Constance Scwass, left, and her daughter, Makenna Ingle
WSCC News is a presentation of West Shore Community College in partnership with Mason County Press and Oceana County Press.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
VICTORY TOWNSHIP, Mason County — For Makenna Ingle, returning home to lead West Shore Community College’s Michigan State University Institute of Agricultural Technology program is more than a career move. It’s the continuation of a family legacy rooted in agriculture, education and service.
Ingle recently was named MSU Institute of Agricultural Technology program coordinator at West Shore’s main campus, succeeding her mother, Dr. Constance Schwass, who has led the program since 2023 after retiring from a 33-year teaching career at West Shore Community College.
“It makes it an easy transition for me to be able to hand the reins over to somebody that I know knows as much or more about agriculture as what I do, but also then those community connections,” Schwass said. “It seems like in a way we’re carrying on a family tradition here, and so continuing that legacy is really important. Being a family farm and generational farm, you want to keep passing on those skills and opportunities to your kids, and that’s what we’re doing here.”
For the Schwass family, handing the position from mother to daughter feels much like passing the family farm from one generation to the next. Schwass helps operate Springdale Farms, the family’s multi-generational farming operation based in Riverton Township, and said Ingle’s grandparents, who both attended Michigan State University, would be especially proud to see their granddaughter continue those agricultural and educational roots.Ingle said she is excited to combine her passion for agriculture with helping students explore career opportunities in the industry.
“I feel like I’ve got some big shoes to fill from where my mom has left this job, but I’m really excited to just be back in the community and really tying in what is probably my biggest passion, which is the ag industry,” Ingle said. “Trying to connect students to things that they could be doing with their future, whether it be ag-related or natural resources-related or food systems-related. So that’s kind of my goal for the program.”
Ingle comes to WSCC after five years teaching agricultural science at Montague Public Schools, where she instructed students from freshman through senior year in subjects ranging from agricultural biology and food science to leadership and ecology while serving as an FFA advisor. During her tenure, Montague’s FFA program ranked first in the state for two consecutive years before finishing third this past year.
Leaving Montague was bittersweet, she said, but fit her long-term career plans.
“Since I was in college, I knew that I would want to end up in higher education,” Ingle said. “Leaving the high school world to come into the college world was something that I had always kind of planned for myself.”
A 2017 Ludington High School graduate, Ingle earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture, food and natural resources education from Michigan State University after beginning her studies in agribusiness management. She also completed business coursework through WSCC while in high school (and her mother was her professor in many of those courses).
In her new role, Ingle will support students enrolled in the Institute of Agricultural Technology program, strengthen partnerships with community and industry leaders, collaborate on program delivery and identify opportunities to expand agricultural education offerings that meet regional workforce needs. She also serves on the Mason-Lake Conservation District Board of Directors and has taught agricultural science courses through Michigan State University.
West Shore Community College partnered with Michigan State University’s Institute of Agricultural Technology in 2017 to bring MSU agricultural certificate programs to its district. Students earn a two-year MSU agricultural technology certificate while also completing an associate degree from WSCC, with the option of entering the workforce or transferring to Michigan State to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Students maintaining at least a 3.0 grade-point average are guaranteed admission into MSU’s four-year agricultural program.
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