Agriculture department attends conference after winning national award
Written by Burgess, Former Student on Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Agriculture Department of Snohomish High School received the Outstanding Agricultural Program for Western Region One from the National Association of Agriculture Educators for the year of 2012.
Michael Hougan, who has been in the department for 26 years, shared that the school’s agriculture program is “one of the best in terms of scope, what we offer, opportunities for students, and educational opportunities. It’s a pretty well regarded program.”
It was nominated last year out of the Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties, but soon won at the state and then national level.
The department allows students interested in the subject to pursue a variety of agricultural programs, including genetics, plant and animal biology, and veterinary sciences. They are also eligible to receive college credit for the classes they take.
“The first thing I teach kids is that civilization owes its existence to agriculture," Hougan said. "Without agriculture, man wouldn’t have had time to stop and make music. They’d have to be hunter-gatherers and chase the bison.”
When Hougan found out that his department received the honor last June, he and Stacy Lischke were invited to the national conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Principal Beth Porter encouraged the two to attend and accompanied them to Atlanta. They had the opportunity to attend short sessions that allowed a number of teachers to share their programs.
“When you’re teaching, you don’t really have time to go to school. This was an opportunity for us to get ideas,” Hougan said.
Sharing ideas and methods gave the teachers a chance to see how their department was developing with modern technology and what everyone was doing in order to offer their students the best. Although Hougan and Lischke “got a couple of very good ideas,” the conference revealed a few aspects about most of the agriculture programs throughout the country.
Hougan said, “The most amazing thing was it showed us how far ahead we are of a lot of other schools. Things that they were doing, that they thought was absolutely cutting edge, we’ve been doing for years.”
After reflecting on the classes he teaches, Hougan shared that although some students may think school is “a jail,” SHS offers some great programs.
In the past, he never brought attention to his department. Hougan soon realized, however, that it was sometimes frustrating to have very little recognition at Snohomish.
“We don’t toot our horn well enough, I guess,” Hougan said. “We’re learning that sometimes when you toot your horn, people will look.”
With the variety of classes offered and the caliber of the department, hopefully more students will be inspired to get involved with the program and will recognize the hard work of the teachers who are responsible for winning such a prestigious award.
