Agriculture is all about planting seeds, right?
Wrong.
Sowing seeds is only the teeny tiny top of producing iceberg lettuce – and every other crop!
And that’s only part of what Pentwater High School Science teacher Erika Fatura presented to students during her fifth annual summer day camp, AgriScience Everywhere.
Twenty 5th-8thgraders from all around the West Shore ESD region enrolled in the July summer daycamp, eager to experiences hands-on learning and fan their interest in plant and animal science, natural sciences , and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) .
The West Michigan Research Station in Hart served as camp headquarters.
There is no cost to campers because costs are covered by West Shore Educational Education Services District funds earmarked for career and technical exploration.
“We’ve never repeated a field trip or activity in five years because our region of Michigan is overflowing with outstanding opportunities to teach agriscience,” said Erika, who teaches all eight science classes offered at Pentwater. “Agriscience is at the center of our area economy, and it supports most of the jobs we here in some way.”
The 2025 edition of AgriScience Everywhere featured two off-site field
trips.
The first was a tour the Gourmet Mushroom growing facility in Scottville.
Then campers received a taste of “agri-tainment” at its best at the Up North Farm Market in Hart, which features animals thar can be hand-fed, a restaurant, a store, and a Noah’s Ark themed playground.
Throughout the week of day camp, learning activities ranged from topics like soil fortification and preparation and crop pollination to mechanized methods of harvest and packaging produce for transport.
Last, and certainly not least all, every camper gets to make their own serving of ice cream. Yum!
One popular lesson showcased a drone demonstration as it showed how different technologies are used to plant, nourish, and harvest food.
The last day of camp ended with a trip to West Shore Community College to explore many of the academic programs available locally to prepare students for careers in agriscience.
Erika and her students also had time to enjoy fishing together with the ESD's Summit Tech Center's AgriScience teacher Mark Willis.
Erika said she hopes that AgriScience Everywhere inspires a deep respect among campers – regardless of what careers they eventually might choose – for the hard work, skill, and knowledge required by so many people employed ih the professions which keep food on the tables of households everywhere.
Erika's passion for agriculture is sincere.
She was raised on a large wheat, corn and soybeans farm about 30-minutes from Lansing.
Although she did not spend many hours helping her father in the fields, she grew up seeing how hard he worked to and how satisfying the work could be.
Erika enrolled at Michigan State University after high school with the intention to become a veterinarian.
Then, after earning a bachelor’s degree in zoology, her career goal shifted to teaching science.
Today, Erika and her two teen-age daughters volunteer at the Oceana County Humane Society and she also coaches Pentwater High School's cross-country team.
Thanks for all you do to promote AgriScience Everywhere, Erika.
The slogan on the 2025 camp shirts sums it up well!
