The Bluewater School Board is thrilled with the results of a partnership with Grey Roots to host a special agricultural education program.
On May 2, the board hosted a special open house at Grey Roots Museum and Archives to show off the Specialist High Skills Major – Agriculture Program. This year, the program was relocated to Grey Roots as a pilot to make the program - formerly run in Chesley and Owen Sound - more accessible to students.
At the open house, board officials, educators, county officials and program supporters gathered at the Grey Roots Moreston Heritage Village to see the program first hand and speak to the students about their experiences.
The program is available to up to 25 students from around the school board and is running at Grey Roots from January to June.
Lillie Campbell from Rocklyn is enroled in the program this year and said it was a fantastic experience.
“It was good, I liked it. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a lot more hands-on than being in a class,” said Campbell, who spoke at the open house on behalf of the students.
Campbell said students spent four days a week at Grey Roots and on Thursdays were at co-op placements at various businesses throughout the community. She said her placement was at the Mid-West Co-op in Dundalk.
Campbell said the students had a wide variety of experiences in the program this year including: a visit to maple syrup production operation, visits to two organic dairy farms in the area and they cared for livestock living in the barn at Moreston. The program has 27 chickens, five goats, one pig (who had piglets), one calf and two ducks. Marty the lamb also frequently visited the students.
“We were able to see all the animals grow from week to week,” said Campbell. “It was super fun and I learned a lot.”
Last year, the school board and Grey County reached an agreement to relocate the program to Grey Roots. A specialist high-skills major is a ministry-approved specialized program that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while meeting the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and assists in their transition from secondary school to apprenticeship training, college, university or the workplace
The agreement included:
- Use of the lower level of the barn and chicken coop for animal husbandry
- Use of the schoolhouse for classroom space
- Short-term use of the replica Orange Hall for seed propagation
- Construction of a permanent three-season hoop greenhouse, relocation of maple syrup shack and installation of pre-built storage shed on the regional agriculture learning and demonstration site next door to Grey Roots.
Visitors to the open house were treated to a tour of the various program locations and were able to meet the students enroled in the program this year.
The program was started 20 years ago by long-time teacher Dennis Watson and was the first of its kind in Ontario. It gives students the opportunity to experience various career paths in food production, raising livestock, crop management and horticulture.
Board chair Jane Thomson called the program a “trailblazer.”
“It’s a rare gem with a storied past,” said Thomson, who called the relationship with Grey Roots “an exciting new chapter.”
A donation of farmland adjacent to Grey Roots by local residents Everett and Marylon Hall helped enable the program’s relocation to Grey Roots.
Keith Lefebvre, the board’s superintendent of education, said they are pleased with the way the partnership has worked and are hopeful to continue at Grey Roots.
“We’re excited for the future, to expand on this site,” he said.
Jill Paterson, manager of Grey Roots, said conversations about the program coming to the museum began several years ago. Paterson said she initially struggled with how an active agricultural program could work at a museum facility that is meant to preserve buildings and artifacts, but after meeting the students in last year’s program she was convinced. Paterson said the students impressed her with their mature problem solving skills when they visited Grey Roots last year in the lead up to the agreement to host the program.
“It thinks it’s fantastic we’re building these relationships,” Paterson said. “I can’t think of a better way to support our community than supporting the learning of future farmers.”
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers also attended the open house and was impressed by the program.
“It’s so exciting and innovative for our education system. It’s fantastic,” said Byers. “I’m really impressed with all that’s gone in to make this happen.”
