By Nancy Gutierrez
Junior Becky Stroeban bravely volunteered to man the automatic syringe during her zoology and animal handling ag class. The gun-shaped dispenser can hold 20 cc's of medicine and is tipped with an 18-gage needle the suitable size for sheep.
Students enrolled in the course taught by Janice Ede don't just clean pens, though sanitation is an important part of animal husbandry. That morning in class they were helping to cure a disease that was causing miscarraiges in some of the bred ewes and taking measures to prevent the spread of hoof rot at the Exeter Union High School farm.
In another building located on the farm, students enrolled in the ag welding and construction class were working on several large projects and using machinery that require hours of training. Sean Yardley was building a metal cage, called a topper, that fits on the bed of a truck and is used to help transport sheep. Yardley, along with the other students in the welding class, might think they are taking a break from a monotonous day filled with lectures and note taking, but they are actually working on another math lesson. To build a truck topper Yardley has to figure the dimensions of his project using the basic principles of geometry.
These classes are defined as intracurricular because they utilize the information learned from one class in the activities of a completely separate class. These students are implementing what they have learned in their algebra and geometry classes on projects in their TCOVE classes that they can use everyday or can sell.
Data from the California Post-Secondary Education Commission shows that 11 percent of high school students from Assembly District 34, which includes Tulare, Kern, Inyo and San Bernardino counties, enter a 4-year university and 41 percent attend community college. The report showed that 29 percent of District 34's high school students complete college prep classes and 13 percent hold a bachelors degree or higher, while 26 percent of the population hold professional and managerial positions.
For the complete story pick up a copy of The Exeter Sun.
