Nestled between Freeway 90 and Monarch Freeway, Burbank Excessive College is surrounded by concrete and metropolis in all instructions. It’s additionally the unlikely house of the one agriculture science program supplied by San Antonio Unbiased College District.
The college sits on 70 acres of land, an unusually massive acreage, that was donated with this stipulation: 5 acres ought to be used to show city excessive schoolers all about agriculture. The 5 acres are stuffed with lecture rooms, breeding amenities, pupil challenge barns and a discipline for planting.
Selling an agricultural program in a largely city core faculty district could be a feat, stated Shelby Parker, agricultural science director at Burbank. That’s why the varsity hosts “Ag within the Metropolis,” a good the place SAISD’s fourth graders can get a style of city agriculture.
“Publicity is the massive key,” Parker stated as college students streamed out of buses, taking on Burbank’s farm earlier this month. “We’re in downtown San Antonio — youngsters have by no means seen among the issues that they’ll see right this moment, they usually might by no means see it after right this moment.”
Burbank’s agriculture college students greeted the little ones, prepared to indicate off all elements of life on the farm. The fourth graders lined as much as pet Californian bunnies, plant beans in cups, harvest pumpkins bigger than their heads and churn butter.
A few Burbank college students gave wrangling demonstrations on roping dummies, others shaved sheep, providing puffs of wool for college kids to play with. One senior welded strains on a big steel desk, whereas fourth graders regarded on from a secure distance.
“Ag within the Metropolis” is a yearly custom at Burbank that’s ramped again up after a COVID-19 period hiatus and even grown in recent times.
The honest was once a one-day occasion solely for fourth graders attending elementary colleges that feed into Burbank. Not too long ago, the honest opened as much as all SAISD fourth graders, stretching to over two days and serving almost 2,000 college students.
Fourth grade is a first-rate alternative to get college students hooked on agricultural science, Parker stated, since curriculum requirements for that grade align with what’s being taught at the highschool stage.
Following the “Texas Important Data and Expertise” tips, fourth grade college students find out about scientific and engineering processes, some physics and scientific strategies together with organisms and the surroundings.
Visiting Burbank’s student-run farm offers fourth graders an opportunity to make connections between what they’re studying in lecture rooms and the true world, Parker stated.
Along with providing potential profession pathways to college students, Parker stated the agriculture program provides connections to the world’s “city life-style,” exhibiting college students may be related to agriculture even when residing in or round downtown.
Ag science provides a number of pathways
Agriculture college students at Burbank can choose from three pathways: animal sciences, plant sciences or welding. From the varsity’s 1,400 enrollment, virtually 340 excessive schoolers are in this system.
A lot of the meals Burbank college students harvest — pumpkins, watermelon, broccoli, and cabbage, to call a couple of — are donated to the San Antonio Meals Financial institution, others are offered at farmers’ markets.
Pupil tasks attain far outdoors the Bexar County space, nonetheless.
To date this faculty 12 months, greater than 50 of Burbank’s ag college students have signed as much as present livestock and welding tasks at native and state festivals.
“Earlier than, we’d solely present in Bexar County and San Antonio. However I stated, ‘if now we have youngsters that need to present, why restrict them?’” Parker stated.
Makayla Rodriguez, 14, reveals rabbits and desires to be a veterinarian. A freshman, she enrolled at Burbank particularly for the ag program. When exhibiting rabbits for competitors, judges take a look at the animal’s fur and pores and skin shade and total form, Makayla defined.
“The very best ones could be killed for the very best meat, that’s how it’s. Or breeding rabbits, they’ll discover the very best male or feminine to breed collectively,” she stated.
The highschool college students discover ways to breed and look after a number of livestock animals, together with pigs, chickens, goats, sheep and geese. Parker was particularly happy with the farm’s Nigerian dwarf goats, as a consequence of give beginning any day.
Burbank’s agriculture program provides a veterinary assistant certification, however the district is at the moment reevaluating the pathway based mostly on up to date state requirements for industry-based certifications, Parker stated.
Lucero Alvarado, a 15-year-old sophomore, talked the group via a welding demonstration. Impressed by her blue-collar dad, Lucero takes floral design and welding courses.
“I’m attempting to be just like the son he by no means had,” she stated.
Lucero needs to go to check legislation or enterprise. If that doesn’t work, she’ll have welding expertise to fall again on, she stated.
Parker stated Burbank provides the AWS certification, and welding college students be taught virtually all sorts of welding besides underwater welding, as a result of it’s a really superior stage of welding.
Welding college students present their tasks, too. Burbank plans to indicate trailers and different instruments that college students welded on the 2026 San Antonio Inventory Present and Rodeo.
Burbank additionally provides Texas Floral Stage 1 certifications. Ultimately, Parker hopes Burbank’s floral program transforms into a completely functioning floral store for the local people and SAISD.
“We’ve already been taking a couple of orders, but when it’s fully student-run, they get these agribusiness items of it too,” she stated.
And subsequent 12 months, Burbank will provide twin credit score programs for school credit score in all three agricultural pathways, increasing profession and school alternatives for Parker’s college students.
One factor that in all probability received’t change at Burbank’s agriculture program is “Ag within the Metropolis.” Parker stated it leaves a long-lasting impression on the fourth graders and helps the excessive schoolers take possession of their work on the farm.
“It’s the times after ‘Ag within the Metropolis’ that basically matter — you see the influence that this makes, not simply on the fourth graders, however on our highschool youngsters — the management expertise that they get,” she stated.
