Neighbors: Retiring teacher raised animals, students

Excited sheep are following him along the fence, asking for breakfast.

Bernal is starting another day at the Amphi Land Lab, where he's been a dedicated teacher and caretaker for 30 years. He's retiring at the end of the month.

"There's nothing more pleasurable than to see these little creatures depend on you and trust you," he said while feeding the lambs. "It's pretty cool to do this every day and call it a job."

The Land Lab at 450 E. Wetmore Road is a 4-acre farm in an urban neighborhood. The city has grown around it since it opened in 1977. It has a Holiday Inn and a Walmart shopping plaza for neighbors. Still, a lot of people drive by without knowing the 90 sheep, 35 pigs and 10 cows are there.

Bernal, now 59, had earned his degree in animal science from the University of Arizona and was just beginning his teaching career when he started at the Land Lab. When he took the job, he thought he was going to "educate city kids about agriculture," he said.

But his goal quickly changed. "I realized I was raising kids, not animals, in this program."

He turned the farm into a refuge for teenagers - a place where they could feel safe, welcome and needed, and where they'd be too busy to get into trouble, he said.

His students could pursue careers in agriculture, but most don't. He insists on good work ethics and responsibility that will help them in any career. He tells them to do good and work hard, focus on learning, and be honest and respectful.

There are plenty of water fights and Taco Bell runs, too, but students said they learned about public speaking, writing, business and leadership - all without ever realizing they were lessons.

Senior Larry Puella, who manages beef at the farm, said he'll always remember when Bernal jumped over obstacles while being chased by a cow. But what he really learned from Bernal was "once the going gets tough, keep going." Bernal taught him agriculture along with lessons in civics and economics, and even helped him get out of trouble, he said.

"He gives advice like nobody's business," said senior Anthony Smith, whose parents also were Bernal's students.

The 100 or so students a year - kids of all kinds, including poor kids, troubled kids, disabled kids, and kids who don't yet speak English - get along here.

When new students come to their first meeting with Bernal, he pairs them up with a student they don't know and tells them to make root-beer floats for each other, said sophomore Monique Cortez. Bernal is funny and friendly, she said. And he's strict, but in a cool way, she added.

Bernal did it all: supervising the farm work, taking students to contests, coaching student clubs and caring for the animals. He won many teaching awards.

He also turned the Land Lab into one of only a few high-tech, high school farms in the state, with sophisticated equipment, joint ventures with veterinarians and researchers, and nearly $1 million in grants in the past five years.

He credits the Pima County Joint Technical Education District and community supporters for saving the program in tight budget times. He credits the Amphi school district for not selling the land to retail developers.

"This program is too important for the district ever to get rid of it," he said.

What will happen to the Land Lab when Bernal retires? Amphi is working on hiring a new teacher.

And the year-round work at the farm will go on. About 50 baby lambs are on the way. Five or six cows are pregnant. A litter of piglets is hanging out in a barn. And teenagers are having fun spending a day of their summer vacation doing Bernal's brand of good, old-fashioned hard work.

Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 807-8012.