A peek at the Jefferson Somerset Ag class

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Agriculture is something many rural Floridian towns find important, and Jefferson County is no different. Agriculture and the agriculture industry are a big part of life around here, and a lot of kids grow up in that environment and want to learn more. This is why having classes such as Ag is important. Not only do they allow kids the opportunity to learn more about what they've grown up around, but they also teach students the skills necessary to start a job once they graduate high school.

At Jefferson Somerset, the Ag classes are taught by Stefanie Prevatt, and she does everything she can to make sure her students get a solid, well rounded knowledge of agriculture. Currently, she teaching Ag Foundations to Freshman and Sophomores. Ag Foundations gives her students a wholistic view of agriculture, from animal science, to soil, environment, plants, careers, etc., if it involves the Ag world, they learn at least a little bit about it in Ag Foundations. “It's like a flyover view,” Prevatt said. “In hopes that they'll continue next year, and stay for Horticulture II.”
Since this is their first year back after the schools were shut down, Ag Foundations is the only class available. However, next year they will be offering Horticulture II, and then Horticulture III. What that class is, is that after having gotten a big view of agriculture in Ag Foundations, they'll narrow the focus to just horticulture and plants. They aren't really able to offer another path, as it is a one teacher program, but it offers a much more in depth education on things such as upkeep of ornamental plants, how to operate a greenhouse, how to propagate plants and much more. By the end of the courses, when they graduate, they'll be certified with the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscapers Association (FNGLA), and can start to work immediately in things such as landscaping, working in a nursery, etc. “The purpose is for them to graduate and be career ready,” Prevatt said. “We don't ever want a student to feel as if they only have one pathway for them, like high school and then college education.” Jefferson County itself has so many viable horticulture careers, so if they wanted to, a student could get a job as soon as they graduate. For now, though, the three Ag Foundation classes that Prevatt teaches are getting a view of Ag as a whole. They learn about terms and such in the classroom and then put it to practice with their hands on projects.

Teaching Ag during COVID-19 has presented a difficult challenge for Prevatt, because she has some students zooming in to the class. So, she's unable to give those students the hands-on experience that the in-person students get. Still, she manages and does her best to provide the best Ag education she can.

The Ag class' current project is a spring garden. They were able to get some spring vegetables, such as eggplants, and planted them in their raised beds at the back of the school. They immediately got to have a learning experience when the received the plants, however, as they were covered in aphids, small bugs that eat the plants and will spread to the others in the garden if not taken care of.

Prevatt taught her classes how to mix a pesticide to help kill the bugs, hopefully, without harming the plants. After the pesticide did its work, she had the students check the plants for anymore bugs and, if they were bug free, plant them in one of the raised beds.
They do projects such as this all school year, depending on what the weather allows for and what they're currently going over in class. They always have their raised bed gardens in the back growing something. Soon, they will be incubating some eggs and learning about that process as they finish out the section they are currently working on, which has to do with livestock and animal science.

Other things in the works are the installation of a drip irrigation system for their garden, as right now they are doing everything by hand. The do have sprinklers, but she says they just aren't efficient. Prevatt plans to teach them the importance of watering your plants, making sure to not overwater or underwater them and the difference between each type of watering method. This will tie in to the next unit she'll be teaching, which deals with soils and the environment.

Ag classes are important in areas such as Jefferson County, and especially the Ag class at Jefferson Somerset, because it introduces students to a more in depth look at what the business is like and, if they want, allows them to easily pursue a future in that industry. Prevatt is very thankful for being able to teach the class, and wants to make sure the community knows the class is thankful for everything the community has done for them.