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.