Teaching Ag in an Urban Setting
Teaching Ag in an Urban Setting
By Hank Wilson – TodaysRancher.com
Part 1 – Welcome to the Future – Agri-Science Program – Madison High School – San Antonio Texas
I’ve spent a large portion of my life either visiting or living in the city of San Antonio, Texas and frankly, it’s probably my favorite city in the United States. I remember when it was much, much smaller than it is now, when the city was surrounded by farmland and ranches.
And I remember when the outermost road that now circles the city was a two lane road, that the locals called ‘the death loop’ (lots and lots of accidents back in those days). Now though it’s known simply as Anderson Loop or Loop 1604. As I said, twenty years ago, if you travelled along Loop 1604 you were in the country, you were truly on the outskirts of town. That is no longer accurate.
Today Loop 1604 is a highly trafficked main artery that during rush hour can resemble an incredibly long parking lot. It represents the transformation that has taken place in San Antonio, it’s no longer a quiet little city in the country, it is a major urban setting and to me it reflects many of the changes that have taken place around the country. Some have called it the ‘Urbanization of America’ and some have praised it and some have cursed it and some have adapted to it.
Located just a couple of mile inside Loop 1604 is an oasis and one of the best examples of adapting to a changing environment that can be found. It is the Ag Department at Madison High School. What was once a small struggling program geared towards the traditional Ag courses has become a model for school districts throughout the country.
Last year I had the chance to visit Madison while construction of their new facility was underway and I was given a tour and had a chance to visit with program director John Mack and we talked about what was going on at Madison and what he thought the future held for Ag education in the traditional urban centers and Ag education in general.
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