Funds from instructional support program designed to advance agriculture science education
VANCOUVER — Hudson’s Bay High School teacher Amy Carpenter has been awarded $12,000 for CASE curriculum equipment and technology to advance agriculture science education.
CASE — Curriculum for Agriculture Science Education — is an instructional support program for classroom teachers. Carpenter teaches Natural Resources, a Career and Technical Education course.
Managed by the National Association of Agriculture Educators, CASE is an interdisciplinary curriculum with a strong focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In 2018, the Washington State Legislature prioritized $1.75 million for local school districts to buy CASE capital equipment and technology in an on-going effort to advance agriculture education courses. These grants are administered through the Washington FFA Foundation.
Said Carpenter, “The opportunity for students to help other students, and perhaps even their own families, combat hunger is extremely powerful. Students will gain many educational skills through this project, but more importantly they will have the opportunity to demonstrate and practice compassion and empathy through community service.”
At Hudson’s Bay High School, two courses benefit from CASE curriculum. Natural Resources and Advanced Natural Resources examine environmental, economic and social issues for soil, water, fish, wildlife, plants, timber and energy resources. Students in grades nine through 12 earn science or occupational education credits. Additionally, both of these classes are a part of the ACES (Architecture, Construction and Environmental Services) magnet program at Hudson’s Bay. Students also are encouraged to participate in FFA as an extension of their classroom learning and may participate in competitions, leadership events and community service projects.
CASE-certified teachers participated in a competitive application process for the capital equipment grants. Grant funds will be issued at the annual Washington Association of Agriculture Educators summer conference in June.
Schools awarded grants have chosen to employ a CASE-certified instructor who has completed the national case training and certification. A CASE Institute is a professional development workshop to provide teachers training for the instruction related to a specific CASE course. Once a teacher has successfully completed 80 hours of intense professional development at a CASE Institute, the teacher is certified to teach the specific CASE course.
