Puck Hosts Students for National Ag Day
Since the 1970s, National Ag Day has taken place annually in March as an educational opportunity to learn where food and fiber products are produced. To celebrate this year, Puck Enterprises opened its doors to students from IKM-Manning, IGNITE Pathways, Boyer Valley, Coon Rapids, and Carroll high schools. In addition to a tour around Puck, students met with different departments to participate in activities related to those jobs. This is the third year Puck has hosted this event.
Hands-On Activities
The Fabrication department had guests from DMACC's Carroll location, who brought a welding simulator. This simulator had a screen on a welding torch that connected to the computerized plastic angle that acted as the metal being fused together. The screen displayed what the welding mark would look like if it were an actual weld. While some students tested their steady hands, others took part in the plier throwing contest. The goal was to throw the pliers far enough to knock down a target without crossing the line.
Our engineers showed off the new Puck Fire TTR15P Hose Reel by asking students to race while flaking the hose. One team flaked a large diameter hose manually, and the other team reeled the hose using the remote-controlled hose cart. Additionally, the engineering staff asked students to try to pop a balloon using the boom on a Force Feed pump trailer. The end of the boom had a pen taped to it, and students could maneuver the boom to the balloon.
Exploring Careers
In the warehouse, the logistics team had a scavenger hunt for students to explore the one-acre area. Students in the warehouse also had the opportunity to wrap a pallet of empty fuel tanks for transport. Their task was to make it secure enough to make it through the shipping process. The Marketing department had six stations set up that gave students the chance to try out different marketing tasks. Station activities included applying decals on a toy car, designing t-shirts and stickers, captioning photos for social media, writing Google Ads, and proofreading.
In our showroom, our HR department had fun stickers and facts about Puck Enterprises, as well as more information about the career paths at Puck. A few dozen feet away, the Sales department explained how Puck’s manure pump trailers transport liquid. Using a small fountain pump in a bucket of water, the sales team showed kids how much more efficient it is to move liquids with a pump and hose than with other methods. Teams raced against the pump to transfer the water from one bucket to the other using cups.
Celebrating National Ag Day gives us the opportunity to introduce young people to the various careers related to agriculture that are available in our community. Puck hopes that students who are made aware of local opportunities will have a reason to come back to their hometown when they grow up. One parent told Puck, “Your company provides more education and opportunities for all the students than any other business. Thank you!”
Photos from National Ag Day 2024
Introductions
Jeremy Puck greeted all of the students.
HR
Students signed the National Ag Day 2024 poster and were quizzed on Puck fun facts.
Fabrication
Students learn to weld with a welding simulator from DMACC-Carroll.
Fabrication
Students were challenged to see who could get their pliers closer to a distant target.
Engineering
One team flaked hose while the other used the hose reel.
Sales
Students learned how a pump worked and raced to transfer water faster than the pump.
Marketing
Students created their own sticker and t-shirt designs.
Logistics
Teams were tasked with wrapping empty fuel tanks securely for shipping.
