If something isn’t broken, there is no need to fix it; however, there is always room to make improvements in the tried and true. That is what has been happening this winter and spring as the Sure Champ in the Classroom website received a makeover to provide more user-friendly information that is easier to find, broken down by both topics and species.
Sure Champ in the Classroom is an online resource designed to help young people #preptowin in life. The online resource offers educational information about basic animal husbandry, livestock evaluation, preparing a cover letter and resume, preparing for CDEs and more.
“The Sure Champ in the Classroom resource page has especially been targeted to help agriculture educators and advisors thrive and develop their lesson plans in the classroom. With the progression and popularity of ‘virtual’ resources, we have come to realize that education doesn’t just happen in the classroom – it can happen anywhere. We revamped our resource page to be more user friendly for all demographics: teachers, students, advisors, 4-H and FFA members alike,” said Jessie Judge, BioZyme Marketing Brand Manager for Beef and Show Livestock, who manages the website. “These resources cover a wide scope of topics to help teachers in the classroom, support students getting started with new livestock projects, provide tips for career development endeavors and more. We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘the best learning happens in the barn,’ and that same principle drove our decision to overhaul our resources – the classroom can be ANYWHERE. Learning isn’t confined to just the classroom.”
BioZyme® feels that it is important to have well-educated young people involved in agriculture as they become industry advocates. The company also wants these same young people to succeed both in the show ring and in and out of the classroom. The makeover of this site divides learning activities by species so someone with a pig can easily go to the pig resources to find information about selection, nutrition, reading ear notches, commingling animals and a checklist of equipment needed when showing pigs. If you are preparing for a livestock judging contest, a variety of judging classes with placings, cuts and reasons are posted under the Judging Classes and also divided by species. Finally, a host of educational topics live under the educational posts that range from reading a feed tag to preparing for an internship or job interview.
“Equipping young people in our industry with the tools they need to win and be successful in life is vital to the success of our business because these young people are the future of our industry. When they surpass the show ring, many of them will seek careers in this industry and contribute to our progression as an agriculture industry at large. It is important for Sure Champ to make an impact on these young people early on through means of education and leadership opportunities not only to leave a lasting impression and emphasize our Care that Comes Full Circle vision, but to ensure they are prepared to go into the career field and thrive in supporting the industry we serve,” Judge said.
If you have a young customer who is new to livestock showing or who needs material to study for an FFA or 4-H project, guide them to the Sure Champ in the Classroom page. There is a wealth of information there that will help them #preptowin in and out of the show ring!