Emma Gray
Editor
Parkland’s agriculture and horticulture program will host their 50th Annual Agriculture Banquet on Feb. 27 in the Student Union from 6–7:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 5:30 p.m..
The purpose of the banquet is to celebrate the program’s successes, past and future. At the banquet, students and industry partners will be recognized for their hard work.
“The Agriculture Banquet is a time when the faculty recognize outstanding student achievements in the agriculture and horticulture programs,” said Jenni Fridgen, the director of the precision agriculture program. “We also recognize our industry partners that have provided work experience opportunities for our students.”
One way the programs recognizes exceptional partners to the program, whether from Parkland or from the industry, is by giving out an annual award for a person who has “exhibited strong support of the agriculture and horticulture programs,” Fridgen said.
The award is called the Crystal Apple award and the recipients of the award in the past have been board members, faculty and staff of Parkland College, advisory board members and contributing partners.
Because this year is the 50th anniversary of the banquet, all alumni are being invited to come and view a special video being made in their honor. The video will feature students who were in the first classes to graduate from Parkland, as well as recent graduates.
Aside from the video presentation, there will also be presentations to recognize the students and industry partners, the anniversary, and the Crystal Apple award.
The agriculture and horticulture programs at Parkland are growing to meet the needs of students, Fridgen said. One way that the horticulture program has done this is by adding a class on sustainability. They have also expanded their sustainable garden, found by the T-wing and W-wing. This sustainable garden donates its surplus produce to the Wesley Food Pantry on campus, which provides free food for students and community members.
The horticulture program teaches students about a variety of fields, including growing plants from seeds, growing food, landscape design, and floral design. It offers both certificate programs and associate degrees with lots of hands on learning according to the website.
Fridgen says that the precision agriculture program also continues to grow. According to Parkland’s website, Parkland is the only college in Illinois to offer an associate degree in this field.
“Our program is different from others as we are the [only] one to actually offer an AAS in Precision Ag whereas most community colleges only offer a certificate,” Fridgen said. “Our courses are very comprehensive with hands-on experience for our students, using technology used in the industry today. We train our students on the technology that most farmers don’t even have yet.”
Parkland College also is the only college in the state to offer precision agriculture courses for high school students, according to Fridgen.
Precision agriculture is a field that uses Global Positioning Systems, Geographic Information Systems and other technology to support farmers making decisions about crop sustainability and management.
Students in Parkland’s program can work at paid internships through Parkland’s national and local partnerships with the industry. Students who study in the precision agriculture program can go on to have careers as precision agriculture specialists and sales people, natural resource technicians, or equipment specialists.
Parkland also has a historical agriculture club, Phi Alpha Chi, which was initiated in 1968 and is still active today, according to Fridgen.
The banquet will be catered by Dish Passionate Cuisine, a local catering company. Fridgen said in the past attendance has ranged from 100–175 people. Although the event is free, people are encouraged to RSVP if they plan to attend.
To RSVP for the banquet, contact Christine Murphy-Lucas by emailing cmurphy@parkland.edu.
