Careers in agriculture, construction or nursing among opportunities at new center.

The hands-on approach to learning at the new Regional Innovation Center in Eldridge has students from east-central Iowa excited about their futures, blending traditional classroom instruction with real-world experiences to help junior high and high school students explore a wide variety of career pathways.

For North Scott High School junior Jordan Jones, the soft launch of the facility in January — after years of planning and construction — offers a state-of-the-art space where students work alongside teachers and professionals in fields like animal care, horticulture, construction and nursing.

Additional opportunities in building trades, food development and other industries are planned when the center becomes fully operational next fall.

“I’m exploring some new opportunities here,” said Jones, who watched the center’s development over the past three years. She’s currently enrolled in classes such as anatomy, veterinary assistance, and animal care and handling. Jones plans to study biomedical research at Loras College in Dubuque, with the possibility of transferring to Iowa State University for veterinary school. 

The Innovation Center, she said, is playing a pivotal role in shaping that path.

“As a freshman, we were talking about this, and now it’s finally here,” she said. “It’s exciting to see it come to life. Like working with pets and conducting (research) with them, it’s a great way to introduce us to working with animals.”

Jones recently wrapped up a three-year continuation project assessing job stress levels across different agricultural occupations. Her goal: to connect ag professionals with resources to manage issues like market fluctuations and sleep deprivation.

“I created an app so that whatever response the user gives to survey questions, they get a personalized stress assessment that provides them with resources for job stress and agriculture and mental health resources,” Jones explained. Survey participants included veterinarians and dairy farmers.

Drag-racing engineer

Sophomore Kelsie Hilsenbeck, also enrolled in the animal care and handling course, sees the Innovation Center as more than just a place for unique classes — it’s a launchpad for her future. She’s learning how to select and care for puppies, practice responsible breeding and take the first steps in dog grooming.

“It’s really cool,” she said. “It’s a good way for more people in our school to get to know more career pathways for them in the future.”

Hilsenbeck has also studied water quality and investigated lead pollutants and their effects on benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity in the Nahant Marsh near Davenport.

Though she enjoys her hands-on experiences with animals and watershed science, Hilsenbeck’s true passion lies in engineering. Specifically, she wants to study aerodynamic engineering and design cars built for speed — a dream fueled by her own experience as a drag racer. This season, she’ll be behind the wheel of a ’77 Chevy Nova, a project she’s building from the ground up with her brother and parents.

“It’s fun,” she said. “But my mom has to ride with me now since I’m not 16 yet. She doesn’t find it quite as fun as I do.”

Jones and Hilsenbeck are perfect examples of how the center supports students on vastly different career paths — one possibly heading into agriculture, the other into engineering — while providing opportunities for exploration. Agriculture classes have taken center stage this semester, but the curriculum will expand to include more disciplines in the coming year.

Said Hilsenbeck, “You don’t have to go into ag to take something away from it. It’s a backup plan, and you get to learn things that can help in everyday life, too.”

Years in the making

The approximately $18.7 million center is the result of an interdistrict partnership between Eastern Iowa Community College (EICC) and the North Scott, Bettendorf, Central DeWitt, Davenport, Durant and Pleasant Valley school districts. Its mission is to provide high-quality career and technical education to more than 9,000 students.

The 84,000-square-foot facility is designed to support both individual and group learning activities while helping students develop career-ready skills. Major investments came from the North Scott district, EICC, Grandview Farms, River Valley Cooperative, the Harms family, Twin State/Liqui-Grow and several anonymous donors.

In addition, $1.655 million in grant funding was awarded through the Iowa Career Academy Incentive Grant Fund, the Scott County Regional Authority, the Regional Development Authority, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, Corteva Agriscience and Land O’Lakes.

“From veterinary systems to horticulture, diesel tech, EMT training and even robotics, students will see career options they didn’t even know existed,” said Jacob Hunter, North Scott FFA agriculture instructor. “We built this as a regional center so students from other districts — Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley, Davenport — can also access ag classes they can’t get at home.

“A lot of kids end up at Iowa State from urban areas without ever having touched a cow. Now they get hands-on experience before they even apply. And we’re trying to show kids that farming looks really different across the board. They may have only seen hog barns or cattle farmers, but there are so many different things they can do in agriculture.”

Step into the center’s classrooms and you might see students tending to hydroponic lettuce, grooming animals or dissecting a sheep’s heart. The curriculum includes exploratory classes for middle schoolers and an expanding lineup of high school courses built around real-world applications.

“We’re not just preparing kids for ag jobs. We’re preparing them for life,” Hunter said. “Leadership, communication, problem-solving — those are baked into every class.”

Pictured above: The approximately $18.7 million Regional Innovation Center was a partnership between Eastern Iowa Community College and area school districts. PHOTO / CONRAD SCHMIDT

New doors opening

Siblings Mason and Hailey Schaack are two students taking agriculture-related classes at the center despite having little prior knowledge of the industry. Mason is enrolled in anatomy and physiology with plans to follow a pre-med track at St. Ambrose College this fall.

“You don’t have to be a farmer to be part of this,” said Mason, a senior at North Scott. “There are so many other jobs that need to be fulfilled in the ag industry that don’t necessarily relate to going out in the field and farming — just being more educated about how we grow our food, how we grow it and tend to it.”

Hailey, a sophomore, is studying horticulture, spending time in the greenhouses and working with aquaculture. Students are growing vegetables and flowers to be sold through the center’s storefront.

“We can also donate it to the school … It’s a really amazing project we have going on right now,” Hailey said. “Agriculture just opens up so many different opportunities and many different career paths. It’s really cool this opportunity is provided through the Innovation Center.”