Naper Settlement unveiled its new 3,600-square-foot agricultural center that officials say will be a “pipeline” to agriculture and other STEM professionals for generations to come.
The $3.66 million Mary and Richard Benck Family Agriculture Center will feature exhibits about the history — and future — of farming in the Naperville area and have a STEM learning lab for visiting students.
Representatives from the Naperville Historical Society, Naperville City Council, state legislature, Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Benck family celebrated with a ribbon-cutting Sunday.
“I’m thrilled this is here as a springboard to the future and a recognition of the past,” state Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, said.
Agriculture is still a top industry in Illinois, noted state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville.
“I am so excited that there will be thousands of schoolchildren coming through these halls,” she said. “Not only to connect with that past, but to understand what it means to them in the present and for the future: how their food choices affect their bodies, how those choices affect our environment, and how all those together interact to make this economy and our state so great.”
The center is named after the founders of West Sales Tractor Sales, whose family foundation made a “significant gift” toward its construction.
“We really find this to be an important part of the legacy of our family, for getting the next generation into the agricultural industry,” donor Tom Benck said. “There’s so much technology and things changing that we need the best and the brightest engineers and people to come into our industry to make it sustainable, to make sure that we have a food source for the future. And I’m just really proud that my parents have their name on the building.”
John Rogner, assistant director for the Illinois DNR, said he hopes students can reconnect with agriculture and the environment and learn that breakfast doesn’t come “from the grocery.”
Naper Settlement is visited by 35,000 children from 112 school districts annually.
“Agriculture is no less important now to the country, to Illinois and to us as a people. It is as fundamental as the food we eat, the water we drink and the good health that we’re so fortunate to enjoy,” he said. “And so it’s very important that those of us who eat food — which I’m pretty sure is everyone here — knows where it came from and how it’s produced.”
Rena Tamayo-Calabrese, president and CEO of Naper Settlement, said officials from the the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign told her their biggest challenge is getting kids interested in agriculture at an early age.
The settlement’s new Field Watchers program will teach 2,500 children in its first year, with 400 already enrolled, she said.
“If you can build a pipeline, you can build an amazing future,” she said. “Just watch and see what we can do.”
Giles Bruce is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
