MESA — Freshman and sophomore students interested in welding, woodworking, gardening and raising animals are looking forward to Campo Verde High School's agriculture program.
The Gilbert Unified School District's fifth high school will open on Aug. 10 to freshmen and sophomores, and the school already has a greenhouse, a large classroom with new technology, and a grassy couple of acres of land for future barns and stalls to raise award-winning show animals, said Jenna Clark, Campo Verde's agriculture teacher, who taught at Desert Ridge High School last year.
"I got involved in agriculture programs (at her alma mater, Chandler High School) because I couldn't have an animal at my home," said Clark, who received her agriculture technology management degree with a teaching emphasis from the University of Arizona in 2008.
"We get a lot more urban kids than farmers (signing up for the ag program) because they already know this stuff."
People are also reading…
Campo Verde will offer classes in agricultural fabrication, where students can learn welding, woodworking and using a plasma cutter to make metal sculptures and signs. In the applied biological systems class, students will learn how to grow plants, flowers and vegetables in the greenhouse.
In the animal science classes, students can raise pigs, chickens, lambs and goats on the campus's land lab, eventually showing and selling them at the county fair, Clark said.
In the agriculture business class, students can learn to market and sell items, and at other schools have made lots of money selling their fabricated signs and sculptures, flower arrangements and other projects.
Clark also will sponsor the school's Future Farmers of America club.
Brooke Griggeory is moving to Campo Verde from Desert Ridge's agriculture program to continue working with Clark. The sophomore is interested in animal science and fabrication classes, and wanted to stay at a school with smaller classes.
"I want to become a vet, and the animal science class will really help," said the 14-year-old, who was president of Desert Ridge's FFA club and was in charge of the class bunny, Gizmo. "Desert Ridge High's ag classes will be larger. Here the classes will be smaller and more manageable."
About 90 students have already signed up for the new high school's agriculture program, and Clark said she can accept about 100 more.
Chandler district spokesman Terry Locke said programs are offered on a regional basis, depending on student interest. The district's Basha, Hamilton and Chandler high schools offer agriculture programs.
The Gilbert district offers agriculture programs at each of its high schools.
