Koontz remembered with Honor Chair

Also, Tuesday@TheTech, KUO gets a Duke Foundation grant; deputy promoted to Sergeant; Bodie Kitchell leads in agronomy

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Koontz remembered with Honor Chair

On Nov. 15, the Howard County Sheriff’s Office was presented with an "Honor Chair" in remembrance of Deputy Carl Koontz #34-76.

During Police Week in Washington, D.C., members of the Honor Guard discovered a non-profit organization that hand-crafts chairs to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Deputy Ezekiel Zimmerman took special note of this and promptly began working to get a chair for the department.

This chair further solidifies the department’s stance that they will never forget the sacrifice made on March 20, 2016, by ensuring that Deputy Koontz always has a seat. The chair has been placed into the squad room where many of the deputies spoke to Deputy Koontz for the last time. In the next few weeks, a platform will be made to raise the chair off the floor, and a light that will remain illuminated will be installed above it.

Roll Call is one of the few places shift mates sit together before going on their tours. During Roll Call, not only are the activities and assignments read, but it gives a place for some healthy banter, kudos for previous actions, and a reminder that the deputies are not alone once they hit the streets. When an officer makes the ultimate sacrifice, his or her presence is missed. The Honor Chair is placed in the roll call room as a reminder that even though they are not there physically, the officer will always be with the deputies as they head out to the battles, carrying on the watch.

Saving A Hero’s Place, Inc. was formed in 2013 to build a chair in honor of a San Antonio Police officer who died in the performance of his duty. The chair was built March 2013 and placed at the substation where the officer worked. The following month, on April 18, 2013, MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was killed in the line of duty by the Boston bombers. The MIT Police Department was contacted and welcomed the idea of an Honor Chair.

Donations can be made to support their continued efforts at: https://savingaherosplace.org/donate/

‘Tuesday@TheTech’ to focus on Agriculture programs

Prospective students interested in a career in everything between agribusiness to food science to traditional farming can learn about the many options offered by the Agriculture program at Ivy Tech Community College during the next “Tuesday@TheTech” open house at Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Campus.

This is one of a series of monthly events aimed at sharing Ivy Tech’s high-tech facilities and broad range of programming in Kokomo with prospective students of all ages. This event is set for 5:30 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 29, at the campus at 1815 E. Morgan St. The program will begin in the Health Professions Center.

“This is a great opportunity to learn more about Agriculture at Ivy Tech and its two associate degree pathways – one for transferring to a four-year university and one to be workforce ready,”” said Lisa Paxton, Agriculture program chair for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area. “It’s also a chance to meet with Ivy Tech enrollment specialists who can offer one-on-one support so you can get ready to begin your college education when the next session of classes begins Jan. 17.”

For more information about how to register, go to ivytech.edu/tuesdays or email Kokomo-enrollment@ivytech.edu . Walk-ins are welcome. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Hingst Hall in Ivy Tech Kokomo’s new Health Professions Center.

KUO awarded Duke Foundation grant

The Duke Energy Foundation awarded Kokomo Urban Outreach with a $6,000 grant which will be used to help youth ages 10 to 18. 

“At Kokomo Urban Outreach we teach work ethics by transporting our youth to do yard work out in the community,” said Sherry Rayl, executive director of Kokomo Urban Outreach. “This funding will pay for the transportation from the school to the work site.

“The other part of the funding will support our mini-UP program for those ages 5 to 9 years old. We teach kindergarten readiness like colors, ABCs, 123s, shapes, reading, and much more. This funding will be used for curriculum, chairs, and tables, to fit them as they learn in their classroom.”

Kokomo Urban Outreach also will purchase curriculum focused on life skills to teach in the winter when the kids can’t work outside. It also will be used to purchase food to cook in the KUO kitchen to teach youth how to cook at home.

“We want to thank The Duke Energy Foundation for their amazing investment in our Youth of our community with Kokomo Urban Outreach,” said Rayl.

Hamilton promoted to KCSD Sergeant

On Nov. 15, Sheriff Jerry Asher presented Cpl. Mike Hamilton #34-78 to the Howard County Sheriff's Merit Board for promotion to the rank of Sergeant. Upon consideration, Cpl. Hamilton was promoted to the rank of Merit Sergeant by the board.

Sgt. Hamilton joined the Howard County Sheriff's Office in 2013 and has served the agency as a Corporal, SWAT Operator, Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) Instructor, and Field Training Officer (FTO). Sgt. Hamilton will be assigned to the midnight shift where he will oversee shift operations.

“Sgt. Hamilton's years of law enforcement experience coupled with his supervisory background will undoubtedly provide the citizens of Howard County with the quality of services they’ve come to expect from the Sheriff’s Office,” said HCSD Captain Jordan Buckley.

Ivy Tech Kokomo alum Bodie Kitchel part of 'the future of agronomy'

Bodie Kitchel can’t say enough about the value of his Ivy Tech Community College degree, and neither can his dad, but it wasn’t always that way.

Bodie comes from a family big on education – more specifically Purdue University education. His grandfather, Bob Kitchel, and father, Jon Kitchel, both were known for their basketball skills as students there; his uncle, Kelly Kitchel, played football there and continued as a Purdue sports commentator. The black-and-gold runs deep in these Boilermakers.

But, Bodie says, “I kinda hated school” and when he graduated from Lewis Cass High School in 2009, he announced he wasn’t going to the big school in West Lafayette right away. He convinced his dad the Ivy Tech Pathway to Purdue Agriculture program would be his best option. Bodie was going to pursue a two-year degree in Agriculture at Ivy Tech with plans to transfer later to prepare to join the family’s farming operation on 1,200 acres in Cass County.

Bodie did go straight into classes at Ivy Tech Kokomo. He was taking a fulltime load of 15 credit hours a semester and working fulltime at what was then Brodbeck Seeds in Wabash. In February of 2011, just before completing that two-year degree, he married his high school sweetheart, Natalie. Fulltime classes, fulltime job, new marriage… He announced he was done with school.

His father was sure Bodie was limiting his options in life, that he’d never achieve his life’s goals. At the time, who would have predicted that in less than 10 years, his son would be the national director of agronomy for BW Fusion, the premier distributor of Biodyne biological products, and part of the cutting-edge technology team that is applying their understanding of plant physiology, soil chemistry and crop nutrition responses to help farmers across the nation set new production records.

Bodie’s experience at Ivy Tech changed his father’s mind.

“Bodie received several scholarships at Ivy Tech, making his associate degree very affordable,” Jon Kitchel said. “While at Ivy Tech, he successfully completed an internship, and, at graduation, he had several offers for employment.”

And then Bodie ran that Ivy Tech associate degree. He says the key was taking advantage of opportunities to advance his career as they came along, each stop helping him figure out his passions as he went. Through a quick succession of employers in the agricultural industry, he says, “every change I made was an advancement in my career, the next logical step, which led me to where I am today.” And every “next step” in jobs selling seeds, chemicals, and fertilizers helped him realize agronomy was where he could make his mark.

“Looking back,” his father says, “I know success is based on your passion and Agriculture and Agronomy have always been Bodie’s passion. Today Bodie is very successful and works for a company that is changing agriculture.”

As national director of agronomy for BW Fusion, Bodie is involved in research into new nutrient management products for a wide variety of crops – from corn and soybeans to peanuts and cherry trees – on farms across the United States and into Canada. He finds himself working with people in comparable roles at other companies who have master’s degrees and doctorates.

“I came out of Ivy Tech with a two-year degree and two years of fulltime working experience,” Bodie says. “People gave me a chance based on that. It’s easy to place so much emphasis on the ‘paper’ but they looked past that and gave me the opportunity.”

Bodie believes the industry is seeing a paradigm shift in what employers value in an employee.

“In the last generation, it was the degree – and where it was from a benefit,” Bodie says. “Now employers are looking for traits in people rather than a piece of paper.”

Now, Bodie says, his father is Ivy Tech greatest cheerleader.

“Bodie’s experience was my introduction to Ivy Tech and it changed my opinion about higher education, Jon says. “Due to his success, my daughter Laramie followed his path and got her Ag degree from Ivy Tech too.

“I share the value of Ivy Tech any time I get a chance,” he continued. “Annually I invite Denver Muhs, an adjunct faculty member in Ivy Tech’s Ag program, to bring his students out to our family farm and I share with those students the success they can have with an Ivy Tech degree.”

Bodie’s job takes him around the country – in person and via BW Fusion’s “Digging In” video series on YouTube, where he shares crop production insights with a broad audience. But his heart remains in Cass County – on the family farm where he can occasionally jump on a tractor and do some work and with Natalie and their three children, 5-year-old Oaklyn, 3-year-old Beckham, and 1-year-old Mila Jade.

“I’m doing what I love, walking the fields and doing agronomy,” Bodie says. His advice for students today? “Find something you’re passionate about and then don’t make the mistake of racking up thousands of dollars in debt at a four-year school. Ivy Tech offers an affordable degree that allows you to mature as an individual and figure out what you want to do and where you want to be.”