA’s graduates go into agriculture-related fields, Jennings said. Those who opt for other career fields also “even the students who don’t go to a specific field of student with ag or directly into employment, I certainly think they have benefited immensely by the teachings, learning and finding relevance through the field of ag, he said.
“That exposure in any way, shape or form will pay dividends to those students in a variety of ways,” he said.
Nationally, there are 41,680 people in the biological scientist field with a mean hourly wage of $43.22 and mean annual wage of $89,910, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Ohio, there are 330 people employed in the biological scientist field with an hourly mean wage of $36.48 and annual mean wage of $75,870.
The data also shows that the Dayton region is the sixth top paying metropolitan area for the biological scientist field with 50 employees, $52.47 hourly mean wage and $109,130 annual mean wage.
Bioscience is one of the state’s fastest growing occupations with a change of 20.3% and 100 annual openings, according to the 2026 Ohio Job Outlook Employment Projections data by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The number of employees in the field is projected to jump from 880 in 2016 to 1,059 in 2026.
All GISA students were involved in planning Ag Day, said junior Anna Spohler.
“Ag Day is a huge part of our school,” she said. “We help plan it, every single grade, every single class, helps us to plan ag day. It’s a huge thing for us, getting to work with all the different grades, the 7-12 graders get to work together and we all combine to make this day such a big thing for us and such a special event.ng,” she said.
The activities, which are enhanced and adapted from a typical school day, are not only intended to engage the students, but also the guests, Jennings said.
Some of the activities included creek stomping, which allowed students to test chemical and physical qualities of stream health and biodiesel boat racing. Students also created lip balm with soybean byproducts and they explored the anatomy and functions of crops and coffee marketing
Jennings said the academy celebrates National Ag Day each year as their schedule allows. He said they have done that through a variety of ways, but part of the event is inviting local leaders and elected officials to engage with students on the work they’re doing that day and throughout the year.
The day is not necessarily to prepare students for anything specific, but to celebrate what the students already engage in on a daily basis. However, Jennings said that events like these does prepare students to engage with adults in sharing and articulating the critical importance of the industry.
Spohler said agriculture is important because it’s everywhere.
“It is in the food that you eat, the things that you grow. It’s not just farmers, it’s not just the soil and the dirt, it is everywhere,” she said. “It is made in factories, it is made in homes, it is made in schools. Agriculture is a huge part of our school, it’s a huge part of the world... It’s something that will continue to grow because it is such an important part of our world.”
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