By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School agricultural education program is undergoing some exciting changes in the near future. Governor Brian Sandoval recently allocated money for career and technical education programs. So MVHS Ag Instructor Denise O’Toole is working hard to make sure MVHS kids get as much of that funding as possible.
Manufacturing careers, especially in agriculture and ag-related fields, are a growing job market for today’s student. Students sometimes overlook jobs in the agricultural industry even though it is one of the most important job markets around the world.
The agriculture industry covers an extremely wide scope and variety of jobs. In an effort to produce students with the interests and skills to take advantage of these employment opportunities, O’Toole has made changes in her curriculum that reflect the trends of the agricultural world.
Last spring, O’Toole invited parents of students and other agriculturally-minded valley residents to form an Agricultural Education Advisory Board. O’Toole presented them with several options regarding the direction the MVHS ag program could take and then opened the field for discussion on what would benefit students the most.
O’Toole reminded parents that students can graduate with diplomas, job certifications, and even college credits that can be beneficial for both employment and for college applications. Participants in O’Toole’s ag mechanics classes are eligible for 10 college credits after completing three years of the program. O’Toole said that she wanted to add programs with similar possibilities.
After much discussion about the various options, it was decided that a food science course should be offered. The course can be worth eight college credits, with another four credits available if students also complete the Ornamental Horticulture and Greenhouse Management course.
O’Toole stressed that the new course does not take away from the current foods program at the school. Instead, the two programs cover different aspects of the food industry that complement each other. Food science students learn more about the science of food packaging, preservation, marketing, taste, and so forth.
“Companies are in the business of trying to get a product out that is safe to eat but still tastes like you want it to,” O’Toole explained. “You start with a good recipe, but processing changes flavor. Food scientists help companies work backwards to end up with a packaged, preserved, and marketable product in the end that is as good as the original.”
The class is aimed at juniors and seniors who have two years of ag-ed in their background.
O’Toole attended several conferences over the summer and met with leaders in the food industry. She learned what the industry is looking for in future employees. She plans to use these concepts to help structure her class.
Many of the experts mentioned that they are specifically looking for kids that come from ag-ed programs. They found that those kids learn leadership, problem solving, hard work, and communication skills, as well as traditional agriculture.
Preparation for the changes has been a lot of work over a short summer, O’Toole said. To accommodate health regulations, O’Toole and others have been installing a commercial kitchen into a straw bale classroom located at the MVHS ag farm. She has also been working on accessing resources to bring ag and food science business experts into the classroom to talk to kids about future opportunities. She would also like to be able to plan field trips for students to be able to tour businesses in the industry to get ideas and see firsthand the many jobs available in the field.
“We don’t want to lose the unique opportunity that we have in our farm and our program,” O’Toole said. “So we’re working very hard to keep up with the trends in agriculture. This new food science program is part of that. Providing food for a growing world population is one of the biggest industries of the future and we want our students to be able to be part of it.”
Those interested in an update on how current changes are progressing or anyone who is just interested in ag-education in the valley, is invited to attend an upcoming meeting of the Ag-Ed Advisory Board. The next meeting will take place on Monday, August 7, at 10:00 am at the Cooperative Extension Bldg located at 1897 N Moapa Valley Blvd.
