Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Student harvest survey results show that 123 Presque Isle High School students (19.5 percent) performed harvest-related work this year earning $118,676.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
STUDENT HARVEST SURVEY RESULTS released Oct. 17 show that 123 Presque Isle High School students (19.5 percent) performed harvest-related work this year earning $118,676. Last year, 125 students (19.2 percent) worked last year and earned $134,553. Students from Presque Isle picked potatoes for farmer Danny Stewart of Stewart Farms on Route 1 in Presque Isle. The teens earned $1 for each barrel picked.
By comparison, 125 students (19.2 percent) worked last year and earned $134,553.
The harvest-related jobs performed this year included handpicking, harvester, potato house, school farm, truck driver and windrower.
The results of the harvest survey were shared Oct. 17 at the SAD 1 board meeting held at Mapleton Elementary School.
“That figure is holding about steady from the last few years,” said SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson. “Interestingly, the number of students who did non-harvest related work went up.”
Last year, 193 students (29.7 percent) did non-harvest work earning $81,179, while this year 221 students (35.1 percent) earned $92,842 doing non-harvest work.
“A lot of students volunteered in other schools during harvest break,” said Johnson, “which is a spike up from previous years. A lot of our kids were busy this harvest.”
SAD 1 board member and potato farmer Brent Buck said he used “a significant number of students” this year.”
“We also had three or four students who went on the Europe trip,” said Buck, “and when they got home, we used them on a fill-in basis.
“We host the second-grade students from Mapleton Elementary School every year, and there are always high school students volunteering their time,” he said, “but that volunteer work isn’t reflected in the survey. Those students are doing us quite a service because it’s a very busy area with machinery running, and having extra students creates extra safety.”
Buck said he will continue to use high school students in his farming operation, and noted that this year’s students, who he called “excellent,” indicated that they wanted to come back next fall.
Survey results show that 11 freshmen worked in the fields, 19 did non-harvest work, and 127 did not work at all. Thirty-one sophomores performed harvest work, 52 did other work, while 88 were unemployed.
Forty-six juniors did harvest-related work, 77 did non-harvest related work, while 39 didn’t work at all, and 35 seniors worked in the fields, 73 did other work, and 32 did not have jobs.
By comparison – in 1998 – 195 students performed harvest-related work, 243 did non-harvest related work, while 270 were unemployed. Five years ago (2002), 174 students worked in the fields, 284 did other jobs, and 230 did not work.
While the numbers tend to fluctuate year to year, Johnson said it is the board’s prerogative to make a motion at any time to reconsider the harvest break policy.
“Several years ago, however, we agreed that we’d revisit the issue if the percentage of students doing harvest-related work got down to 15 percent,” he said, “and clearly we’re not there yet. The numbers have been holding relatively steady.”
The next regular SAD 1 board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14 at Zippel Elementary School.
