VERSAILLES – James Schmitmeyer is a senior at Versailles High School and participates in the Agriculture Education Capstone Program and has been selected as the capstone highlight student of the month. The Versailles Agriculture Education Capstone Program is in its thirteen years of existence. James is the son of Doug and Brenda Schmitmeyer of Versailles, Ohio. Capstone is a program that gives Versailles High School Junior and Senior Students who are enrolled in agriculture education an opportunity to gain real-world employment experiences and opportunities while in high school.
James has worked over 7,900 hours at LineView Farms since his enrollment in agriculture education class. James’s primary roles at LineView Farms include: feeding calves, bedding steers and feeders, milking, scraping, working ground, planting, combining, operating grain carts and hauling manure. Doug Schmitmeyer of LineView Farms is quoted as saying “James is very dedicated, prompt and a hard worker. He always wants to learn. James is very careful and reliable with equipment. We are looking forward to him joining the farm full-time after graduation.”
LineView Farms is owned and operated by Doug and Brenda Schmitmeyer and was started in 1993. LineView Farms is a diversified crop and livestock operation that consists of a 100-head dairy operation, raises dairy steers and feeders, operates a pig nursery and farms 1,800 acres of corn, alfalfa, soybeans and wheat.
This year 53 students are enrolled in the Versailles Agriculture Education Capstone programs and are leaving school after their daily required courses are complete and working at area businesses. The goal of the spotlight is to highlight each month one of the students that participate in the capstone program and highlight the skills/knowledge they are gaining, and the roles/assets they are to their business. The students enrolled in capstone also use their employment as their Supervised Agricultural Experience Program. As part of their grade in capstone, students are required to keep detailed records of their hours worked, earnings and skills performed. In addition to the record books, capstone students are being evaluated at the end of each nine weeks by an evaluation completed by their employer.
Congratulations to James and Thank you to LineView Farms for this opportunity.