A unique opportunity is on the horizon for young agricultural enthusiasts: the EPOS (Episode Ag Experience) technology in agriculture camp at Oklahoma State University. Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with Matt Oakes, the driving force behind this initiative, about how this camp is bringing a fresh perspective to agricultural education.
“This is an EPOS Ag Experience,” Oakes explained, detailing the camp’s origins. “We’re a nonprofit. We’ve been doing sports camps over the last five years, we’re getting ready to do our sixth one at OSU.”
Drawing from his background in both sports and agriculture, Oakes recognized a need. “I wanted to put an agriculture camp on to give these ag kids the same experience that we were giving our sports kids.”
This year marks the inaugural overnight camp at OSU. “It’s not sponsored by Oklahoma State, but a lot of the teachers on campus are going to present some of the labs for us, so it’s pretty exciting. I’m excited about the lab structure and the information technology that these kids are going to get that involves agriculture today,” Oakes stated.
So, what can attendees expect? “They can expect, we’re going to do a lab structure, basically eight lab rotations,” Oakes outlined. The curriculum is comprehensive, covering a broad spectrum of agricultural disciplines. “We’re going to have three to four Animal Science rotations. We’re going to have an Ag Education rotation, a Vet Med, Plant Soil Science, Ag Engineering department and Biosystems is going to get involved and Biochem and Molecular Biology.” Oakes added, “I know a lot of these professors are excited about getting these young kids on campus and showing them what OSU is all about.”
Beyond the academic rigor, the camp incorporates elements of faith and community. “We’re combining faith and agriculture. With this, we have church services on both nights because we’re a faith-based nonprofit,” Oakes explained. Adding to the experience, “The Oklahoma Department of Ag is going to provide Aggie Olympics one evening for a couple hours to get these kids together and have some fun a little add a little competition in with it. Thursday morning, before everybody leaves, the Department of Ag is going to put on a quasi career development fair.”
The camp is tailored for a specific age group. “It’s set for incoming ninth graders to incoming 12th graders,” Oakes clarified. However, he also noted, “I have told ag teachers that if they have a mature-minded kid that’s going into eighth grade, we would, by all means, take them as well.” The focus is on providing a “higher level education course with technology as these college instructors are rolling this out.”
Interested participants can easily register. “They can go to Eventbrite and type in Stillwater and EPOS Ag on the search bar, and it will pull up. They can also go to our website, eposoutreach.org, and also find out a lot more information about our nonprofit. There’s a drop-down on EPOS Outreach that will take you to the Ag Camp. They can go to Facebook and find our EPOS Agriculture Experience, and there are links on my personal Facebook page, too,” Oakes detailed.
Oakes also emphasized the camp’s affordability. “Our sports camps are $99. This one’s $200, and we always figure that it costs about at least $300 to send a kid through camp. We have to raise a lot of money on the backside for this to happen, so we’re always looking for sponsorships and people that want to get behind this deal and support what we’re doing.”
With its blend of cutting-edge agricultural technology, faith-based values, and career development, the EPOS Camp at Oklahoma State University promises to be a transformative experience for young participants.
For more information or to sign up, click here.
To learn more about EPOS, click here.
