South Dakota senior FFA member Lauren Roling is putting together a grain bin safety event on August 17th in conjunction with her Agriscience project with FarmHer and Nationwide Insurance. Lauren appeared on RFD-TV’s The Market Day Report to discuss her inspiring project, which FarmHER TV Host Kirbe Schnoor volunteered to take part in, too. Kirbe will be one of the simulation participants who will be dropped into the grain bin and then rescued.
Meet Lauren, A Young Leader Already Making a Big Impact
Lauren Roling, a senior at McCook Central High School in Salem, South Dakota, has been a valued member of the FFA for six years and is the sixth generation on her family farm. Her passion for farming safety led her to the first-grain bin safety project as an 8th grader, which aimed to survey farmers and community members to improve grain bin safety practices.
“The focus and motivation behind my research was to survey farmers and community members and determine how I could help save lives,” Lauren told RFD-TV’s Suzanne Alexander. “I was able to analyze the survey respondents’ current grain bin safety practices and knowledge and identify the best formats to present grain bin safety education to them in the future.”
The state contest took place in April 2021, and her project advanced to the National FFA Convention in October/November 2021, where she received a first-place award. The National FFA also awarded her a $1,000 grant to conduct a Grain Bin Safety Event.
Lauren’s Partnership with Nationwide
Lauren connected with the team at Nationwide through her younger sister, Alyssa. Here’s their story from Nationwide representative Erin Cumings:
Last November, when Nationwide sent a group to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Dan Durheim and Steph Bush had the opportunity to walk through the AgriScience Fair projects, and one project on Grain Bin Recovery and Rebuilding caught their eye. They brought back a snap-shot of the poster and we put our power of connectivity to work. We contacted our contact for the South Dakota FFA Foundation, Gerry Eide, who partnered with us on the Golden Owl Award and put us in contact with the advisor for the FFA Chapter. That led to connecting with the student, and in early December, Alyssa Roling presented her research to Sarah Onnen, Steph Bush, and Erin via Teams. What’s most amazing is that Alyssa completed this research as a 7th grader and is now a 9th grader. She did a great job with the presentation and mentioned that her next Agriscience project was a team project with her sister around Grain Bin Safety. We let her know that we would be happy to help with her next project, as Nationwide is also passionate about grain bin safety. She followed up with her research paper, and Sarah, Steph, and I shared the report with Laramie.
Steph had the great idea to present some type of award to Alyssa when the team is in South Dakota doing Golden Owl award deliveries. The stars aligned, and the McCook Central school advisor was a Golden Owl award finalist. While we were delivering that award, we also presented an award to Alyssa. In chatting with her and her sister at that meeting, I learned that their current project is on farmer hearing loss – they won at the state level and will compete at the National Convention this fall. Since then, Lauren decided to take on the Grain Bin Safety event by herself, and Alyssa may pick up a project, ironically, on ATV Safety.
You’re Invited: Grain Bin Simulation & Rescue in Salem, South Dakota
Lauren’s dedication to the cause has culminated in an upcoming event at the Macoke County Fairgrounds in Salem on August 17th. The event will feature an engulfment simulation and safety presentations.
Her event is a testament to her commitment to giving back to her community and spreading essential education. Her advice to other FFA members interested in pursuing similar safety projects is simple: have a goal, passion, determination, and supporters. She believes that with these elements, any goal can be achieved.
“My advice would be to have a goal, passion, determination, and supporters as I have with my project, and you can obtain any goal,” Lauren said. “My goal throughout FFA has been to get back to my community and stay of a way of leading and impact, and spreading education to so many around us. FFA, and especially my FFA chapter, is all about giving back to our community, and that’s what I hope this educational event will do.”
As she looks to the future, Lauren is excited to see her event come to life and make a meaningful impact on the community. Her hard work and dedication are truly admirable, and we can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next. Congratulations, Lauren, and thank you for all the valuable work you continue to do for the farming community!
Everybody Eats
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FarmHer is an organization that celebrates women who are involved in agriculture through their stories. Nationwide and FarmHer have a long-running relationship, and we mutually appreciate supporting these women. Through the Everybody Eats partnership, we encourage you to explore the educational, empowering, and inspirational women and to share their stories with your community.