Aggies at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture play in the campus gym for a game in 2005. Curtis native B.J. Luke averaged 24.5 points per game that season, fifth highest average in Coach Del Van Der Werff’s 29-year career. (Photo courtesy of Vicky Luke)
Aggies to shoot hoops with Coach Friday, July 22, 2022

By Mary Crawford, NCTA News

Hoopsters who played college basketball for Coach Del Van Der Werff are called to the court for a reunion practice session on July 30.

The Aggie coach for the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture wants to bring his players over a 29-year span back to campus for a Saturday afternoon.

“We’ll start at the Community Center at 12:45 with the players out on the gym floor by 1 p.m. to run two miles,” the coach says with a grin, adding, “Oops, I mean two laps.”

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Tzi Martinez, temporary grounds supervisor at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, cleans tree and vegetative clippings from a campus greenhouse. (Anthony Gardner / NCTA Photo)
Learning from the ground up Tuesday, July 19, 2022

By Mary Crawford, NCTA NEWS

Tzi Martinez has grit and determination to learn new skills.

When he walked in the campus facilities office to inquire about a new position posted by the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, he may have been thinking of an old proverb, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

NCTA was planning to hire a fulltime grounds supervisor, a position put on hold for several years, first by budget constraints and staffing, then Covid-19.

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Volunteers and Aggie Horticulture Club members at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture cleaned up flower beds outside of Ag Hall in November before adding new plantings. From left, Abbie Feldt, Ambur Gossen, landscape advisor; Dan Stehlik, NCTA faculty and Horticulture Club co-sponsor; Shelby Kofler, Rene’ Assels and Elie Madsen. Students are from Kemp, Texas; McCook, North Platte and Maxwell, Nebraska. (Larry Gossen / NCTA photo)
A summer checklist from campus Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Dean’s Report by NCTA Dean Larry Gossen, Ph.D.

What does an ag producer do when he/she knows triple digits or high winds are forecast?

Load the fencing pickup or the ATV sprayer before dawn and get 7 or 8 hours of work done by noon. Grind hay and spray weeds in the early-morning calm.

When it rains (a rarity in much of Nebraska this summer, unfortunately), clean the tools and shop, perform machinery maintenance, attend to bookkeeping.

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Jaden Clark, owner of Cowboys, Corgis and Coffee, shares entrepreneurship advice with Sales Communications students from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. (Mary Rittenhouse photo)
Sips and sales in summer class Monday, July 18, 2022

By Mary Crawford, NCTA News

Research the business. Design and implement a viable business plan. Revise and adjust as needed.

Know how to communicate with your boss, co-workers, employees, and the public. Learn from mistakes. Don’t give up to daunting challenges or naysayers.

Entrepreneur Jaden Clark recently offered these tips, along with their coffee drinks, to eight college students in a sales communications class.

Clark owns several businesses in Curtis, home to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture where he also coaches the Aggie rodeo team.

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Gary Lesoing examines a tillage radish, used in a cover crop to reduce soil compaction. (SARE photo)
Cover crops, no-till day in Curtis Thursday, July 14, 2022

By NCTA NEWS

Crop and livestock producers will learn about cover crops for forage production and livestock grazing during a Cover Cropping and Conservation Field Day in Curtis on July 26.

The Nebraska College of Technical is partnering with the Center for Rural Affairs and Nebraska Extension and in offering the program and field demonstrations, said Brad Ramsdale, NCTA agronomy professor.

Attendees will receive instruction and guidance on:

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Aggies of 2003-2004 join Coach Del Van Der Werff after his 400th win. (The Aggie yearbook archives)
Courtside with the Coach Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Dean’s Report by NCTA Dean Larry Gossen, Ph.D.

One of my earliest acquaintances when I arrived in Curtis in 2020 was a familiar face around campus, and at other colleges, too.

Del and Beverly Van Der Werff are Curtis residents who were honored by the Aggie Alumni Association last year for their longtime years of service to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and the earlier institution, the Nebraska School of Technical Agriculture.

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Agricultural educators in a meats science session at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Boot Camp were, from left:  Montana Markus, Sidney; Chad Schimmels, instructor, Eustis-Farnam; Melissa Bonifas, Blue Hill;   Ed Schuman, Almena, Kansas; Kelsey Philips, Mullen; Shawn McKimmey, Gordon-Rushville; and Dr. Doug Smith, Curtis. (Photo by Rulon Taylor / NCTA)
A prime cut for agricultural educator Tuesday, July 5, 2022

By Mary Crawford, NCTA NEWS

Chad Schimmels recently had the opportunity to teach the teachers.

Schimmels, who in May completed his 25th year in teaching agriculture and advising the Eustis-Farnam FFA Chapter, was one of six instructors at a 2022 Ag Educators Boot Camp and Coaches Clinic in Curtis.

Ten teachers from Nebraska and Kansas high schools strengthened their credentials, curriculums and skills at a 4-day workshop. Short courses were led by faculty of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.

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Sophomores from Pleasanton High School tour the NCTA campus with Rulon Taylor, recruiter. In the Ag Mechanics lab they see a center pivot tower built by irrigation technician students who also study welding and electricity. (Photo by Andela Taylor / NCTA)
Preparing the workforce at NCTA Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Dean’s Report by NCTA Dean Larry Gossen, Ph.D.

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is intentional in its statewide mission developing graduates for the workforce.

Skillsets and knowledge acquired at NCTA are vast for animal health and agricultural industries.

From welding and irrigation technology to crop advisors, equine trainers, veterinary technicians and feedlot managers, we have it all when it comes to equipping future employees with the most relevant leading-edge education for our state's economic driver.

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A curious stock dog (foreground) joins three high school agriculture educators during swine evaluation on Tuesday at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Ag Ed Boot Camp and Coaches Clinic in Curtis. (Andela Taylor photo / NCTA)
Boot Camp and Agronomy Day at NCTA Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Dean’s Report by NCTA Dean Larry Gossen, Ph.D.

Teachers are lifelong learners, sometimes right alongside their students. Agricultural education instructors and FFA advisors are in the classroom for a few days at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.

By week’s end, 10 high school educators from Nebraska and Kansas will gain continuing education credits at an Ag Teachers Boot Camp and Coaches Clinic offered by five NCTA faculty and Chad Schmimels, who teaches at Eustis-Farnam High School.

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Class of 2022 Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture commencement on May 5 at the Curtis Memorial Community Center. (Photo by Staci Blomstedt / NCTA News)
Aggie Class of ‘22 graduates Tuesday, June 28, 2022

By NCTA News

The Class of 2022 of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis represented graduates from December and May, said Larry Gossen, NCTA dean.

NCTA has one commencement ceremony each year. On May 5, at the Curtis Community Center, 76 of the 80 graduate candidates participated before a packed gymnasium.

They received diplomas for Associate of Science degrees or Associate of Applied Science degrees in Agribusiness Management Systems (AMS), Agricultural Production Systems (APS) or Veterinary Technology Systems (VTS). 

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