Hay Rack Construction (Community Based Unit)

Community support and interaction with community members is vital to any successful agriculture program.  At about the halfway point in my student teaching experience I was approached by a local farmer to construct a hay rack for his dairy cattle.  I jumped on the opportunity and began discussing his vision for this final project.  It was something that would fit in very nicely in my welding and electrical class.  My students by now were also proficient in both arc and MIG welding and had the choice to use either or during the construction of this project. 

To make the most of this community based unit of instruction I also incorporated other members of the community.  On April 18^th I took my seven students on a tour of a local Amish metal fabrication shop.  This proved to be very beneficial.  My students got to ask an array of questions and see how a metal fabrication shop functions.  There they got to see them build a large two compartment mulch dump box.  It was interesting because they were building it for an uncle of one of the students in my class.  They also got to see a CNC cutter in action as well as three other large metal shears.  This Amish metal fabrication shop does many small customer projects as well as builds two products of their own.  These products include a hay conditioner for the small hobby farmer and driveway graders.  It amazed my students and me that while this small shop located in Lancaster County actually markets their products to multiple dealers up and down the east coast. 

On Wednesday April 20^th we had a conference phone call with Jason Scales who is the manager of educational development with Lincoln Electric.  During this conference call the students got to listen to best tips and tricks when constructing a hay rack and other relatable products.  This conference call proved to be very successful and the students as well as I learned something new.  The students also learned about career opportunities in welding and with Lincoln Electric.

Then on Thursday April 21^st a college representative from Thaddaeus Stevens College of Technology came and spoke about their welding program and metal fabrication program.  This meeting proved to be a valuable tool as well.  While only one of my students was a senior who was graduating it got the rest of my students’ minds thinking about maybe pursuing a technical career at Thaddaeus Stevens.  She brought a plethora of information that she shared with the students and also offered to partner with Lampeter Strasburg in the future to set up any industrial tours or college visits.  Holly and I thought this was a great door which we opened with a local upper level institution of education.

All week long we continued as well working on the hay rack.  The students impressed me greatly with their go get it attitude on this project and taking ownership of it.  I am very proud of the progress all seven of my students have made in my welding class.  They should be completing this project this coming Monday just in time for the cows to be eating hay out of it.