The main goal of Jeffrey Whisenhunt’s agriculture program is to get students out of the classroom.
“I prefer experiential learning, and agriculture education is big on experiential learning,” Whisenhunt said.
Whisenhunt explained that’s why there are supervised agriculture experience units directly implemented in its Career and Technology Education (CTE) learning model, to allow students to gain a hands-on learning experience in the classroom.
There are moments when students do have to sit at a desk and take notes, but at some point throughout the week they’ll be out and about in nature, weather permitting.
Once outside, students could be doing any number of activities. They might be conducting skin weed management on CHS’s softball and baseball fields, planting flowers in the raised garden beds in a common area, upgrading the school’s nature trail or maintaining the greenhouse, to name a few.
And with Whisenhunt being an “agriculture topic junkie,” there are big plans for new opportunities in the program going forward.
Whisenhunt mentioned potentially making beekeeping a part of a class next year. In the long run, he’s also thinking about adding aquaculture and aquaponics into the program, so students can interact with more livestock and better see the interconnections between plant and animal life.
“Teaching students through project-based learning, that’s what I enjoy,” Whisenhunt said. “It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the topic, but it’s the experience you get out of that with students who want to learn.”
Cross High’s agriculture program follows the natural resource management pathway. Students must take four classes to complete the program: Agriculture Science, Environmental/Natural Resource Management, Forestry and Wildlife Management.
