FFA alumni raise funds, volunteer for Hinckley-Big Rock project

HINCKLEY, Ill. — Agricultural education opportunities will be expanding for Hinckley-Big Rock High School students with the addition of an Ag Education Building currently under construction near the school.

“This building has been in the works for five-plus years,” said Tracey Sanderson, Hinckley-Big Rock agricultural teacher and FFA adviser for the chapter that includes about 100 members.

“There was an old building here and the roof blew off, so we got a few initial donations and got the ball rolling for this new building,” said Eric Wackerlin, treasurer of the Hinckley-Big Rock FFA Alumni.

Construction of the education building started during the summer.

“The shell was built in four weeks with all volunteer labor and all community funded,” said Nan Long, president of the HBR FFA Alumni that includes about 25 members.

“Pioneer and Resource Bank were the first two substantial donors,” Wackerlin said. “Then we received donations from Compeer, CHS, DeKane Equipment, Bob Pritchard and a grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation.”

In addition to monetary donations, companies donated equipment and personnel to assist with the development of the 50-by-80-foot building.

“O’Donnell Excavating did all the site work, and they will do the final grading,” Wackerlin said. “And Condon Construction from Sandwich sent a crew of three guys to do the roof, which was huge.”

“Most Saturdays there were 15 to 20 volunteers working on the building, which was quite amazing,” Sanderson said. “To see them work was very humbling since some of them have kids in school, but most are involved in agriculture or they are tradesmen.”

“We had such a diverse group of people helping, and some of them had no ties to Hinckley,” said Bob Strand, vice president of the HBR FFA Alumni.

FFA students worked together with the adult volunteers.

“We helped as much as possible, and it definitely was a lot of learning,” said Maddie Noble, a senior at HBR and president of the FFA chapter. “We were doing stuff on the ground and going up on the lifts to help install the sheets of metal.”

“There were a lot of friendships made as the adults mentored to the kids and explained how to use blueprints or what they were doing during construction,” Sanderson said. “It was job shadowing for the students.”

“Guys were teaching the kids different skills,” Long said. “It was amazing to see the kids jumping in to help.”

“When kids learn as a student to serve that continues as an adult,” said Jenna Halverson, FFA Alumni second vice president, who also earned her American FFA Degree as a member of the HBR FFA chapter.

“This building is going to be an extension of our ag learning,” Noble said. “Seeing this building being constructed makes me so happy that our future students are going to have a more interactive experience, and I think it is really going to help this school.”

Another group of volunteers provided breakfasts, lunches and snacks to the volunteers working at the construction site.

“We were very well fed,” said Sanderson, who has taught at HBR for seven years.

In September, the FFA Alumni held their second annual Progressive Golf fundraiser.

“We raised over $12,000 for the building in the middle of a pandemic,” Long said. “That finished paying for phase one of the project.”

The FFA Alumni plans to begin the second phase of the project during the winter.

“We will be doing the electrical work and the concrete work will be done in the spring,” Wackerlin said.

The interior of the building will feature a classroom, as well as a storage area for equipment.

“A lot of kids don’t get exposed to equipment or animals, so this will give us space where we can pen an animal, bring in a tradesman like an electrician with his service truck or bring in a piece of farm equipment since so many of the kids are not engaged in production ag,” Sanderson said. “This building gives us a place to provide these things to kids that we haven’t had before.”

The goal of the HBR FFA Alumni is to have the building completed by the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

“Working parallel with the alumni is nice, you don’t see that in all communities,” Sanderson said. “The mutual respect across the board is very unique. This building is for the kids and no one is here for their own interest and that’s why the community bought in on it so quickly.”

“Part of my attitude with what we do is Tracey, we are so blessed to have her as the ag teacher,” Strand said. “Her support and the support of the school board and our superintendent are really important.”

“HBR is lucky because Gary Blankenship left behind a legacy of people who now come back to volunteer,” Halverson said. “These two instructors have made an impact on generations in this community.”

The alumni group has started a new fundraiser for the building project. Families and businesses have the opportunity to purchase an engraved brick that will be part of the walkway under the porch of the building. More information about purchasing a brick is available at: https://polarengraving.com/hbrffaalumni.

Donations for the Ag Education Building can be sent to the HBR FFA Alumni Association at P.O. Box 814, Hinckley, IL 60520.