| Oneida Baptist Institute | ||
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| Students Stories Work Program Co-curriculars Farm | ||
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OBI FarmMISSION STATEMENTWE WILL USE GOD'S RESOURCES TO GUIDE ALL STUDENTS SPIRITUALLY, MENTALLY, AND PHYSICALLY TO BECOME ACTIVE SERVANTS AND DILIGENT STEWARDS FOR HIM GOALS1. TO LEAD STUDENTS TO ACCEPT CHRIST AND HIS TEACHINGS 2. TO TEACH HIGH MORAL CHARACTER AS THE STUDENTS GROW PERSONNALLY 3. TO TEACH THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENCE IN DAILY LIFE 4. TO EMPHASIZE PERSISTENCE AS A VALUABLE VIRTUE 5. TO INSTILL GOOD WORK ETHICS IN THE STUDENTS SO AS TO PRODUCE CAREER SUCCESS 6. TO DEVELOP PREMIER LEADERSHIP ABILITY AS CITIZENS IN GOD'S WORLD 7. TO EDUCATE STUDENTS IN BASIC MODERN AGRICULTURAL PRINCIPLES AND TECHNOLOGIES 8. TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF GOD'S RESOURCES WHILE PROVIDING PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE IN MANY VARIED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCES 9. TO BE, AS STAFF, GOOD ROLE MODELS WORTHY OF BEING CALLED GOD'S SERVANTS CLASSES Agricultural Education prepares students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices in the agricultural world. On the OBI farm our goal is to use our resources to better teach the students. Our many farm applications provide excellent laboratory experiences not available in most schools. Other classes may be offered when four or more students are interested in a particular subject. POPULAR HANDS-ON TRAINING CLASSES
2008-09 AG. CLASSES 
WORK PROGRAM Work programs at the farm are offered both at 7:00 AM before school and at 4:00PM after school. Either shift is also expected to help with chores on weekends. The students may work with the cattle (beef cow herd, backgrounding stockers, show steers, finishing, or baby Holsteins), swine production, goats, ag mechanics, or tractor and machinery operation as they choose. We attempt to teach the work ethic, dedication, responsibility, teamwork, and persistence as well as Christian living. Many students find their farm work experience the most rewarding part of their Oneida experience. In fact, many report that it keeps them in school. FFA See photo gallery for pictures and summaries of 2007-08 FFA field trips 
OBI was the second non-public school in the nation to be granted an FFA chapter. Our charter was granted in 1999. The goals of the FFA are to develop premier leadership and personal growth leading to career success. Although a young chapter, we have already have had many regional and state winners in several proficiency areas (26 are offered at OBI) as well as STATE FARMER DEGREE winners. FFA Officers work with new members at the first chapter meeting of the school year. Teaching teamwork is one of our chapter's number one goals! We stage the "Pilgrimage to Bethlehem" with costumed characters and over 500 luminaries along the trail to Bethlehem (a live nativity scene beneath the star). We usually build a float for the Manchester Christmas Parade and go caroling to a nursing home. Our FFA Chapter also participates in the Manchester Christmas Parade held the 2nd week in December. Last year, (07') the theme was "A Norman Rockwell Christmas." For the first time, the OBI FFA Chapter & Farm Crew created two floats for the parade! The kids won 1st place this year for their creativity!  Last year at the Fall Festival, the FFA Chapter and Farm crew were represented very well. The night before the festival the farm staff worked with the students, helping to set up the petting zoo, fill tanks for bobbing for apples and unload the decorations for the athletic field. Earlier in the week, FFA members went shopping for supplies and decorations, and then returned to OBI to make over 100 carmel apples to sell at the festival. The petting zoo was truly an educational experience! Morning farm crew workers brought over sheep, goats and the goat dogs, pigs, and baby holstein calves. Also in the petting zoo, were Red & Star and pair of personally owned oxen!!! Next to each individual pen was a poster telling facts about the stock. We all had a great time!! FFA Community Service 
Our FFA Chapter also leads community service projects, partnered with PRIDE. PRIDE is a non-profit organization funded by federal grants, encouraging Kentucky schools and communities to improve water quality and promote environmental awareness and education. In the fall, students rake leaves for the public. In the spring, students clean up trash and debris on the river banks. FARM VOLUNTEER MINISTRY Over one hundred volunteers help at the farm every year. There is always work available in any season of the year. Come for a day, a few days, a week, a month or full time. Every hour is greatly appreciated! We could not do nearly as much for the Lord without the volunteers! TESTIMONIALS Included here are testimonials from students on the OBI Farm Crew and FFA Members. We consider these to be the "proof of the pudding" as to the value of our program! 
My name is Derick Evans, I am 18 years old and I am from Scott County, Kentucky. I came to OBI at the beginning of the 2007 school year and I have been working on the farm everyday, since my first day! What inspired me to come to OBI was the class size. At my old school there were 30 kids or more in each class, with just the one teacher. Here at OBI, there are half the number of students in each class and that made learning easier for me. On the school's farm, there are goats, hogs and cows. The food that they serve in the cafeteria, like the pork, comes from the farm. I think that it is neat that the school raises the majority of the meat that we eat in the dining hall. The farm staff member that has influenced me the most is Mr. Godbold. He believes in doing things the right way and double checking your work when you are done. This is something that I know will help me in the future when I get a job. My job on the farm is working a show steer on the a.m. crew. I have to be at breakfast at 6:30 and ready to go to work at 7:00. I have my own steer that I have to feed, lead and groom everyday. All of the work that I am doing with my steer will help me do well at the show in May and the show in June. OBI's farm program is unique because they have kids work on the farm. Everything that the farm staff are teaching us will help us later in life. 
My name is Kimberly Withrow, I am a sophomore and I'm 15 years old. I came to OBI on June 8, 2003 when I was 11 years old. I came to Oneida with my sister and my 2 brothers. I came to Oneida to get a better education. In public school I struggled a lot with my grades and I wasn't getting the help that I needed. I got off to a rocky start at OBI, having several hours and bad grades. Due to the hours, I got suspended. I realized that I needed to turn myself around. I got the Most Improved Award at the end of my sixth grade year!! When I first learned about the farm, during my sixth grade year, I was excited about what might be in store, and I wanted to get out of working in the dining hall. I definitely loved the farm my first day. I especially loved working with the hogs, because they were cute, but challenging to work with! Shortly after I started on the farm, I joined the FFA. Although I didn't have a lot of opportunities as a middleschooler, the experience of being around older kids, taught me to be more mature. I became Vice President of our chapter my eighth grade year. In the ninth grade, I was voted President. I learned many things the year that I was President, about leadership and responsibility. I am the Vice President of our chapter this year and I enjoy it very much! To say that just one person at OBI has impacted my life, wouldn't be true. One person that has strongly affected my life is Mrs. Griebenow. She is one of the Asst. Farm Managers and my FFA Advisor. Mrs. Griebenow was also a student here and I know that the farm had a huge impact on her life. She is one of the people that I relate to the most. When I first came to work on the farm, she was patient when she was teaching me the ropes. Over the years that I have spent at OBI, we have spent many, many hours together and I have grown to respect her very much!
OBI LIVESTOCK SHOW 
This year the OBI Livestock Show was the morning of Saturday March 10th. This spring the farm had 16 steers, 17 goat kids and 13 hogs that were shown by twenty-three different kids. The objectives for this show were not just to prepare them for the Laurel County Fair in June but to teach the kids the importance of showmanship and good sportsmanship in life! Personal cleanliness, proper attire, proper animal handling and responsibility were just a few of the things that the kids were judged on. Medallions were awarded to the top three in each livestock class with placement ribbons for the remaining showmen. The grand champion round, was compiled with the 1st & 2nd place showmen from each class, with winners receiving Grand Champion & Reserve Grand Champion trophies. Later that afternoon, three student tractor drivers competed for the coveted title of Grand Champion Tractor Driver. Nothing makes us happier than to see our farm kids succeed and excel, in any activity that OBI offers! We would like to thank all of the parents who drove to the show and supported the efforts of the kids!! 2008 OBI Livestock Show photo gallery
2008 Laurel Co. Livestock Show Photo Gallery
SCOPE OF THE FARM PROGRAM 
The Kids The Acreage Hog Operation 
Beef Operation Goat Herd Mechanics STUDENT BODY
FARM STAFF We have certainly been blessed with a very dedicated, congenial, group of Christian adults to lead the farm program. Their efforts cause many students to continue in school and to accept Christ as their Savior. Following are very brief summaries of their resumes: 
Farm Manager--Lynn Cole e-mail Lynn Cole came to OBI almost eleven years ago from Ohio, where he owned and operated one of the largest private swine breeding companies in the United States He wrote the documentation for "Herdsman" software and was an innovator of many better ways of producing swine and crops. A speaker at many agricultural and Christian volunteerism meetings all around North America, he also served as a consultant and author of many articles about these subjects. He and his farm have been the subject of many trade magazine articles and thousands of people from around the world toured the farm and purchased breeding animals. Lynn was active in FFA and earned the State Farmer Degree. He was an Eagle Scout and scoutmaster for eleven years. He was an active 4-H'er and advisor for six years. He served on the school board for twelve years. He was Ohio's first Pork All American and first runner up for Outstanding Young Farmer in Ohio. He was president of the Ohio Pork Producers Council and a director of the National Pork Producers Council. He was also an extremely active leader in the Methodist church on the local, district, and conference levels. His wife Carol manages the Crafthouse/Giftshop and they have three grown children after being married for over fifty years. Blake Godbold
Blake is an assistant with the most seniority, having come to OBI over 19 years He worked at the Clemson Experimental Station and the U.S.D.A. Entomology Department as well as other farms in the earlier days of his life. He attended what is now known as Charleston Southern University and Tri-County Tech where he studied horticulture technology. Blake also has had experience in casting concrete products. Blake works especially with the suspended students where he has the opportunity to spend considerable time witnessing to them. He works with many of our feed and hog customers as well as assisting with our students in the work program. Blake and his wife, Joy, have four boys. The youngest is a senior here. The others have graduated from OBI and have graduated from or are attending college. Joy is a middle school teacher at OBI with a masters in education. She also is an EMT at OBI and played the piano for the choir for fifteen years. 
Jennifer (Kermeen) Griebenow e-mail Jennifer graduated from OBI in 2002 where she had become student supervisor of the swine area earlier in the year. She had earned first in two public speaking contests, first in the region in swine production, Star Greenhand Degree, and Star Chapter Farmer, then went on to get her State Farmer Degree. She had performed such excellent workmanship as a student that she was asked to become a staff member immediately following graduation. She has taken a course in FFA Leadership Training in Career & Technical Education. She is the daughter of Barry & Pam Kermeen. Her dad is a minister and mission evangelist. She is a member of the Columbia Christian Church in Columbia, KY, her hometown. She married Rick Griebenow on February 10, 2007. Jennifer very ably manages the swine, goat, and baby calf departments of the farm now plus serves as the primary advisor to the FFA. She has led the FFA to its many successes and is a powerful role model to many of our students--not just the girls. The farm has been her life--day and night for the last six years.
Rick is a native of Idaho, where he received a B.S. in Animal Science/Agribusiness. He then went to the University of Missouri-Columbia where he received his M.S. in animal Science/Grazing Management. From there he went to Purdue to work on his Ph.D. in Animal Science/Ruminant Nutrition. Rick has had extensive experience in ranch management and in education and supervision of youth workers. Rick has a deep Christian faith which he is very articulate in conveying to those around him. Rick obviously fits into our cattle program as assistant manager. We call him the "Idaho Cowboy" because of his great abilities with cattle and horses.
Paul Detro Paul is a retired heavy equipment operator from Ohio, where he grew up as a boy on a farm. He first came to OBI with his church as a short term volunteer. Over the years, he and his wife Sharon have increased the amount of time spent here till they now spend most of the year as full-time volunteers. Paul is a very dedicated Christian who practices what he preaches. Paul is invaluable as a tractor, dozer, and backhoe operator, but he is more than willing to do every job he is asked to do (and many he isn't asked to do). They have a son and a daughter and four grandchildren. Sharon is an assistant in the Crafthouse/Gift Shop.
Marty and Christa Bevil joined our Farm Staff in June of 2008!
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This year, at the Laurel County Livestock Show, students enrolled at OBI, with homes all of the United States, came together to show at one local fair! This year, the Laurel County Fair was scheduled for the entire third week of June, giving the farm crew only a week and a half to prepare their show animals! However, this challenge didn't get our crew down, in fact....we had more kids show this year than in the past! Please take this opportunity to view the Laurel Co. Livestock Show Photo Gallery!
The student body is a "melting pot" of students from all of the U.S.A. and many countries around the world. Very few of the students come from significant farm backgrounds, but we welcome any who are interested in the many phases of agriculture. 22% of the careers in the United States are related to agriculture, so any training we can offer will provide a background for many of the jobs that they might have in the future.
ago from James Island, South Carolina. He professed Jesus as his Lord and Savior and joined the James Island Presbyterian Church when he was twelve. He was an Explorer scout while a youth.
Education for Time and Eternity| Students Stories Work Program Co-curriculars Farm | ||
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