Agribusiness Program Paves Teaching Pathway for Danial Maltsbarger
Posted on Friday, November 13, 2020
UNOH Graduate, Danial Maltsbarger
Written by Communications Specialist Georgia Beard
Danial Maltsbarger grew up immersed in agriculture and knew it was important for him to continue on in this field as he sought out a career. He grew up raising calves and working on the family farm. As high school graduation was approaching, he looked back at the life lessons he learned from his childhood and knew he wanted to continue his life in the agriculture industry.
Not only did agriculture have a large influence on Danial’s upbringing, but he also grew up in a family full of educators. When searching for a job after graduating from the University of Northwestern Ohio with a degree in Agribusiness, Danial went to UNOH’s Ag instructor, Ron Gillette, for advice about opportunities in education. That’s when he learned that Lima Senior High School was starting a brand new career tech program.
“It just felt right to give back and put myself in a place to help prepare the next generation,” Danial exclaimed. “I saw there was an opening at Lima Senior and I've really fallen in love with this area. So I threw my name into consideration, and I'm excited to be the first ever Ag teacher at this brand new program here at Lima Senior.”
Danial is the Ag teacher and FFA advisor at Lima Senior High School. This new career tech program was established in 2020 and is for juniors and seniors. There are two main parts to the program. Junior year students learn an introduction to agriculture and Ag business management. Then senior year, they come back and take their business management skills and apply them into the agronomy course and the livestock management course. Students get a broad spectrum of agriculture education so they can graduate and be well prepared for their next step.
“The lessons are dealing with managing a daily calendar, to managing a checkbook, all the way up to different nutrients that are missing in the soil, to yield monitoring and precision farming,” Danial explains. “Those are all the pieces that I have taken and learned at UNOH and brought them to Lima Senior and I’m sharing those concepts with my students.”
As with any new program, there is room for growth. Danial recognizes that and is ready to see what the program will become in the next few years. “It’s important to me to make sure we offer this program, not only to our students here at Lima Senior, but to our community and our rural schools. There are students who want to pursue a career in agriculture, but they don't have that opportunity. Having our urban students show an animal at the fair is a goal of mine. In addition, I want to see this program really blossom into a regional training center for students interested in Ag all across our county."
“I would highly recommend two specific programs at UNOH. There's the Ag Equipment and Diesel Technologies for those students that want to get the hands-on equipment and training. Or, students that want to go more the business route, which was my pathway, there is an amazing Agribusiness program I would highly recommend,” Danial said. “To me, the biggest value is that family atmosphere. College is about what you put into it. And going to UNOH for Agribusiness, I had a chance to invest in myself and I'm grateful that I did that. At the end of the day, I have the greatest connections out there, I met some of the greatest people, and I was prepared to leave and enter into the workforce. And, that is a very proud piece for me to say that I graduated from UNOH.”
Category: Business, Health, and Occupational Professions, Campus & Community
Keywords: Agribusiness, Danial Maltsbarger
