Sessions Put Focus on Agricultural Education

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — From AutoCAD and PlasmaCAM design tools to the old-fashioned art of hog butchering and the precision of archery, agricultural educators from around the state will find workshops covering these topics and more when they arrive at Siloam Springs High School on Monday.

A four-day workshop for agriculture teachers grew from discussions between Judith Tavano, who had recently been hired to direct a new Professional Development Academy in the University of Arkansas’ College of Education and Health Professions, and Mike Rogers, an alumnus of the university who is starting his 10^th year of teaching agriculture at Siloam Springs. The two met while serving together on an industry and educators committee at Synergy Tech in Springdale.

“The Summer Workshop for Ag Teaching Excellence is designed to bring ag teachers together to learn about advanced technology and mechanics that would not otherwise be easily accessible to them,” Tavano said.

“We want to encourage ag teachers to be more creative in the activities they offer to draw more students in to areas in which they are interested and will be able to find jobs,” Rogers said.

The College of Education and Health Professions created the Professional Development Academy at the beginning of the year. Its mission is to provide professional development for teachers, health care professionals and businesses throughout the state of Arkansas.

“We bring resources to education and business professionals and make connections between the university and the people we serve,” Tavano said.

Tavano and Rogers recruited Synergy Tech, a Springdale company that offers training based on the needs of northwest Arkansas business and industry, as the third partner in the summer workshop. Its facility on Bain Street provides the setting for Wednesday’s activities following two days of sessions at Siloam Springs High School on Jefferson Street. On Thursday, the agriculture teachers will tour Kennametal in Rogers and Cobb-Vantress in Siloam Springs.

Agricultural education offers the largest curriculum of vocational programs in the state, Rogers explained, making it vital that the teachers know the specific skills that businesses and industries are looking for in prospective employees when the educators choose courses to teach.

“We have to find ways to incorporate into our courses what industry leaders need our students to know,” Rogers said.

He said Arkansas has 50 courses in the agricultural curriculum, of which Rogers and Gene Collins teach 22 courses at Siloam Springs. Curriculum is broken into three categories: mechanics, which includes such courses as electricity, welding, surveying and computer-aided design; animal science, which includes poultry science and equine science; and plant science, which includes greenhouse management and landscape design.

Rogers did his student-teaching under Collins, a 27-year veteran who was a one-man department at the time. A position came open for a second teacher when Rogers had completed his Master of Arts in Teaching in the College of Education and Health Professions.

The Siloam Springs agricultural program is well-equipped with a biological animal science classroom that looks like both a biology lab and a computer lab. Students use 12 compound microscopes, a microscope that projects images onto a large screen and 15 computers connected to an AutoCAD system. The program also has a greenhouse, facilities to raise hydroponic vegetables and fish and a 60-foot round pen to break and train horses.

“Three days don’t go by without a live animal being here,” Rogers said.

In addition to Rogers, the workshop features Don Johnson and George Wardlow, professors of agricultural and extension education in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, and Steve Dunlap, northwest district education coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Faith Bates-Donaho, a Siloam Springs High School Spanish teacher, will teach survival Spanish for educators, and information will also be provided on sources of funding.

“Our main objective is to give ag teachers more surface area,” Rogers said. “What I mean by that is, we say if we can get students on the trap door and pull the handle, they can get into all kinds of areas they didn’t know existed. We’re required to produce graduates who can qualify for high-skill, high-demand and high-wage jobs. With more technology, equipment and skill sets, we can produce students who are more complete and ready for the work force.”