1991 Annual Report for ANC91-008
Sustainable Agriculture Training and Support for High School Agricultural Instructors
Summary
Rationale:
There have been several new projects initiated in Wisconsin to promote sustainable agriculture in
the classroom, however there is still a very large unaddressed need. Instructors are extremely
interested in the new curriculum, but they lack training in the concepts and practices of
sustainable agriculture and in the use of the curriculum. Given the time constraints instructors
face and the extreme diversity of topics they are expected to teach, they have little time to
familiarize themselves with a new topic sufficiently to teach it well, nor do they have time to
develop new materials. They have clearly requested assistance in obtaining classroom-ready
supplies. It is the purpose of this project to provide the training and materials necessary for
incorporating the concepts of sustainable agriculture into classrooms.
Objectives:
1) To train 350 high school agricultural instructors in sustainable agriculture concepts and
practices.
2) To provide agricultural instructors with necessary teaching materials, both purchased and
developed, to allow them to teach sustainable agriculture topics effectively.
Methods:
High school teachers were trained in sustainable agriculture concepts through a 1992 Summer
Course at University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UW-RF), and at eight workshops. The UW-RF
summer course and a two-day workshop during the WAVAI (Wisconsin Association of
Vocational Agriculture Instructors) summer conference were combined, thus allowing vocational
teachers to earn college credit. Additionally, about 150 students learned from sustainable farmers
at three Future Farmers of America sectional workshops. One of the most successful elements of
this project has been the continuation of the Discovery Grants program. In these schools, small
grants (from local business and organization contributions) were competitively awarded to
schools which developed small sustainable agriculture projects.
More focus in the second year of this project was towards teaching sustainable agriculture on an
interdisciplinary level. School administrators (principals, district curriculum specialists, and
department heads) and local civic and business leaders were invited to be involved in the
promotion of sustainable agriculture by conducing pilot projects at their schools. Eight schools
were located that were initially interested in a pilot project idea, and five were successful in
submitting project proposals and demonstrating sufficient interest and staff to warrant
continuation. All five of these schools were able to bring students and teachers together from
different disciplines, such as social studies, biology, and business, to work on their pilot projects.
An example of a project was at Mount Horeb High School, where the Agriculture and Family
and Consumer Education instructors submitted a successful plan to study herb production as an
alternative product. In this case, the Family and Consumer Education instructor has been
teaching the history of and uses for herbs, while the Agriculture classes have been studying the
cultural practices and growing characteristics of herb production, growing herbs in the school
greenhouse, and designing and marketing the herbs with a stand built by the vocational wood
working classes.
Results and Potential Contributions:
This project has shown that teaching sustainable agriculture is possible and highly desirable, on
both the level of teacher training and high school agriculture teachers. In 1992, other states also
began offering similar courses. With the interdisciplinary curriculum, urban as well as rural
instructors can use sustainable agriculture as a tool to invigorate their classrooms. This should
reach students who will farm on their own using sustainable practices first learned in high
school; farm students who will influence their parents' practices and attitudes toward sustainable
agriculture; and considering the current demographics and interdisciplinary focus, nonfarm
students, who as consumers and voters, will understand and support sustainable agriculture
practices and policies, both directly and indirectly.