Staff report

VERSAILLES — Jason Norton, a senior at Versailles High School and participant in the Agriculture Education Capstone Program, has been selected as the Capstone Spotlight student of the month. The Versailles Agriculture Education Capstone Program is in its tenth year of existence. Capstone is a program that gives Versailles High School Junior and Senior Students that are enrolled in agriculture education an opportunity to gain real world employment experiences and opportunities while in high school.

Jason is the son of Lindsey Ewert of Versailles, Ohio. He started working at Ben and Mallory Schmitmeyer Dairy Farm in summer of 2019 and has continued to work throughout this senior year, accumulating over 4,900 hours. Some of Jason’s primary responsibilities and roles at Ben and Mallory Schmitmeyer Dairy Farm include: milking; vaccinating cattle; treating cattle; parlor maintenance; general farm maintenance; feeding calves; field work related to planting and harvesting; making hay; and chopping silage.

Ben Schmitmeyer of Schmitmeyer Dairy Farm said, “Jason is a great asset to our farming operation. He is very dependable, very reliable, driven, motivated and always on time.” Schmitmeyer continued, “Jason gets along well with all the other employees and is not afraid to try new task and responsibilities.” Jason plans to continue to work at Ben and Mallory Schmitmeyer Dairy Farm after graduation.

Ben and Mallory Schmitmeyer Dairy Farm was established in 2007 and milk 360 dairy cows plus their offspring. Schmitmeyer Dairy Farm markets their milk to Dannon in Minster and also raises corn, wheat, soybeans, and alfalfa.

This year a record 51 students are enrolled in the Versailles Agriculture Education Capstone programs. They leave school after their daily required courses are complete and got to work at area businesses. The goal of the monthly spotlight is to highlight one of the students who participates in the Capstone program and the skills and knowledge they are gaining as well as the asset 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 assessed at the end of each nine weeks by an employer evaluation.

Congratulations to Jason and thank you to Ben and Mallory Schmitmeyer for providing this opportunity.