By Pete Kendall/reporter@trcle.com
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Vocational agriculture classes are more popular than ever at Cleburne High, and seasoned instructors Barney McClure, Mark McClure and Amy Woody can thank the state of Texas for the timely assist.
New graduation requirements have led some upper-class students into realms with which they were not previously familiar.
A CHS student can now satisfy a fine arts requirement with the new ag class in floral design. A speech credit can be satisfied with a second new ag class, professional communications. A third new course, advanced animal science, satisfies a science credit.
Add new students to old, and vocational agriculture is bulging at the seams of the career and technology wing with 350 students.
“We were up 50 last year, and we’re up another 75 this year,” Barney McClure said. “This is the most students we’ve had since the program began in 1938. We’re to the point we don’t have a lot of physical space to grow. We’re sharing chairs a little bit. It’s a neat problem to have.”
Vocational ag has always been an elective at CHS.
“Now, it’s part of the recommended, and even the distinguished achievement, track,” McClure added.
Vocational ag wasn’t considered a science by the state’s educational high sheriffs until now.
“We’re ready for the challenge,” McClure said.
Some students are busily preparing to exhibit projects at the State Fair of Texas. They are Tori Ware and Pete Black, pigs; Black, Tyler Rogers and Wes Scarbrough, broilers; Nick Coleman, ag mechanics gate; Garrett Finley, ag mechanics barbecue pit; Cody Rauer, Dalton Dailey and Hayley House, ag mechanics smoker.
Other students are in the beginning stages of grooming animal projects for the annual Johnson County Livestock Raisers show.
“We’ve got a lot of kids in ag mechanics learning their welding skills,” McClure said. “They can put those skills to use out in their world if they choose not to go to college or even trade school. This is a pretty exciting time to be part of ag education in Texas.”
Students acquired their lambs and goats Tuesday. Pigs will come later.
“We have more steer feeders this year than we’ve had in the past,” McClure said. “That’s a little surprising based on the economy and the cost. Six of our students have validated steers for county and major shows. We anticipate 20 to 25 kids feeding goats, 20 to 25 feeding lambs and maybe as many as 30 with pigs.
“Two of our biggest [events] will be rabbits and broilers [chickens]. We may have 35 or 40 kids feeding broilers and rabbits. I believe I ordered four turkeys, which is an all-time high. It will be fun. Animal projects are the big reason some kids are here. Some kids, like Pete Black, have been showing since they were 8.
“We also have a group of kids who’ve never showed anything, and those are the kids who will probably have one animal or one project.”
The A.D. Wheat Ag Barn can get a tiny bit noisy.
“Out of the 50 kids, 50 percent will have some kind of an animal project,” McClure said. “Some of them will do youth fair items or ag mechanics items. We’ll have over 200 kids taking part in our county show, and a dozen will take part in a major show.”
McClure believes in getting students involved in school activities.
“Kids have kind of a herd mentality. They want to be part of something bigger,” he said.
Some students who can’t spell agriculture suddenly become attached to the program.
“We’ve had that happen in something like a wildlife class,” McClure said. “A senior will say, ‘I wish I’d been in here when I was a freshman.’ I don’t know how many times we’ve heard that, and I think we’re going to hear that this year.
“With 350 kids, our challenge is going to be to give everyone of them the individual attention they need and deserve. There are some great things about having larger numbers and some drawbacks, too.”
