Progress report for WPDP24-030
Project Information
In June 2023, PCA staff attending the California Agricultural Teachers Association (CATA) uncovered a pressing need: educators sought compelling horticulture materials for fostering environmental stewardship. This revelation underscores the PCA's mission to bridge this educational gap, providing engaging, bilingual resources that focus heavily on sustainable practices, aligning with California's future agricultural landscape.
The PCA, in collaboration with the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (CFAITC), proposes to develop a horticulture curriculum unit and train high school agriculture teachers to use the curriculum to incorporate sustainable principals into their horticulture programs. Existing study materials from the California Certified Nursery Professional (CCN Pro) program will be used as the foundation for developing a curriculum framework. The curriculum will be created through the collaboration of high school educators with input and feedback from stakeholders in the nursery industry. The materials will also be translated into Spanish to support the 45,000 California agriculture students that are Hispanic/Latino.
Once the curriculum is developed, CFAITC will promote the unit to their extensive network of more than 12,000 educators and numerous agriculture, environmental, and education organizations throughout the state. PCA and CFAITC will conduct a curriculum-based training webinar and facilitate regional and statewide in-person workshops to equip teachers to use the curriculum with confidence in their classrooms.
The objectives of this project are to 1) improve agriculture teachers’ competency in training horticulture students in sustainable principles and practices; 2) increase teachers’ confidence in delivering the related curriculum; and 3) enhance teachers' access to sustainability-integrated horticulture materials.
We'll gauge these objectives through a comprehensive pre- and post-event Likert scale survey, ensuring a data-driven approach to measure our impact and effectiveness. Additionally, follow-up interviews will help the project collaborators gather qualitative data and determine additional outcomes of the project.
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DATE |
ACTIVITY |
KEY PERSONNEL |
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Year 1 |
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April 2024 |
Project kick-off |
Chris Zanobini, Alex Simmons, Judy Culbertson, and Mandi Bottoms |
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April 2024 |
Contract with graphic designer |
Graphic Designer (TBD) |
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July 2024 |
Curriculum development meeting |
Mandi Bottoms and Judy Culbertson |
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November 2024 |
First draft of curriculum ready for industry review |
Mandi Bottoms and Judy Culbertson |
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February 2024 |
Design and final draft completed |
Mandi Bottoms and Judy Culbertson |
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Year 2 |
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April 2025-March 2026 |
Promote curriculum and webinar training |
Chris Zanobini, Alex Simmons, Judy Culbertson, and Mandi Bottoms |
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June 2025 |
Curriculum printing |
Mandi Bottoms and Judy Culbertson |
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September 2025 |
Webinar training |
Alex Simmons and Mandi Bottoms |
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September 2025-March 2026 |
CATA Roadshows, in-person trainings |
Alex Simmons and Mandi Bottoms |
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April 2025-March 2026 |
Curriculum translation into Spanish |
Rosario Zourelli |
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Year 3 |
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|
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June 2026 |
CATA Summer Conference |
Alex Simmons and Mandi Bottoms |
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July 2026-September 2026 |
Conduct follow up interviews |
Alex Simmons and Mandi Bottoms |
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January 2027 |
Analyze survey data |
Chris Zanobini, Alex Simmons |
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March-April 2027 |
Final Report |
Chris Zanobini, Alex Simmons, Judy Culbertson, and Mandi Bottoms |
Cooperators
- - Producer
Education
The educational approach for this project centers on the development of modular, classroom-ready lesson plans designed for California high school agriculture teachers. The curriculum is being developed in phases, beginning with English-language lesson plans that will later be translated into Spanish to ensure accessibility and broader reach.
To date, five draft lesson plans have been developed in English. These materials are aligned with secondary agricultural education frameworks and are intended to support teachers in delivering instruction on sustainable horticulture practices. Additional lesson development, refinement, and bilingual translation are planned for subsequent phases of the project.
Lesson 1 - What is Sustainable Horticulture_
Lesson 2 - What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)_
Lesson 3 - What Makes A Healthy Soil_
Education & Outreach Initiatives
To develop and disseminate classroom-ready, bilingual (English and Spanish) horticulture curriculum that equips California high school agriculture teachers with practical, industry-aligned instructional materials focused on sustainable horticulture practices.
This initiative centers on the phased development of modular lesson plans designed for use in secondary agricultural education classrooms. Curriculum development begins with English-language lesson plans grounded in industry best practices and aligned with California agricultural education frameworks. These materials are intended to support teachers in delivering instruction on sustainable horticulture and nursery production practices relevant to California’s specialty crop industry.
Following development and refinement, the curriculum will be translated into Spanish to increase accessibility and better serve California’s diverse student population. Outreach efforts include collaboration with agricultural education partners, promotion through professional networks, and planned webinars and in-person trainings to support effective curriculum adoption and implementation by educators statewide.
Anticipated learning and action outcomes for this initiative include increased educator capacity to teach sustainable horticulture concepts and greater alignment between high school agriculture instruction and current industry practices. As curriculum development and bilingual translation are completed in subsequent phases, participating educators are expected to integrate these lesson plans into classroom instruction, supporting student understanding of sustainable nursery and horticulture systems. Measurable impacts will be documented in future reporting periods as implementation and outreach activities occur.