SAE Spotlight

💛 Naomi Campbell: Rabbit SAE 💛

Naomi is raising, breeding, and selling rabbits for the Gratz Fair-- and she's already sold her first pen! Through this project, she's gained a deeper appreciation for rabbits, learned to handle challenges like animals not making weight, and is building skills for her future farm dreams.

Naomi's Advice: "Once you get the planning part done, AET isn't so bad. Doing rabbits was a fun SAE-- I would recommend it!"

Next up, Naomi plans to buy more rabbits to continue breeding, growing her project and expertise even further. We are so proud of her hard work and dedication!

🐣 Kaia Snyder: Sunny Side Up Egg Production SAE🐣

Kaia’s project is all about raising laying hens, harvesting their eggs, and sharing her produce with others. Eggs from her hens are planned to be used in school cooking classes, and she hopes to eventually sell them at a farm stand, helping her develop both her entrepreneurial and agricultural skills.

Kaia chose this project because she had never had the opportunity to care for chickens before and wanted to learn the responsibilities of poultry care—skills she hopes to apply to her future personal farm. Since starting, she has gained valuable knowledge in animal care, coop building, cleaning, time management, and patience. Her project is shaping her into a more responsible and patient person, ready to tackle challenges head-on.

 Kaia’s Advice for other students: “Don’t stress over every little situation. Nine out of ten times, you’re making it more than what it is.”

We are so proud of Kaia’s dedication, growth, and success with her SAE project! Her hard work and passion for agriculture truly shine. 

⚒️Connor Wenrich and Wyatt Kassirer: Shop Maintenance Manager ⚒️

Their project is all about building, fixing, and keeping the shop in tip top shape. From organizing the space to diagnosing engines, Connor and Wyatt are learning problem solving, resourcefulness, and project management skills that will benefit they for years to come.

They chose this project because they love building and fixing things. Their biggest accomplishment was disassembling and diagnosing engines like a pro. Their short term goal is to keep the shop running smoothly and engines in shape. Their advice to other students is "do something you enjoy and have fun! We can't wait to see how Connor and Wyatt continue to make the shop a better place for everyone!

🥒Makenna Alvord: Freaky Foods🥕

Makenna's project focuses on growing unique vegetables in the school greenhouse for students to try. She choose this project because she loves gardening and enjoys seeing people try new foods.

Through her project, Makenna has learned responsibility, patience, and how to properly care for plants. Her goals include growing vegetables like purple broccoli and brussel sprouts, harvesting them, and creating informational flyers for students.She has faced challenges such as plants dying or not germinating, but she overcomes them by replanting and trying again. Makenna is proud of how many plants have successfully grown so far.

In the future, she hopes to expand her project by growing even more vegetables and introducing fruits for students to try.

🌱Ozzy Beck: Native Restoration & Invasive Annihilation 🌱

Ozzy is improving our school grounds by planting 25 native Eastern White Pine trees and removing invasive tree species to support a healthier ecosystem. Inspired by his goal to pursue Environmental Science, Ozzy is gaining hands-on skills in tree planting and care while making a real environmental impact. Congrats Ozzy!

🦌Grady Stewart: Double Drop Antlers🦌

Double Drop Antlers is an entrepreneurship placement project focused on selling deer antlers and dog chews made from antlers. Despite challenges with finding enough time, he has been successful, earning over $10,000. Grady also has a Euro Mount Business where he works on exotic mounts. Congrats Grady!

🍓B'Elana Bloom: The Giving Garden🍅

The Giving Garden, is an entrepreneurship project focused on creating a self-serve farmstand that will be placed in front of the school and open to the community, offering real, homegrown or handmade products. Inspired by her love for gardening and giving back, she combined both passions while involving classmates in the process. Through this project, she has gained experience in planning, marketing, sales, customer service, budgeting, record-keeping, and managing revenue, along with agriculture skills such as crop cultivation, harvesting, and storage. Despite challenges with seed germination and pests, she reworked her greenhouse germination chamber and stayed persistent, learning to give herself grace and adapt when plans changed. She is especially proud of the farmstand built from her blueprint by Wyatt and Connor, whose positive attitudes helped bring her vision to life. This experience has strengthened her communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and time management skills, all of which will support her future goal of pursing a career in psychology. The Giving Garden is set to open to the community after Easter break.

🐇Colby Strohecker: From Hutch To Show-ring, Raising and Showing Rabbits🐇

From hutch to show-ring, Colby is raising and showing rabbits with a focus on breeding high-quality stock for the fair. Through his SAE, he's building skills in responsibility, animal care, and breeding while working toward stronger show results and expanding into meat rabbits. One highlight? His Senior Mini Rex Buck earning Best of Breed at the 2025 Gratz Fair! Colby's passion proves that choosing a project you truly enjoy makes all the difference.

🥔Alana Peiffer: Red Hill Harvest 🥔

Red Hill Harvest has given her hands-on farm experience and a passion for agriculture marketing. From laying irrigation pipe and packing potatoes in the summer to managing social media and events during the year, she has developed time management, a strong work ethic, and teamwork skills. A proud moment for her was going from learning irrigation systems her first summer in 2024 to training new hires in 2025. With goals of planning for Ag Literacy Night and Picnic In The Pasture 2026, Alana's experience has shaped her future career path. Her advice: "Start the project even if you are scared- the risk is 100% worth the reward".

👷Jena Burkert: Experience Today, Careers Tomorrow 💻

Jena's SAE project involves creating informational posters and displaying them on bulletin boards around the school so students can learn about agriculture and technology classes. The posters show what classes are offered, what units are taught in those classes, and possible careers related to agriculture. The goal of her project is to encourage more studetns to become involved in agricultural and technical education while also helping current student learn about potential career paths. Through this project, she has developed research, creativity, communication, and project planning skills, along with improving her time management. This project also helped her explore different careers in agriculture and strengthened her goal of going to college for agriculture education. In the future, she hopes to pass this project down to a younger student so it can continue helping students learn about opportunites in agriculture.

🧑‍🏫 Jovi Ramsey: AG Uncovered 🧑‍🏫

This spotlight highlights Jovi Ramsey and her project, "Ag Uncovered!" Jovi is working to bring agriculture into the classrom by creating engaging lessons that combine agricultural concepts with science for students in local schools like Halifax and Millersburg. Inspired by her own experience of not having access to agricultural education, she is passionate about making sure younger students have the opportunity to learn about agriculture, FFA, and the many career paths within the industry. Through this project, Jovi is buiding valuable skills in communication, lesson planning, and teaching while making a meaningful impact in her community. Her goal is simple but powerful-to make an impact, even if it means inspiring just one student to explore agriculture and get involved in FFA. Looking ahead, she plans to expand "Ag Uncovered" to reach even more schools as she pursues her dream in becoming an agricultural educator or extension agent. Her advice to others: Take the risk-even when it feels like your goals aren't worth the wait! We are so proud of you Jovi!!

🕯️Leah Webster: Candle Making 🕯️

This spotlight highlights Leah Webster and her entrepreneurship project, Candle Making! Leah is creating and selling handmade candles while focusing on learning the craft and exploring her creativity through different scents, styles, and containers. From simple, classic candles to mason jars with seasonal scents and unique herbal combinations, she is working to create something for everyone. Through this project, Leah has developed patience, multitasking skills, and a stronger understanding of how to create products that appeal to a wide range of people. Despite challenges like limited space and supplies, she has found creative ways to experiment-like turning a thrifted candy dish into a fun, candy-scented candle! Her short-term goal is to break even, while long-term she hopes to continue candle making as a creative outlet for making gifts for friends and family. Her advice to others: Do your research and stay committed-you have to put in the time even when you don't feel like it! We are so proud of you Leah!