Farm Beat: Ag education gets $15 million boost

Jorge Olguin sent a shower of sparks into the air as he smoothed a welded metal surface in an Atwater High School shop class.

The senior was practicing on a basic piece that had to form a 90-degree angle, but he has more elaborate plans for his future.

“I want to do underwater welding, actually,” Olguin said on a recent morning, adding that he hopes to go to a college offering this specialized skill.

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Atwater is a prime example of the career training that takes place in high school agriculture departments in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. This involves much more than raising crops and livestock. Students can learn metalwork, engine repair, electrical wiring, woodworking, flower arranging and much more. Each department has a chapter of Future Farmers of America, which trains students in public speaking and other leadership traits.

“The skills kids are learning here are going to tie in with industry,” said Sam Meredith, one of seven teachers for the 900-plus students in the Atwater program. He spoke amid the roar of wood saws, welding torches and other tools wielded by the students, who start with basic safety training.

FFA, founded in 1928, has hit an all-time high of about 610,000 members nationwide, reflecting in part the strong agricultural economy in California and beyond. The chapters still turn out plenty of farmers and ranchers, but they also help meet the need for welders, electricians and other trades that can be practiced in cities and rural areas alike.

Atwater, like many schools, has high-tech equipment for teaching this. One machine is a plasma cutter, which sends an electrical stream of ionized gas through a metal sheet. Juniors Jeff Clark and Nathaniel Cavallero were using it to make a bee-shaped garden ornament.

“I’ve already transferred the skills I learned here to a new job,” said Clark, who works for G.R. Clark Inc., his family’s grading and paving company. He hopes to study international agricultural development at UC Davis.

Some students might find permanent work right out of high school, but they are urged to look at postsecondary options, including community colleges, trade schools and universities.

Atwater sits amid fruit, nut, dairy, sweet potato and other major ag enterprises, but only about 100 of the students raise animals for county fairs.

“I would say 95 percent of our students are urban,” Meredith said. “They’re not traditional ag students.”

The school has greenhouses on campus and agreements with a few farmers to house livestock being raised for FFA projects. It does not have the extensive farmland that some schools enjoy.

Ag students in the Ceres Unified School District do have this. On another recent morning, members of the plant production class at Central Valley High School placed kohlrabi seedlings on part of the 6.5-acre farm off Redwood Road.

“What’s kohlrabi?” was one of the questions for teacher Ken Moncrief, who explained that it is related to cabbage.

Freshman Alyssa Maeyama said she enjoys gardening and learning how to lay the seedlings so they thrive.

“If they’re too close, they will fight over the space they need,” she said.

The farm has 225 fruit trees, 200 table grape vines and berry patches, tended in summer by five paid students. The food goes to school meals and other uses.

“This is really a farm-to-fork operation,” Moncrief said.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Farm Beat: Ag education gets $15 million boost."