MVHS ag shop class featured on national television segment

Mt. Vernon High School’s Ag Shop class, taught by veteran instructor Jay Shepherd, was the focus of a segment of “This Week in Agribusiness” which aired on RFD-TV on May 4-5. The segment, filmed by MVHS alum and former ag student Jamie Johansen, formerly Jamie Bellis, also aired during “From the Tailgate” during FFA week in February. About 24 MVHS students can also be seen in the segment
While filming, Johansen interviewed Shepherd about the skills students learn in Ag Shop.
“They … learn some real-world skills they can have forever,” Shepherd said. “Sure, they learn how to weld, but I think one of the more important things is that we learn how to think and how to reason and how to build things and how to do them correctly and think about how you’re building something. There’s a lot of things that kids may have not thought about in their educational career in that manner.”
Shepherd told Johansen that the students have a lot of latitude when it comes to what welding projects they’ll take on.
“If they’re in my class, whatever they want to build and can afford, (then) let’s do it,” he said. “Otherwise, we have members of the community that we build projects for. We do that because we have a reputation for doing a good, quality job, and we make sure that what we roll out is something the customer is going to be pleased with.”
Shepherd also said the students were working on a wide array of welding projects, including trailers, calf catchers, and refitting old tractors. One of the most impressive projects, however, was an animal lab two students created over 10 months, which was installed behind the shop. Shepherd said the project demonstrated both the students’ ability and character.
“If it wasn’t for them and the skill … and work ethic they have, there’s no way it could have been done in 10 months,” he said.
In addition to making sure the students have a hands-on learning experience, Shepherd said he wanted to make sure they keep up with the latest technologies in the industry. Towards that end, the department purchased a computerized plasma cutter which the students use for fabrication projects.
“In the industry, those kinds of tools are being used all the time,” Shepherd told Johansen. “In fact, there’s an industry right across the road here that’s using that very same piece of equipment, and we wanted to give the students those skills.”
 Shepherd said the plasma cutter is used by the students to make metal signs which are sold to raise some extra money for the department, but it also has another use.
“We can make our own trailer parts when we need to when we’re custom fabricating our projects,” he said.
The skills students learn in the ag shop class go beyond the hands-on practical. Shepherd told Johansen that they also practice critical thinking and communication skills necessary to plan out a project to begin with. For instance, the students must look up the costs of materials on the Internet or speak with suppliers to find out how much materials cost. Then, they have to speak with their parents or others who are purchasing the project to work out an agreeable cost so they can determine the scope of the project they’ll do.
“They’re learning a lot of things in terms of communication,” Shepherd told Johansen. “They’ve got to communicate with the suppliers, and they’ve also got to communicate with whomever is buying it and see if that’s workable for them.”
Shepherd also said that even if students don’t use the skills they learn in the class when they go into the workforce, they’ll use them in everyday life.
“Maybe they’re not all going to be welders, but they’re all going to be problem solvers,” he said.
The video can be seen on the From the Tailgate YouTube channel.