Advertisement

High school ag program grows under Alyson Tulloch’s tutelage

Share

California Agriculture Teachers Association’s selection of Alyson Tulloch as the Outstanding Young Teacher for San Diego County puts her in line to compete at the state level this April.

In her fourth year of teaching, her second at Ramona High School, Tulloch has seen the agriculture program grow from four classes between two schools, Ramona High and Montecito High, to a full schedule at Ramona High with courses that include Agriculture Biology, Veterinary Science/Agriculture Economics and Agriculture Science.

Student participation in agriculture classes has increased from 90 in 2013-14 to 160 this school year.

“My goal is to develop a clear pathway of agriculture courses in Ramona so that interested students know what course to take first and understand what is the right pathway for their interests,” said Tulloch.

Part of meeting that goal is adding more choices. At the Ramona Unified School District School Board’s January meeting, Tulloch sought board approval for three additional courses: Floral Design, Agriculture Mechanics I and Agriculture Mechanics II. All were approved and will be available to Ramona High students as part of the 2015-16 schedule.

“In Floral Design students will study the history of floral design, arrangement technology and styling and using color in design,” said Tulloch. “Ag Mechanics I will provide students hands-on instruction in woodworking, plumbing, electrical, concrete, rope and sheet metal, and Ag Mechanics II will explore other metallurgy processes.”

As her classes have grown, so has the school farm. A donation last year of five breeding sheep resulted in three live births so far, allowing the students to investigate the production of market sheep. A second donation of Shetland Sheep has students delving into fiber and learning how to shear sheep, and clean, card, spin and dye the wool.

Tulloch is also adviser to the school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA), and through a variety of FFA-related competitions, Ramona’s FFA is making itself known.

At the Fallbrook FFA Field Day in December, Amanda Raines placed second in Livestock Judging, and the Horse Judging team took third place in the team division with individual honors going to Paige Beene (fifth place), Alaina Sill (seventh) and Katlyn McClellan (ninth).

In January, Ramona High’s Horse Judging team improved its status at the team and individual levels at Norte Vista’s Field Day with a second place team showing and individual awards to Beene in third place and McClellan in fourth place. The team plans to compete in at least two more field days over the next few months.

Sarah Drown earned recognition as the section winner for sheep production proficiency and is in the process of submitting her application for a regional award. A second student, Amanda Raines, is also in the process of submitting an application, but hers is for the State FFA Degree, a degree only given to the top members of a State FFA Association. If honored, Raines will be the first Ramona student in at least two years to earn such an award.

Additionally, the FFA Parliamentary Procedure team is preparing for two competitions: an invitational in February and the section contest in March. At the time of publication, 14 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade agriculture students will have just returned from the Made for Excellence and Advanced Leadership Academy in Ontario.

“This is a leadership conference led by the California State FFA Officers that focuses on goal setting and leadership development,” said Tulloch. “It’s such a great opportunity for students.”

Everything FFA does takes funding, said Tulloch, announcing several fundraisers scheduled for this month.

On Feb. 7, Ramona FFA will have a food booth at a neighborhood event organized by Tractor Supply, during National FFA Week from Feb. 21 through 28 Tractor Supply will accept donations of $1 above customers’ purchase totals to FFA, and Feb. 27 will be RHS FFA Night at Yogurt Barn.

“The fundraisers help support the various activities,” said Tulloch, “and there are several items we need around the school farm. It would be lovely to eventually have a stock trailer so we can easily haul the students’ livestock, and we need a vehicle that will carry more than five students. We are also in severe need of improvements on the farm in the form of livestock housing and hay storage.”

Advertisement

At a time when local news is more important than ever, support from our readers is essential. If you are able to, please support the Ramona Sentinel today.