LUXEMBURG, WI (WTAQ) – Luxemburg-Casco High School is introducing a new Agriscience Center.
“Agriscience is always going to be an important part of the curriculum in a rural district,” said Superintendent Glenn Schlender. “We’ve been lacking appropriate kinds of facilities for agriscience instruction for years.”
The new $660,000 facility includes a 40-by-70-foot barn and a 30-by-50-foot greenhouse.
“You can bring the kids to the facility and they can get hands on experience with things like small animal vet issues, large animal veterinary issues, landscape horticulture, greenhouse management, you name it,” Schlender told WTAQ News. “Instead of having a few small scale experiences in the classroom where you’re trying to replicate what happens on a farm we can do so on a much broader scale and get kids more real life experiences.”
According to a press release, use of the new building began this semester, and it ultimately will augment the Agriscience Department’s ability to prepare young adults for the various agriculture career pathways. A full complement of educational opportunities will utilize the facility when students return in August for the 2021-22 school year.
“[It] connects high school experiences to the careers. So that when kids have an interest in a career, they can follow a particular pathway of course work that will lead them to success in that career,” Schlender said.
To this point, student activities in the facility have included planting, plant care, harvesting lettuce for the school lunch line, and readying hanging baskets and budding plants for public floral sales. Chickens also have been in the coop, with students caring for the animals and sharing egg production with the district’s culinary department.
“I’m not as familiar with the industry standard for things like greenhouses, but this is very modern and there’s a great deal of automation,” Schlender said.
An arena area with bleachers to seat students, allowing for animals to be brought out and teaching demonstrations given to larger groups, is a primary component of the Agriscience Center. It also contains a loft area for storage purposes, two restrooms and a headhouse. The headhouse will be utilized for aquaponics and hydroponics tables, along with as a place to start seedlings.
The greenhouse features a technologically advanced watering system with automated environmental controls. Computerized machinery controls roof shades that provide the desired light within the greenhouse, along with creating energy savings by keeping temperature levels consistent.
Future Farmers of America also will utilize the new L-C Agriscience Center for its SAE Project (Supervised Agricultural Experience), which are hands-on,
feet-wet projects that allow students in FFA to learn by doing.
