Participants in the Pizz-a-Thon at Iowa State University May 14 included a team from Mid-Prairie Middle School: James Taylor, bottom right, Josh Kral, center right, Luke Johnson, back right, Jenna Brenneman, second from right, back and Rachel Patterson, 2nd from right, center.

The five-member Mid-Prairie Middle School team that produced the winning Pizzaghetti in local competition, matched skills with other teams in a Pizz-a-Thon at Happy Joe’s in Ames May 14.

The students, accompanied by teacher Jeff Foster and student teacher Matt Miller, spent Friday, May 14, at Iowa State University, learning about where food originates, how it is processed and the numerous careers related to agriculture.

The students toured a hog farm, dairy farm and horticulture greenhouse, learning about production agriculture in the process. They also learned about how a business is managed and took part in a leadership workshop.

Saturday saw the students at Happy Joe’s Pizza Parlor where they learned all about pizza making, safe food handling practices, managing a service business and how to deal with customers. After consuming the pizza they made at the Parlor, the students went to the ISU College of Family and Consumer Science kitchens to make their own special pizza. The finished products were evaluated for taste and presentation.

Final event was the sale presentation for each pizza and a review of what the students had learned in their two-days in Ames. The presentations were broadcast via the Iowa Communications Network (ICN).

The Pizz-a-Thon was developed by Eldon Weber, Agricultural Education, at ISU, and funded by grants from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Happy Joe’s Pizza, Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Vision 2020.