5 Reasons to Vote Yes 4 Agriculture

The referendum includes provisions for new learning spaces for agricultural education, along with a new, larger greenhouse with secure entrance, more shop space that can be shared with Tech Ed, a state-of-the-art food science lab to be shared with Life Sciences, and access to a truck dock for various activities.  Why does Mayville need the emphasis on Agriculture?

• Agriculture is a Pillar of Our Community

Manufacturing and Agriculture are the Pillars of the community.  We need these pillars in place, so that all other areas of our community remain intact and grow over time.  Do not think of cows, sows and plows, but rather of cheese factories, milk processing plants, canning companies, refrigeration companies, trucking companies, service companies, technology companies, along with all the producers of the surrounding community.   Without these companies, we would not have the industrial base of this area that we have today.  Our taxes would be much higher for the same services we receive today.  We need agriculture, and agriculture needs our community.

• Agriculture in Mayville Ties to Manufacturing

Many manufacturers in Mayville rely on contract manufacturing of sheet metal components for OEM’s of agricultural equipment around the world.  All the largest OEM’s source weldments, components, and assemblies in Mayville.  Without this contract work, our manufacturing sector would not be able to survive the cycles of the economy in the way that it has over the last few decades.  Our manufacturers need agriculture, on a global scale.  We have the ability to educate our kids to support the agricultural industry on a national and global scale.

• We Value Our Industry

STEAM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Art and Math collectively are the focus.  This means that by making this a focal point of this referendum, we value our industry.  We value that our kids are presented with opportunities locally, as well as globally through advanced degrees.  We see the big picture and know how to make a shift to focus on what is important, rather than the direction that other communities might go.  We are conservative, but when we spend money, we consider it an investment in our future and not a waste on unnecessary spending.  We recognize the Pillars of the Mayville Community and are supporting it by focusing a major portion of the referendum on STEAM.

• We Need to Create Awareness in Agriculture

Many do not understand the reliance our community has on Agriculture.  We simply take it for granted.  Our kids do not understand this.  We need to expose them more to the world around us and show them what we have and what they can do in the world.  By investing in Agriculture through STEAM, we stand a greater chance of having the next generation of cheese makers, producers, canners, and supporting positions in this community.  A simple investment in a food science lab can open up the doors for many kids for generations to come, ensuring the stability of the local cheese production market for dozens of local and regional companies.  If we don’t expose our kids to these opportunities in our schools today, how will they ever know if they like it?

• We Need to Prepare Our Students for Engineering and Advanced Degrees

Giving our kids a great background in STEAM not only helps to support our local industry, but it gives our kids a broader foundation to pursue advanced degrees after high school if they should so choose.  From design engineers of agricultural equipment to software programmers for automation of cheese or production plants, the opportunities are nearly endless.  We owe it to our kids to give them all the tools to pursue a career that will make them happy and support their community.  And maybe more of them will return someday to raise their kids in a community that holds the same values that they were raised with.  Maybe they’ll send their kids to a school that prepares them for the real world in a way where other schools can’t.  This is the future of Mayville Schools.

Agriculture is a Pillar in this community.  We need agriculture and our kids need a future.  Let’s help everyone out and Vote YES 4 Agriculture on April 4^th!