High Springs teacher wins state award for his lessons on agriculture
By Jackie Johnson
For The Herald

High Springs Community School teacher Brent Douglas works with his students on a plant growing project. His innovative ways of teaching agriculture won him state recognition.

HIGH SPRINGS -- Brent Douglas’ roots in Florida agriculture run very deep.

His family has been farming in Alachua and Gilchrist counties since the 1930s, and Douglas himself grew up on a local farm.

Now, as an agriscience teacher at High Springs Community School, he’s passing along what he knows about the field to a new generation of students.

“I’m teaching in my home community about the subject I love most,” he said.

His peers have taken notice.

Douglas recently was chosen as the winner of this year’s Middle School Agriscience Teacher Award by Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc.

He will be honored at the organization’s state meeting in mid-June and will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Costa Mesa, Calif. later that month.

“This awards program gives us an opportunity to recognize those teachers who make the extra effort to teach their students about agriculture, and Brent is a fine example of that,” said Lisa Gaskalla, executive director of Florida Agriculture in the Classroom.

Douglas said he wants his students to understand what agriculture is really all about and how many career opportunities are available in the industry.

“They have this image in their mind that agriculture means a guy out on a tractor, and they don’t think it’s applicable to them,” he said. “It’s my job to show them all the different things that agriculture has to offer.”

On any given day, students in Douglas’ classroom may be feeding the chickens they’ll be showing in the upcoming Alachua County Youth Fair, caring for the begonias they’ll eventually be selling to parents and staff, or pickling the cucumbers they grew themselves from seeds.

Through such activities, they’re also boosting their skills in other subjects, including math, science, reading and technology.

For example, a recent lesson involved using computers to create charts that track the growth of their cucumber plants.

“This entire subject is interdisciplinary, so it’s applicable to every kid,” Douglas said. “They’re learning and getting support for all the academic areas through an elective class.”

Douglas’ students say they enjoy his hands-on approach.

“For me, I have to have something to touch or I don’t learn anything,” sixth-grader Kacey Smith said. “So I really like his methods of teaching.”

Fellow student Kyle Brooks, an eighth-grader, echoed similar comments.

“Instead of just reading about it, we actually get to do it,” Kyle said. “We get a better idea of what it is we’re learning.”

Douglas said a big part of his job is "selling" agriculture. He often makes the point to students and adults that while only 2 percent of the population provides agricultural products, 100 percent of the population uses those products.

“We are all consumers of the products of the ag industry,” he said. “That’s why it’s important and relevant to every single person.”