Students explore all about horses in level 1; topics range from breeds, colors and markings, safety, facilities, and so much more! This is the foundational course that students take that gives them a broad overview of skills and knowledge about horses. Students will learn how to groom a horse, how to put on a halter, how to lead them, and general horsemanship. When we cover the facilities unit, we have the option for students to create a facility in Minecraft. I have gotten some mind-blowing submissions! If you'd like to see some of those, check out my Professional Development page for some videos of their facilities!

In level 2, students explore the equine industry on a deeper level. Topics include horse judging, anatomy & physiology, exercising horses, managing a barn & employees, reproduction, foaling, diseases, and figuring out what life will look like after high school. Students still practice the skills learned in level 1 necessary to be in the horse industry such as grooming and hand-walking horses. This is also the class that students learn how to put on a saddle, lunge a horse, and put on standing bandages & polo wraps. We usually take a trip to a breeding shed so students understand the vitality of the breeding industry in central Kentucky. 

Once students get to level 3 we really focus on the fine skills a good horse person will need. Ag Sales & Marketing is the class that teaches students how to start horses under saddle. The anatomy knowledge learned in level 1 & 2 help students put on the hat of a Bloodstock Agent as they look through horses in book 1 of the Keeneland September Sale to pick 5 individuals for their short list. They also learn marketing and sales skills. Students create a Google Site that serves as their digital portfolio that they can video skills they have to then send to potential employers or use for scholarship opportunities. 

I taught Floral Design for 2 years, and that second year I received approval for this class to count as an art credit. This allowed my students to have an open credit to explore other classes they were interested in. In this class, students explored the elements & principles of design, learned to identify over 200 plants throughout the year, parts of a flower, propagation methods, created multiple floral arrangements, and planned and priced out a wedding. 

Through the generosity of the east-side Frankfort Kroger donating live plants, students were able to create live arrangements. This helped them practice with live specimen, kept the cost of the class low, and finished arrangements were delivered to teachers throughout the building on a rotation so every faculty and staff member received live arrangements multiple times a year. 

We were also able to partner with the Franklin County High School Youth Service Center (YSC) and Wilson's Nursery to create succulent planters. Students took a field trip to Wilson's, learned what it was like to work in a greenhouse, and helped out for half a day. Wilson's donated multiple succulents to the program and the YSC purchased the rest of the materials. Every student who attended the field trip, along with students in the school's "Girls Group", took home a succulent planter at no cost to them! 

I taught Food Science for 2 years, doubling the number of courses taught through student interest the second year. In this course, students explored concepts about cooking methods, food preparation, following a recipe, created budgets, and learned about the industries that make Kentucky agriculture exceptional. 

Students in this class made homemade ice cream and butter,  learned how to cook eggs, meat, desserts, breakfast, and completed an Agriscience Fair Research Project. 

My students created a breakfast business that helped fund the class projects throughout the year. The Flyer Breakfast Business delivered freshly made breakfast items to the staff of Franklin County. This meant that students not only learned how to be short order cooks but they were also able to learn the business side of running a restaurant; they created and designed menus, priced out menu items, tracked orders placed, and delivered items to staff members. 

We were able to partner with the Youth Service Center (YSC) to host Cupcake Wars in class. Students worked in groups of 3-4 to create an original cupcake design. We had "celebrity judges" for our contest, and included principals, superintendents, state FFA officers, and staff members. 

My first and only year teaching greenhouse I learned a lot about keeping plant alive (and occasionally killing a few) along with the life lessons that can come from growing plants. My students learned over 200 plants and flowers through our daily plant id bellringers. We also had the opportunity to grow all the flowers that would be around downtown Frankfort; this tradition is still going and allowed students to see the business side of growing plants. We also grew plants to sell for our annual greenhouse sale. My favorite project that our greenhouse took on was having the ceramics class at Franklin County create planters that we would then sell in the greenhouse. This cooperative project helped us fundraise and allowed the ceramics class to complete a new project while being able to fund more clay since the greenhouse class paid more than the supplies cost. My students also learned about pollinator gardens and were able to create pollinator gardens on Minecraft. I didn't realize how many students still played Minecraft and truly enjoyed it; this project was going on right at Covid hit, so my students really enjoyed the change of pace from school.