The Rural Voice, 2000-05, Page 20Building Bridges to
agricultural jobs
A new co-op school program lets
students learn first hand about job
opportunities in agriculture
r,
hale other Grade 12
students were sitting in
school this winter, Cory
Broughton was working on the
Milverton Egg Farm, and he was
earning school credits for his work.
A Listowel District Secondary
School student, Broughton is part of
the second class participating in
Bridges to Agriculture, a co-
operative education program offered
by the Avon -Maitland District
School Board and the Huron -Perth
Catholic District School Board.
Like the other 16 participants in
the program, Broughton will also get
a chance to work in an agri-business,
possibly a local co-op, though the
placement hadn't been confirmed at
press time.
Bridges to Agriculture is led by
teacher Ron Ritchie who, while
teaching at Seaforth District High
School, realized many of his students
came from farms and were interested
in agriculture yet there was little in
the curriculum that related directly to
their interests.
He discovered the "Bridges —
Transition to Work" program offered
by the Ministry of Education under
which school boards can develop a
curriculum specific to the needs of
16 THE RURAL VOICE
Michelle Hallahan, Blyth, (left) a grade 12 student at Central Huron
Secondary School takes part in a chainsaw workshop as part of the Bridges
to Agriculture program, while Eric Gibbons, Russeldale, a Mitchell District
High School student, works on the dairy farm of Larry and Janice Bertens.
students.
The Bridges program requires co-
operation between more than one
board of education, so Ritchie
Story by
Keith Roulston
approached the Huron Perth Catholic
District School Board and submitted
a proposal. That board agreed.
Next step was to develop
resources to allow students at all
grades to see what levels of courses
were available. Ritchie has now
created a display that goes to each of
the public and separate schools in the
two counties as well as to many
school -related events, such as the
Slice of Huron agricultural education
showcase for public school children.
The display shows some of the
Bridges to Agriculture students on
work placements and allows younger
students to get information about the
program.
The Bridges program also
required partnerships with other
agencies. Since the program was
begun in September 1999, an obvious
partnership was with Huron County's
International Plowing Match
committee for the match near
Dashwood last September. The 14
students in the initial class spent the
week prior to the IPM, the week of
the match and half the following
week on site, greeting school buses
when they arrived, helping the
Machines in Motion display and
looking after the animals on site,
including milking the diary herd.
Among the most visible of their
accomplishments was helping build
the Ausable Bayfield courtyard pond
that was an attraction to weary
visitors to the Huron County display.
The 17 students of the second
semester class gave a week of
their time to help with Slice of
Huron, helping commodity groups
explain their specialized agricultural
sector to the hundreds of students
who attended the event in Seaforth.
Students also helped organizers of a
job fair for high school students, also