Archive: Around Town

Thank goodness summer learning isn’t all pencils and paper.  Students at Lansing Middle School’s ‘Summer Learning Institute’ recently visited two community employers and learned how those agencies contribute to the community and what the potential employers look for in future employees.

Students entering fifth, sixth and seventh grade visited Cargill Deicing and learned about how salt is mined beneath Cayuga Lake.  Mr. Bell and Mr. Nixon, both engineering technicians currently supervising a shaft project for Cargill, spent time answering questions and showing students photos of the steps involved in mining salt.

One of the many highlights of the trip was when students observed a ‘mine rescue device’.  This device along with many other self-rescue tools is included on the belt each miner wears into the mine as part of Cargill’s extensive mine safety program.  Students also learned about the tracking device stored in a special light that each miner carries; this light has a tracking device in it that carries the employee’s information.  Were an emergency to occur, the miner’s information is coded into their location.  Other interesting details from the trip were that operators run the equipment with a remote control and the temperature in the mine is a constant 72 degrees.


Outside Cargill, Mr. Bingham and Mr. Nelson led students on a hunt for fossilized remains in the rock pit.  Some fine specimens of Trilobites went home with students. 

Students also visited the Triangle Family Restaurant, Ice Cream Stand and mini-golf complex in King Ferry, New York.  At this location, students were given guided tours of how a family restaurant and ice cream business work from the inside out.  Miss Lucy, the restaurant’s manager, took time from serving customers to walk students through the steps involved with taking a customer’s order to serving the customer in a timely fashion.  Students toured the kitchen and saw where the cook prepares the meal.

At the Ice Cream Stand, co-manager, Justin Kirkwood, explained to students the tasks involved with running a small business.  Hiring and scheduling staff, inventorying supplies so supplies don’t run out, organizing a business, courtesy, and cleanliness are all parts of running a successful small business.


Mr. Kirkwood then served the students soft ice cream and treated them to rounds of mini golf at the newly installed mini golf course found at the Triangle Family Restaurant complex.

Middle school students returned to school with a new understanding of what it takes to run a successful small business as well as what is involved in being an employee of Cargill.  We’d like to thank both of these businesses for welcoming the students and sharing with them the importance of skills needed for employment.

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