Letter: Agriculture plays key role in honoring our past, growing our future

I am writing to announce that the Woodstown-Pilesgrove Agricultural Education Advisory Committee in conjunction with the Woodstown FFA Chapter and Agricultural Education Program are hosting an open house on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Agricultural Education Building at Woodstown High School. The theme of the event is “Honoring our Past, Growing our Future.”

This event will be one of the last public events to be held in the “old ag room.” In November, district voters passed a $10 million bond referendum to renovate areas of the high school. The Agricultural Education classroom will be renovated and transformed into a state-of-the-art Agricultural Science Lab.

The Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District has committed to revamping the agricultural education curriculum to better serve the educational needs of students and meet the ever-changing technological and scientific advancements of the agricultural industry.

The Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) is a national initiative to help revamp Agricultural education programs nationwide. CASE is specifically geared toward preparing ag students for college classes, as advancements at all levels of the agricultural complex put a growing demand on the number of college degree careers in agriculture. Woodstown is in the process of introducing new courses using CASE as well as revamping the old curriculum to meet the needs of the students and to prepare them for the college level career opportunities in agriculture.

This past June, the district hired a new Agricultural Education teacher, Ms. Sara Cobb. Ms. Cobb has gone through extensive training on CASE prior to her employment at Woodstown High School.

Agriculture’s role in both the historic development and the future of the American economy cannot be overemphasized. The agricultural complex is an integral part of American wealth and American opportunities for investment and economic growth, domestically and internationally.

American students are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the innovations in agricultural practices and technologies that will impact our ability to meet the increasing demands on food sources at home and abroad. The Agricultural Education Advisory Committee is pleased and excited that the implementation of the CASE curriculum will provide Woodstown High School students with college preparatory courses that focus on the ever-broadening scope of agricultural careers.

We invite the community to come experience the changing world of agricultural education. During the open house there will be scrap books on display from the past successes, as well as examples of the new technologies being used in classroom instruction today.

Please come join us for this historic event to remember the past accomplishments of the Woodstown FFA Chapter and Agricultural Education Program, and get a glimpse into the future of the Ag-Ed Program at Woodstown High School. I hope you can join us.

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