What happened to the ag trip? Reintroducing field trips in the agricultural curriculum

摘要

Remember, the basics of production agriculture will be as relevant and timely as the advances in technology to our children. We can touch upon both aspects by simply using our community resources wisely. As a professional who hesitantly left the fields of agricultural education and youth development to pursue graduate studies, I vowed to build upon my personal experiences, as well as my colleagues' experiences in the field, to enhance the opportunities for youth in agriculture education. My first job as a professional was teaching agricultural sciences at a small high school in rural west Texas. In preparation for the upcoming school year, I planned field trips to local production farms, processing and storage sites, and other support businesses.Surprisingly, the local agriculturalists expressed a concern for a recent lack of school district interest in the agricultural community. They noted that most elementary field trips were being conducted to larger towns a short distance away. Implementation of science and technology based curriculum into agricultural sciences, along with time constraints put on highly diversified FFA chapters, have hindered the interaction between the local agricultural industry and local agricultural science programs.