High School Students thinkAG at Agribition
The thinkAG Career Expo was a FOUR day event at Agribition that hosted over 550 students from Regina and surrounding communities who were exposed to the endless careers in agriculture and food. Many students believe that in order to work in agriculture you must have some sort of farming background. The thinkAG Career Expo was designed with stations that the students visit that showcase a variety of different careers. Each station is run by industry professionals who lead a hands-on and interactive activity related to their sector that gives students the opportunity to truly experience what it would be like to work in that field.
The stations included:
Exploring Agriculture Trades (hosted by Sask Youth Apprenticeship (Carpentry); Sask PolyTechnic (Machining, Welding, Ag Equipment Technology)
AgriBusiness (hosted by Rural Municipal Administrators' Association and AITC-C)
Animal Science (hosted by Western College of Veterinary Medecine)
Technology (hosted by Sask Science Center)
Food Science (hosted by Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture)
Value Chain (hosted by Cargill Ltd.)
Research & Innovation (hosted by FP Genetics)
Following is a sample of Animal Science station:
Focus: Disease investigation of a beef cow-calf herd.
• Scenario: A number of the herd’s calves have come down with life-threatening scours (diarrhea) and the WCVM disease investigation unit (DIU) has been called in to help understand why so many calves are ill.
• Overview: The presentation will cover the causes of scours, its treatment and how it can be prevented. The most effective tool in preventing scours is to ensure that all newborn calves receive enough antibody-rich colostrum (first milk), so our presentation will also cover the important role of colostrum in animal health care.
• Activities: The students will get a chance to use a refractometer to estimate the protein content in blood plasma samples. They’ll also have a chance to measure the nutritional quality of colostrum in comparison to regular milk.
The thinkAG Career Expo would not be possible without the support of our generous partners and sponsors. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event such an amazing success!
"When I asked a student about which was their favorite station they said 'All of them!' They learned so much they didn't know! Awesome!"
Nicole Anderson, Grade 11 Teacher, Regina