Friday, February 22, 2019
Friday, February 1, 2019
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Project Details
My name is Jessica Stratton I have lived in Parowan, Utah most of my life and have a background in agriculture. I have grown up participating in many agricultural activities and want to continue doing so. FFA was a big part of my High School career and still is very important to me. My involvement in FFA allowed me to see the disconnection between people and agriculture. This disconnection has caused problems in the community because people don't understand what it is and even fight against it. Education on the subject needs to begin in school
IN the months of November and December 2018 I will visit with students and their teachers/advisers from Canyon View, Cedar, and Parowan High Schools to discuss agriculture in the community they are involved in. Focusing on the FFA groups at these schools I want to see what they are doing in class, why the education of agriculture is important, and complete a presentation on agriculture in their community. I also want to conduct a short survey to other kids in the school and ask a few questions regarding agriculture.
Before January 2019, I will have gathered information and compiled it to see how much people know about agriculture in Iron County. .I want to see what areas people lack in, if they care about it, if they want to know more but can't find a way, and anything else that stands out from the information.
Larger Purpose
For my Edge Project I will be working with the High Schools in Iron County including Parowan, Canyon View, and Cedar. Specifically I will be working with the school Principal, Agriculture teacher/adviser, and the FFA/Agriculture students attending these schools. Iron County has a rich agricultural history, however there is a disconnection and lack of knowledge of this history. Each of the schools will have different situations involving agriculture education.
My involvement in the agriculture community has allowed me to see the problems in the education system regarding agriculture. Problems include a need for good teachers that are hard to find, Ag. programs that are diminishing with lack of resources and students, and a disconnection between agriculturalists and the general public. I want to help people understand that education on agriculture needs to begin in our schools. Agriculture is a foundation of society.
I will begin by emailing the Principal's of the schools in question to get permission to enter their school. With the Principals I will have an interview and ask them a few questions regarding their agriculture program. I will do the same with the teachers/advisers.
After the interviews I will prepare a presentation to speak to the students involved in Agriculture. The presentation will be on agriculture in our community, here in Iron County, as well as ways they can be involved. It will be a Powerpoint presentation as well as a question and answer session with the students. Once the interviews, questions, and presentation are finished, I will gather the information and compile it. Here I will be able to see what is happening inside of the Iron County schools regarding agriculture education. I will be able to see how much the students know concerning the subject.
Project Goal
The goal of this project is to gain more information of the agriculture education here in Iron County at the High Schools. By working with the administrators and teacher in Iron County I will be able to help further education regarding this subject. The overall goal is to make myself known and to gain as much information I can so that I might be able to get a job where I can make a difference in this area of concern. I hope to be a teacher of agriculture. Here I can provide more opportunities for education in agriculture.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Project Reflections
Journal Entry 1: Cedar High
I was able to meet with the Principal of Cedar High School and discuss the agriculture program that is in place. Cedar has had a hard time finding teachers that want to stay with the school. Currently one of the Science Teachers is taking care of teaching a couple agriculture courses but there is a lack of an actual Cedar FFA. Cedar and Canyon View have worked together for many years to give the students FFA and other agricultural learning experiences The Principal hopes to get an FFA program up and running and knows it is going to take a lot of hard work.
Journal Entry 2: Canyon View High
Meeting with the Adviser and Ag. teacher at Canyon View I was happy to see such progress and hear how she has helped the FFA program. Being a graduate of SUU, she was able to get hired and earn her teaching credentials while on the job because nobody else was able to fill it. Utah State University is the only school in Utah that offers an Ag. Education degree. The numbers for the FFA club at Canyon View have risen considerably and continue to do so. She is hopeful and excited to see where the club ends up.
She has also had success teaching students that aren't very interested in being a part of the FFA club. Her classes are great for students who want to know more about animals or other subjects related to agriculture. In one group of about 40 students I learned that none of them were involved in FFA, but had an interest in agriculture. ]
Canyon View has seen a large growing student involvement in the FFA and agriculture classes. The adviser even gave away her prep period to give some students a chance to learn more about the subject. Involvement in FFA has grown from a few to over 70 students now and is continuing to climb. Cedar High allows students to attend Canyon view for a couple classes taught by the same teacher. It is great to see the interest in agriculture on the rise.
Canyon View has seen a large growing student involvement in the FFA and agriculture classes. The adviser even gave away her prep period to give some students a chance to learn more about the subject. Involvement in FFA has grown from a few to over 70 students now and is continuing to climb. Cedar High allows students to attend Canyon view for a couple classes taught by the same teacher. It is great to see the interest in agriculture on the rise.
Journal Entry 3: Parowan High
Parowan High, not unlike Cedar and Canyon View, has also had some trouble in the past to keep an agriculture program. Resources are available, such as a shop for mechanics and a greenhouse for plant science, and in the last ten years the adviser has been able to keep a program going. Parowan is doing well in learning about agriculture and participating in the FFA. It is becoming a more popular class and the adviser is helping the students with all sorts of projects, such as keeping chickens, learning about succulent plants, growing plants in the greenhouse, and others. Parowan, like Canyon View, is doing well.
Journal Entry 4: Deliverable
Aside from Cedar's struggling Ag program, I was very happy to see so much going on in Iron County with Canyon View and Parowan's FFA chapters. Thanks to Canyon View and other's involved in Cedar High School, the students are still able to have some experience in this field. The Principal's all want a thriving Ag program and are looking for ways to make it better for their students all the time. Parowan and Canyon View are on a good path and Cedar is preparing to become better also, despite challenges in the way.
One frustrating thing in my mind comes down to availability of Ag classes and how important they seem to be within the education system. Subjects like History, Math, Science, and English are requirements for graduation. Agriculture classes count as a science, but they aren't required. Subjects like art are required though, for as long as 3 semesters. I understand the importance of being diversified, but art doesn't feed people. Art doesn't teach people how to work and apply skills to every day life. Agriculture does and it is obvious that agriculture is not a high priority. My suggestion would be to require a single semester, if not more, of an introductory class for agriculture.
Too many people don't understand where their food comes from. Too much education is being taken out of the schools where the basic knowledge comes from. I encountered students who didn't know how they could be involved or that they were even a part of agriculture in any way.
Part of my Edge Project was to give a presentation. The following are a few slides I used to create a discussion and teach the students in each Ag class.
Problems the students came up with: Water, grazing, population growth, and education.
In this slide we discussed the misconception that Farmers or Cowboys are "dumb" or uneducated. In reality, most agriculturalists are very educated as they have to know a variety of subjects to feed and clothe the world the best they can.
We discussed how any post education, college, tech school, apprenticeship, or any others can be beneficial.
We also talked about Iron County's history and heritage. Many student's agreed that we are losing part of our heritage.
A great way to learn about agriculture is to get involved in FFA and other agriculture activities. We discussed projects and what the FFA club actually does. The FFA is very professional and has a variety of contests from public speaking and Parliamentary Procedure to Livestock judging. Anybody can be involved.
Again, we discussed post-education and all the opportunities after High School. I went over the different programs offered at SUU and USU and jobs that are related to agriculture.
This experience was enlightening and though provoking as I thought about what students wanted, what the school district wanted, and what teachers and parents wanted. It is sad to think of the politics that surround education and how that can possibly hinder a students learning. Even though this is the end of my project, it is not the end of my involvement with agriculture and FFA. With this knowledge I hope to continue
working with the school district and hopefully one day be able to teach.
HOME Parowan High, not unlike Cedar and Canyon View, has also had some trouble in the past to keep an agriculture program. Resources are available, such as a shop for mechanics and a greenhouse for plant science, and in the last ten years the adviser has been able to keep a program going. Parowan is doing well in learning about agriculture and participating in the FFA. It is becoming a more popular class and the adviser is helping the students with all sorts of projects, such as keeping chickens, learning about succulent plants, growing plants in the greenhouse, and others. Parowan, like Canyon View, is doing well.Journal Entry 4: Deliverable
Aside from Cedar's struggling Ag program, I was very happy to see so much going on in Iron County with Canyon View and Parowan's FFA chapters. Thanks to Canyon View and other's involved in Cedar High School, the students are still able to have some experience in this field. The Principal's all want a thriving Ag program and are looking for ways to make it better for their students all the time. Parowan and Canyon View are on a good path and Cedar is preparing to become better also, despite challenges in the way.
One frustrating thing in my mind comes down to availability of Ag classes and how important they seem to be within the education system. Subjects like History, Math, Science, and English are requirements for graduation. Agriculture classes count as a science, but they aren't required. Subjects like art are required though, for as long as 3 semesters. I understand the importance of being diversified, but art doesn't feed people. Art doesn't teach people how to work and apply skills to every day life. Agriculture does and it is obvious that agriculture is not a high priority. My suggestion would be to require a single semester, if not more, of an introductory class for agriculture.
Too many people don't understand where their food comes from. Too much education is being taken out of the schools where the basic knowledge comes from. I encountered students who didn't know how they could be involved or that they were even a part of agriculture in any way.
Part of my Edge Project was to give a presentation. The following are a few slides I used to create a discussion and teach the students in each Ag class.
Problems the students came up with: Water, grazing, population growth, and education.
In this slide we discussed the misconception that Farmers or Cowboys are "dumb" or uneducated. In reality, most agriculturalists are very educated as they have to know a variety of subjects to feed and clothe the world the best they can.
We discussed how any post education, college, tech school, apprenticeship, or any others can be beneficial.
We also talked about Iron County's history and heritage. Many student's agreed that we are losing part of our heritage.
A great way to learn about agriculture is to get involved in FFA and other agriculture activities. We discussed projects and what the FFA club actually does. The FFA is very professional and has a variety of contests from public speaking and Parliamentary Procedure to Livestock judging. Anybody can be involved.
Again, we discussed post-education and all the opportunities after High School. I went over the different programs offered at SUU and USU and jobs that are related to agriculture.
This experience was enlightening and though provoking as I thought about what students wanted, what the school district wanted, and what teachers and parents wanted. It is sad to think of the politics that surround education and how that can possibly hinder a students learning. Even though this is the end of my project, it is not the end of my involvement with agriculture and FFA. With this knowledge I hope to continueworking with the school district and hopefully one day be able to teach.
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