How do you get over 800 children to a hatchery for a field trip? Make it a VIRTUAL field trip! To further our goal of connecting industry with the classroom, we partnered with Nepris to do a tour of Meyer Hatchery in Polk, Ohio. This was a natural fit with the Ohio Soybean Council’s sponsorship of the ChickQuest program.
First, hatchery owner Karen Meyer met with GrowNextGen’s Heather Bryan and David Blankenship and showed them around the facility as they made a video of their visit. Then in a live webinar, Blankenship presented the tour video and talked to a national audience about the life cycle of chickens, how chicks are transported, technology used in the hatchery, and more.
42 classrooms and 842 students watched the trip. At least six Columbus City teachers and five Cleveland City teachers participated. Several teachers had snow days and said that they will be watching the recorded version later. Jeanne Gogolski, GrowNextGen’s education consultant, said, “I believe we are making a difference in agricultural education in Ohio.”
