The Henryetta school system is an, “ideal sized school,” for an ag program.
That was the comment from Guy Shoulders Monday night as he discussed the possibility of starting a program here.
vo ag tnShoulders visited with Henryetta school board members saying the well-known Future Farmers of America is just part of the overall ag program offered through the Oklahoma Department of Career Tech and Education Center.
“We are a lot more than cows, sows and plows,” Shoulders said.
He explained the ag program includes classroom instruction, entrepreneurial work, agriscience and FFA.
Agriculture has not been offered at Henryetta for a number of years. Shoulders said there was a program going from 1948 to 1956 but it was dropped. He had no explanation for that.
Shoulders, the nephew of Jim Shoulders, said ag teachers operate differently than other teachers at the school. “They are all full-time and work 12 months a year.” Ag instructors are only responsible for their program with no coaching or other classroom assignments.
He said the program is funded by a combination of local money and his department. The only problem is currently there is no funding available for new programs.
A shortage of qualified ag instructors is also facing the state. There are some 438 instructors statewide now in the classrooms from schools as small as Sweetwater to as large as Broken Arrow.
The nearest program to Henryetta is at Wilson and Shoulders said that program is looked on as a way to draw students to the school.
He said the opportunities for students in the program go beyond the livestock shows most commonly associated with it. “It is less significant than 10 to 15 years ago because of the cost of the animals and competition.”
Superintendent Dwayne Noble said he could see the program occupying part of the school property near Warren Road. “He said before the meeting that he envisioned the students who want to be involved working on projects in the current shop buildings then improving that area. An access road would be built from Warren Road to the site and would also be another entrance toward the gymnasium.
Shoulders urged the board members to make an application for the program so that could be included with other funding requests for the legislators.
Because the discussion was only as an introduction, no action was taken by the board.