Inspired by the work of newspaper reporter John Krist’s series of articles, students from the high school began analyzing the effects of agriculture in late August with the opening of school and have scoured through hundreds of pages of data to research individual themes relating to their selected topics. “Farming on the edge is an absolute appropriate title for this depiction”, says Arguelles, “because students have learned that growers gamble on an unprecedented scale. Whether farming next to one of the largest urban areas on the planet with skyrocketing land values, or dealing with expensive cutting-edge technology, or facing the hazards of pesticides, or ever-increasing labor and start-up costs, our students have learned that farming, particularly in Ventura County, is risky business”.Thanks to a grant provided to the museum by the University of California Hansen Trust and co-sponsored by school’s Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program, the project required students to conduct research on topics ranging from food and labor inspection, the impact that S.O.A.R and land-use ordinances play, the encroachment and quality of water caused by projected development, the effects caused by global markets, and many other sensitive issues, by pouring over state reports, interviewing local farmers, businesses and agencies connected with monitoring agriculture in Ventura County. The project is scheduled to run through mid-February of 2007 and the public is invited to its premier.
SPHS Students Present “Farming on the Edge”
November 29, 2006
Santa Paula High School
Travel down any Ventura County road and you are bound to see it happening.
By Edward ArguellesTravel down any Ventura County road and you are bound to see it happening. For county residents its sight is not a big deal and is as common as the color of pavement. But spend a week encircled by the concrete and asphalt trappings of the metropolis and one’s appreciation for the agricultural enterprises surrounding Santa Paula residents quickly reappears. Even still, rarely do we consider the risks involved.This realization has motivated sixty Santa Paula High School tenth-grade students to present an exhibit chronically the contemporary challenges facing American growers with the unveiling of “Farming on the Edge” opening at the California Oil Museum on Sunday, December 3rd. The exhibit marks the eighth straight year students from the Agricultural Science and Human Service Academy’s World History classes will have collaborated to produce a show relating to the community in which they reside.“This presentation is different from those in the past in the sense that all of the preceding one’s focused on purely historical themes like the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, and where students could use hindsight to unravel pieces of a puzzle. In this exhibit students have had to not only research the infinite problems modern farmers face on a historical and daily basis, but even more challenging they have had to consider the tribulations that appear on the horizon brought on by global competition and urbanization. So, in many ways this presentation has involved an even greater degree of difficulty”, says their teacher Edward Arguelles.
