By Zach Spicer
Personalized wooden keychains, stone coasters with a logo and a guitar with a hexagonal pattern on the body are among items made on a laser engraver.
A greenhouse and an A-frame roof were designed on a computer and then built as small models.
Learning how to operate an indoor drone before moving up to larger outdoor drones results in earning a license to fly the aircraft.
Various types of lettuce are planted in a tower garden and harvested for students to eat.
Cuts of meat from different parts of livestock are plated to learn how food goes from farm to fork.
Baby chicks and a black sheep stuffed animal are explored up close.
At Brownstown Central High School, various engineering and agriculture classes are offered to pique students’ interest and possibly lead them to a future career.
On Jan. 22, students enrolled in those classes manned stations around one of the ag rooms at the school to share their knowledge with local eighth graders who next school year will call BCHS home.
This was the fourth year for the event, which for the first three years was called Engineering Fair before changing to Engineering and Ag Fair with adding the ag department to the mix.
BCHS business education teacher Luke Cobb said recently, there has been a big push on Career and Technical Education classes due to changes with the Indiana high school diploma.
“I know engineering is not everyone’s cup of tea,” he said. “There are kids who’d rather be outside, so I asked Abby (Branaman, ag teacher at BCHS) if she would be interested because she’s new and we’re both growing our programs, and she was all for it, so we combined. They have a bunch of cool ag stuff, and I feel like it just hits a bigger audience.”
For the first year of the event, Cobb said he and his five engineering students went to the middle school to talk to eighth graders about the offerings at BCHS.
Since then, the middle schoolers have traveled to BCHS to explore the various classes.
Cobb now has 50 students taking engineering classes, and the number of classes has expanded.
He feels the Engineering Fair has helped with that.
“It is working,” Cobb said. “It’s really great for them. It gets a lot more kids into it.”
The first two events featured two engineering classes and robotics. Since then, BCHS has added drone and architecture classes, so those are now part of the fair.
Students from an introductory engineering class made personalized wooden keychains on a laser engraver for the visiting eighth graders.
Junior Miller, a junior at BCHS, said they have done a variety of three-dimensional modeling and hands-on projects in the class. Those utilized computer programs and various equipment.
“It’s very hands-on, and I’ve learned a lot from them. Mr. Cobb is a great teacher,” Miller said.
As for sharing what they do in class with the middle schoolers, Miller said, “It’s something they get engaged into. I just think it’s good for them to learn stuff like that. Hopefully, they carry it with them through college and stuff.”
Nearby, the stone coasters and guitar were on a table along with other items made by students.
Dalton Brazzell has taken engineering classes throughout high school. Now a junior, he helped make the unique design on the guitar body.
“It’s definitely cool, but it’s very time-consuming,” he said.
Keaton Peters, a freshman in the introduction to engineering design class, said Cobb lets students design and create at their skill level.
“It’s fun and challenging at the same time,” he said. “You’re either going to get to the midpoint of the project and realize you hate it or you’re going to get to the midpoint of the project and realize you love it.”
Both liked having the opportunity to showcase what they’ve done in class.
“It’s a great class to take. If you take it, you’ll learn a lot,” Peters said. “It’s a fun dual credit thing, and you get to make stuff, so there’s no reason not to take it.”
Brazzell said they also built the computers they use to design products.
“I just see how all of our equipment slowly gets better and better,” he said. “We have more people, and we make cooler and better things. It’s definitely an amazing opportunity.”
Peters agreed.
“I feel like with what we have now, it’s so much more intriguing for the kids,” he said.
Sophomore Naomi McKain, junior Allie Barlow and senior Charlie Watts are in the civil engineering and architecture class that designed and built the greenhouse and A-frame roof models.
“We build hands-on stuff, and we also build some online,” Barlow said. “We model and design everything and then get it printed, and every piece is handmade.”
McKain said they also learn about plumbing and electrical.
“A lot of times, we’ll look up pictures of designs and try to re-create them, and then a lot of times, we laser cut the wood so we can make a whole bunch of different shapes,” she said.
They enjoyed the opportunity to educate the eighth graders.
“This (class) is very hands-on,” Barlow said. “That is definitely a plus, getting to work, seeing what you’re building, and that’s something you can be proud of.”
Also at the fair, senior Ellie Black showed eighth graders the various drones they could explore in the drone class. The larger drones have bigger cameras, more capabilities and advanced controls and fly faster.
She said the goal is for students to earn their Part 107 drone license, an FAA credential for legally operating drones for commercial purposes in the United States.
From the ag side, eighth graders learned about the animal science, principles of ag, horticulture, plant and soil science and food science classes.
Branaman, a graduate of BCHS, said the school has always offered a lot of ag classes, and her goal is to keep the tradition going.
“As a first-year ag teacher, I want to do my best to communicate what they can expect, and so it’s been really awesome and it’s been great prepping for the ag fair to see what they want to share,” she said. “To hear them talk about it, you can tell that they really enjoy it, too.”
In November, FFA officers visited eighth graders to talk about the ag program.
“When they come here, they get to actually see it in action,” Branaman said of the fair. “I’m really impressed with the students. We’re doing our best to start introducing all of the options and give them a little bit of a taste so that they know what to take.”