Laurel native helps Wynot grow new ag education program

WYNOT – Agriculture is in Aurora Urwiler’s blood – and now she gets to pass on seeds of her knowledge while growing a new program at Wynot Public Schools.

The 24-year-old Laurel native, who began working at Wynot in January as the new agriculture education and industrial technology teacher, credited fellow instructor Lee Heimes and his brother Ryan Heimes for helping to rebuild the school district’s industrial technology program so it could return for the 2023-24 academic year.

Lee Heimes started teaching construction courses during the first semester of this school year and has been assisting Urwiler as she has settled into her new job, which has included starting a new agriculture program at Wynot.

“It has been fun and exciting to get the industrial technology program started again,” Urwiler said. “The ag program is a new program at Wynot and it is exciting to see the kids learn and use the knowledge they have and build on it. I can’t wait to watch both programs grow in years to come.”

WynotSuperintendentPaulHansnotedheis pleased with the return of industrial technology to the school district, as well as with the new agriculture program.

“In all of our years of existence, WPS has never had an agriculture program, in spite of the fact that the majority of our students grew up on a farm or whose parents work in the ag industry,” Hans said.

“Several years ago, WPS students did participate in FFA thanks to a partnership with Laurel-Concord-Coleridge,”hesaid.“However, distance and time constraints proved too much of a barrier and the learning experience could not be sustained.”

Urwiler, a first-year educator, is currently teaching Intro to Ag for Wynot High School students, as well as a welding class, a construction course and a sixth-grade agriculture class.

“As the years go (by), we will add more ag classes like animal science, plant science, natural resources, vet science and more,” Urwiler said. “The students have enjoyed having ag and industrial technology as class options; it allows themtolearnbydoing.Theycometoclassexcited and ready to learn.”

She described some of the projects her students have been working on recently.

“In welding, the students started by making dice to learn the different welding joints and now they are working on their own projects,” Urwiler said. “I have a couple of students who are building basketball hoops for the playground, a couple of students are making a coffee table and a couple of students are working on a tree stand for the upcoming hunting season.

“In construction class, we have a mixture of projects happening,” she said. “Some students just finished making raised flower beds; there are a couple of different styles of tables, a TV stand, birdhouses and much more,” she said.

“In the ag classes, we are getting ready to start hatching eggs and get our grow tower up for spring. We just hosted a petting zoo during National FFA Week, which was a huge hit.”

She also is the advisor for the new Wynot FFA Chapter.

“We have 19 students in our chapter this year, which is a great number for a small school and first year,” Urwiler said. “We had livestock judging in January and we did well. We just got done with Career Development Events at the end of February.

“In February, we celebrated National FFA Week with a lot of fun activities like ‘Drive Your Tractor to School Day’ and a petting zoo,” she said. “We are now getting ready to attend the Nebraska State FFA Convention (April 3-5).”

She explained she does not have much background in industrial technology and is much more familiar with agriculture.

“Industrial tech is new for me,” Urwiler said. “I didn’t take any classes in high school, but did take a few in college. I have a huge ag background. I grew up on a farm and helped my dad. I was a member of 4-H in Cedar County and did about everything that I could.”

When she got into high school, she became an active member of the Laurel-Concord- Coleridge FFA Chapter.

“I competed in contests at the District level as well as the State level,” Urwiler said. “I was also an officer for two years. I have been breathing agriculture since day one and I don’t plan on changing it anytime soon.”

She graduated from Laurel-Concord- Coleridge School in 2018 and then attended the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, where she obtained an associate degree in applied science two years later. This past December, Urwiler graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education, communication and leadership from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. She also completed her student teaching at Wayne Community Schools under agriculture education instructor Toni Rasmussen this past semester. Urwiler decided to pursue a teaching job at Wynot due to its small-town feel and her desire to help build an agriculture program from scratch. “Ihavealwayswantedtostart a program and stay in northeast Nebraska,” Urwiler said. “I am excited to continue teaching at Wynot and help grow this new program.”