Photo by Deb Gau Marshall Middle School teachers Joseph Schmitt, Laura Stiles and Erica Hess recently gave a presentation to the Marshall School Board on new agriculture, FACS and career pathways classes for MMS students. Students in grades 7 and 8 are all going through the new programs.

MARSHALL — Hands-on learning has been at the center of new classes at Marshall Middle School this fall. Teachers for the new agriculture, family and consumer science, and career pathways courses said students have been excited to try out the skills they’re learning.

“A lot of my students say this is the best class that they have, because it is so hands-on,” said FACS teacher Laura Stiles.

Last week, Stiles, agriculture teacher Joseph Schmitt, and Practical Assessment Exploration System (PAES) teacher Erica Hess shared an update on the new courses with the Marshall School Board.

Starting this year, middle school students in grades 7 and 8 are all going through one or more of the new classes. Seventh-grade students are taking agriculture and FACS courses.

“Our interest survey way back in the first week of school showed that students lacked a lot of knowledge about agriculture,” Schmitt said.

Some of the main goals of his class are to help give students an interest in agriculture, and to show them that it’s not only about growing crops.

“The last thing we did was, we made fabric,” Schmitt said. “It’s like, think about your shirt. A shirt doesn’t just grow on a tree, it has to come from somewhere. So, we found out just how difficult it is to make a piece of fabric just a few inches by a few inches.”

The agriculture class looks at how farmers manage natural resources, and lets students practice skills related to the topics they discuss in class. Students planted their own vegetables and did soil studies, Schmitt said.

“Each week we examine a new topic, and relate it back to this idea,” Schmitt said. “Standards for ag don’t start until the last years of high school, so I looked at those standards and then sort of dialed them back,” for younger students, he said.

“Student comments in class are mostly positive,” Schmitt said.

He was enjoying teaching the class as well.

“Being able to have those lab moments, and interact with students on functional skills, has been great,” he said.

“I’m really glad to see that this program is going on,” said school board member Aaron Ziemer. “With where we live and what we do, (agriculture) is the backbone of everything here in southwest Minnesota.”

Stiles said seventh-grade students are also going through FACS classes.

“Most of you probably know FACS as home ec,” Stiles said. “But it’s changed a lot since then. We’re not just about foods and sewing.”

Stiles said students in FACS do learn about hand-sewing, cooking and kitchen safety. However, they also learn about healthy relationships and personal finances, she said.

“We go over what a checking account is, what a savings account is, what’s a credit card,” Stiles said.

Students also got a chance to practice budgeting, writing checks, and balancing checkbooks.

Students have also been excited to show their new skills — like sewing on buttons or baking mini-pizzas — to their families at home, Stiles said. “Being able to talk with them about that and see that they’re learning and listening, and taking that home and showing that at home as well, it’s awesome.”

Hess said eighth-grade students are getting a chance to explore different career modules in the PAES lab this year. The PAES program is one quarter long, and covers five different career areas ranging from technology to business and customer service. Students choose their own areas of interest, and rotate through self-directed studies into different skills and jobs, Hess said.

“To determine their interests and abilities, is really what the program is set up to do,” she said.

Hess said the PAES modules are hands-on. For example, students interested in the construction and industrial units went from learning about shop measurements and using screws and nails, to building wooden bookshelves.

“We had electrical projects as well,” she said.

Students learned how to wire a working doorbell.

“It’s from scratch. They learned to strip the wire, measure the wire, connect it to the doorbell buzzer, all on the circuit board. So that’s been fun to see,” she said.

Hess said students were proud of the skills they learned, from using a sewing machine to cooking pancakes.

“The feedback has been positive,” Hess said. “Most every single parent that came through was truly like, ‘I really wish I had this when I was younger.’ They’re just really excited for their child to have this opportunity to get their feet wet.”

Hess said classes like PAES also give middle school students an idea of what studies they want to pursue in high school.

School board members had their own positive feedback for the three instructors.

“I just think all three classes are fantastic,” said school board chairman Jeff Chapman. “Besides that, I can tell that all three of your are tied in to your students,” he said.