Byron High School to add Meat Processing 101 class with $27,000 grant

Want to be a butcher or own a restaurant? Byron High School has you covered, having recently received a $27,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Education to start a class called Meat Processing 101.

The class will begin in the 2024-25 school year, said Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Ryan Radke. He is partnering with colleague Isaac Jestus of Byron High School to hold the class.

This year, the high school teaching team will work to develop relationships with area businesses where their Meat Processing 101 students could have internships during the 2024-25 school year.

Radke said they will consult with businesses such as Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe in Rochester, and Hy-Vee, to find out if students who have Meat Processing 101 experience could work there.

The Meat Processing 101 class is being designed much like the school’s Food Truck Culinary class. Started five years ago, the food truck class began with a $48,000 Bush Foundation grant and has been self-sustaining ever since, Radke proudly said.

He plans on this $27,000 grant to fund the class indefinitely, with funds earned from processing deer for area residents as one way to bring in money “just like the food truck,” he said.

Radke will generate interest in the class during this coming school year, among students in the Byron High School food and nutrition class. The class will have a maximum head count of 24 students, he said, though if there is enough student interest, additional sections will be added.

“We want to make our class as relevant and hands’ on as possible,” Radke said. “We want our kids actually doing the work, and get them exposed to whether they want to do this as a job.”

If you’d like more information about the Meat Processing 101 class, you can email ryan.radke@byron.k12.mn.us or isaac.jestus@byron.k12.mn.us.