Act 1:

COREY COCKERILL: All right, this is Corey Cockerill. I am an associate professor of Communication Arts and Agriculture at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio.

ARYN COPELAND: And I am Aryn Copeland. A senior studying agricultural communication with a minor in sustainability, originally from Bucyrus, Ohio.

I technically live outside the village of Nevada, Ohio, which is incredibly rural. I’m surrounded on all four sides by corn and soybean fields, with U.S. State Route 30 running through my front yard.

COCKERILL: My husband is from New Petersberg, Ohio, which has about a dozen houses in it and no other landmarks. No shop, no store, no grocery or gas station. It’s just twelve houses.

So is that like Nevada?

COPELAND: So, Nevada is a little bit larger. We used to have one stop light, but that went away a few years ago.

There is a seed company that is right along the railroad, and we have a drive thru where you can stop and get something to drink on the way to school in the mornings.

But aside from that the occasional pizza place will be in there for a few months and then it will have to leave.

That’s really all we have, and then probably two or three blocks of houses?

But, the most convenient part about being where I’m from is that Toledo is an hour and a half away, Findlay is 45 minutes away, and Columbus is an hour away.

So even though I’m from a rural part of the state, everything that I could ever possibly need is within an hour’s reach.

COCKERILL: My friend Lucy and I were talking about this book by Robert Putnam called Bowling Alone. And it’s really about the loss of community as technology enters our lives, and as more people move to urban areas, and we’re disconnected from each other.

Even the title of the book is about the loss of bowling leagues, and bridge clubs, and Kawanis clubs, and Lions clubs. And so he says that’s going to affect our sense of community and in turn affect social capital.

Because it would seem like, because there are so few people living in Nevada that social capital would be low.

COPELAND: We don’t have a bowling alley. We don’t have a place to go eat in Nevada. But you know your neighbors, and your neighbors aren’t just the people who live next to you on either side.

Your neighbors are people down the whole street. Your neighbors are the people who live two blocks away, and you know them by name because those are the people you grew up with.

So those are the people you can lean on in tough times, and I think that’s a more important sense of community.

It’s a stronger community. Even if we don’t have a club.

COCKERILL: You’ve received two job opportunities and one is in a rural community and one is in an urban community. What is on your pro’s and con’s list?

I know you make lists.

COPELAND: For me the sense of home. Rural communities, even ones I didn’t find myself growing up in, feel very homey and welcoming. That’s a huge part of I want to live somewhere I feel comfortable and welcome, and I think rural communities offer that.

One thing that rural communities sometimes lack is an appreciation for art and different types of culture, and that’s something a lot of urban areas have.

And I love learning more about history, art and culture, so that’s something that draws me to urban areas.

The cons of urban areas is the hustle and bustle. It never stops, and I think that you need to be able to stop and recharge. And that can be hard when things are open 24 hours or you’re going non-stop.

Also it’s loud. I guess you eventually get used to it, but that doesn’t sound appealing to me. (laughs)

COCKERILL: Right? The quiet of Nevada, Ohio might call you back. Ok, well that ends our interview. Thanks Aryn.

Act 2:

ARYN COPELAND: Hello, this is Aryn Copeland. I am a senior at Wilmington College studying agricultural communications with a minor in sustainability. And today I am interviewing…

COREY COCKERILL: Corey Cockerill. I am an associate professor of communication arts and agriculture at Wilmington College.

COPELAND: So just before our interview, you reminded me that you have not always had a rural upbringing. You’re originally from the suburbs. Can you tell us a little bit about what your journey to rural life was like

COCKERILL: I grew up in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, which is north of Columbus. Growing up I definitely had the suburban experience.

I lived in a community that was relatively large. It was a city and we lived in town. We just had a small backyard and a dog. (laughs)

So I remember when I was nine years old and I wrote down on a piece of paper that ended up in a time capsule - I wanted to be a dairy farmer in Wisconsin, and to be a vegetarian (laughs).

I stayed a vegetarian, ironically until I met my farmer husband, and he was from a rural community in south western Ohio, and ultimately we moved there.

So I remember being nervous when I knew that we were going to be moving to Leesburg. I drove the town, village, it’s a village. So I just remember thinking, how are we going to get what we need here?

I was also nervous about sending my children to school. At the time we had a five year old who was about to enter kindergarten. You know, what is a small school like? What does that mean?

In the end, I’m just thrilled to be a resident of Leesburg, Ohio. I say it very proudly.

You know, having kids in a small school is just the best experience because the teachers get to know them, they get to know each other. It takes a village to raise a child and we truly have that.

We don’t just have that in the village, but also in the schools and anywhere else they roam. And it’s an incredibly powerful experience to be part of a giant family that would do anything for you or your kids.
That feels more reassuring than anything else.

COPELAND: So you talk a lot about how people come together and they use their voices to make a change, when change is necessary.

How have you personally used your voice and your influence in this new rural community that you call home, to make a difference in the lives of others. Especially the youth.

COCKERILL: So coming into a rural community I was definitely an introvert, forced to be an extrovert. I didn’t engage as much, but when you move to a rural community you have to engage.

And so you kind of look around and say, well here’s what I’m capable of.

Here’s my skill set. This village needs me, so what can I do for it?

You have to ask that.

And apart from offering some home roasted coffee, I could also offer grant writing skills. So recently I’ve been working on a sidewalk grant for the local school to try and get a safe pathway to and from school.

COPELAND: Do you think your children are getting some things, like a benefit, that you didn’t have when you were growing up in a suburban/urban area?

COCKERILL: I have to say that the first thing I think they’re getting is the opportunity to develop empathy.

They are seen as a resource, an asset to the community, even as young people. I love that. And they’re forced to have interactions, because you can’t walk somewhere without someone talking to you in a rural community, and in making conversations, you build empathy for people.

You learn how to listen to other people and listen to their stories.

The challenges I think we face are like the challenges of other rural communities and that is exposure to diversity. They’re limited (to) exposure, so I do worry about that.

Also rural communities are dealing right now with a lot of addiction. A lot of depression. High suicide rate among farmers. And we’re raising our kids in this hostile, high risk, situation. So we’re working really hard to protect them.

So I guess that’s a pitfall, but man all the benefits outway those, time and time again.

Act 3:

Future Farmers of America was founded in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri as way to educate the next generation of farmers. Today, FFA is a national organization for young people interested in leadership and agriculture. There are over a dozen local FFA chapters in the Miami Valley - including one at Northeastern High School in rural Clark County.

As part of our series called County Lines, producer Anna Lurie went to Northeastern last fall to learn about FFA and to teach the students a little bit about radio.

"FFA honestly isn’t cows and plows," says Gracie. "FFA is...FFA. It’s no longer Future Farmers of America, it’s FFA, the National FFA Organization."

The FFA pledge, which the students know by heart, says, To practice brotherhood, honor agricultural opportunities and responsibilities and develop those qualities of leadership which an FFA member should possess.

"I knew animals meant a lot to me and the things involved with it meant a lot to me, but joining FFA, it’s really shown me how important it is to the community and even to the world," says Graci.

"Some opportunities FFA provides are community service," says Alice. "One of our big things that we do here at Northeastern is our Powder Puff game. That’s when the girls play football and the guys cheer, and we have raised over $10,000 for breast cancer every year and it is such a great opportunity, everybody comes out, it’s a big community thing."

"Another major event that our FFA holds is the Farm Day," says Mackenzie. "We host first graders to where they all come out to the farm and have that experience to know where where milk comes from and other things like where the eggs come from, where the meat comes from in the chicken. And it’s a really great way to educate our community so they are informed and know what they eat and where it comes from."

"I’m involved in FFA and it means a lot to me because I get to do a lot of things like show animals and help out in the community and be a leader," says Alice.

"It’s definitely taught me time management," says Nicole. "When showing animals, you have another life depending on you taking care of it. If you don’t feed it or water it, then it’s not going to be able to survive, so you have to prioritize things in the order that you do them in."

"It has taught me when you sign up for something," says Alice. "You have to show up for something, when you are supposed to be in charge of this, you have to be in charge of it, you know, definitely being responsible."

"Throughout FFA, I have found myself," says Mackenzie. "I have really been able to figure out who I am and what I want to be when I’m older and how I want to continue my life. So throughout FFA I have figured out that genetics is the path I want to take to continue my career and the passion for animals will never stop and I just really love FFA."

"Having parents growing up in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, they had no agriculture or even experiences with farm animals and when we moved here, when they moved here, we weren’t expecting me to get as involved with the different livestock and want to be involved as much as I have, so I’ve really brought agriculture into my family’s life," says Nicole.

"I know that I made a bunch of memories during National FFA convention," says Gracie. "I met so many new people, I met people that I didn’t even know I could meet, it was so different. I met people from Oklahoma, from Texas, from Hawaii. It was so different seeing them and talking to them but after you kinda sit back and kinda think about it, we’re just the same."

"That’s not just in the classroom, at county fair, FFA is a national thing that has gone on for generation after generation and when we all line up in that blue corduroy jacket, we are one powerful person," says Graci.

Act 4:

LUCY ENGE: My name is Lucy Enge. I’m a student at Wilmington College and I am interviewing my fellow student and friend Kayla Wise.

So we are going to be talking about what it’s like to be in rural communities, and we’ve sort of had this conversation before. I don’t come at all from a farming background, and you come from Pettisville?

KAYLA WISE: I actually grew up in a town called Wauseon, which is ten miles away from Pettisville.
Where I lived, it’s an old people community.

I went to Pettisville which is a school of about 500, so my graduating class was like 47.

I was kinda sucked into FFA and all those experiences that came with it. I decided to become an agronomy major because of FFA, without it I wouldn’t be where I am.

ENGE: You were at dinner the other night and you shared that you are currently doing research involving essential oils and a pest I think it was?

WISE: So the Asiatic Garden Beetle grub is a smaller, brown beetle than the Japanese Beetle.
The beetle, we can also call it the teenage stage, chews through the roots of pretty much any crop, any plant it can eat. There’s not much it doesn’t like to eat. So you can go from a five yard span of 180 bushels per acre down to zero. It is crazy.

So I tested frankincense, eucalyptus, and lemon to see if these essential oils would kill the grubs before they would eat the corn, and I found out that the essential oils did have an effect on the grubs and it ended up killing them.

When I got to college I wanted to continue my research. It’s just a passion now.

ENGE: So we were both in the same Individual and Global Society class last semester, and we ended up talking a lot about climate change in the end.

How do you see climate change affecting rural communities and rural America.

WISE: Before I came to Wilmington I didn’t believe climate change was a thing, cause a lot of the rural community doesn’t quite, I think, believe it yet.

I was thinking about it last night with the Water Justice Symposium for the Westhimer at Wilmington. There was a panel discussion with several local politicians, and then a lot of the people in the room were agriculturalists, and they went at it big time.

The tension in the room was very, very high.

And I regret this now that I didn’t speak up and say, we keep yelling at each other. We’re drowning each other out with our own opinions.

Instead of casting blame, why don’t we all pitch in and find a solution.

And I feel that in the future, and I hope that in the future that will come into effect that we put aside maybe our political views, or essentially what we believe essentially believe wholeheartedly and say, we are destroying our planet, and it is ours together as a whole.

We are not democrat or republican, we are not black or white, we are people who share this planet, and let’s make it whole.