Shelly Gross has been a teacher at Presque Isle Tech Center for 20 years. Gross teaches two different programs at PITC.
“The Agricultural Science block allows students to earn a biology, chemistry, and an elective credit all in one year. This can help some students to free up time during their junior and senior years to do other career and technical education programming,” stated Gross. These courses are instructed with a heavy emphasis on agricultural issues, topics, and concepts.
The other program that Gross teaches is plant sciences. “We have a small greenhouse on site that we maintain as a small herb and project garden, and we also utilize the MSAD #1 Educational Farm as much as possible,” said Gross. Students in this program also have the opportunity to earn three college credits in the concurrent enrollment program through UMPI by completing the course, Introduction to Agricultural Sciences.
“We cover typical horticultural topics from plant parts and functions to greenhouse design. I also enrich the class with topics such as landscape design, floriculture, biotechnology, and many small projects,” said Gross. Students in the plant sciences program benefit from activities such as snowshoeing, pruning apple trees, tapping maple trees, visiting fish hatcheries, and meeting many guest speakers.
“One other added layer to our programming is the inclusion of FFA and its mission,” said Gross, “Students in the Agricultural Science block complete their greenhand degree with the hopes that they will continue with FFA in grades 11-12. Upperclassmen can use FFA as a starting point to explore careers, competitions, experiences, and gain exposure to the many diverse areas of agriculture.”
Gross also teaches an aquaculture class. “We have a small fish lab that we use to breed tropical fishes. It includes saltwater tanks, several turtles, salamanders, and fiddler crabs,” stated Gross.
The aquaculture class at PITC will be partnering with the University of Maine at Orono’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (facility in Franklin. “The CCAR has been awarded a grant to create a bridge between their facility on the coast and our landlocked fish lab. This partnership will be starting this year and has wonderful potential,” stated Gross.
Many career opportunities are available to students who complete the plant sciences program. “Plant sciences students can move into many careers like working at a florist, managing a small garden, working at the school farm or other local farms, exploring the area of biotechnology, and designing backyard landscaping,” said Gross.
Washburn High School senior Kaiden Rosi-Carney is a third-year student in the AgriScience program. He completed agricultural chemistry and biology his sophomore year and natural resources conservation and animal sciences his junior year before taking plant sciences and Aquaculture this year with Gross.
“I liked the sophomore science classes a lot, so I decided to come back my junior year,” stated Rosi-Carney. In addition, he decided to take the AgriScience program because the classes offered align with his career goals. “I always knew I wanted to go into forestry,” stated Rosi-Carney, adding that his father works in the field as a forest ranger.
Rosi-Carney has learned a lot of concepts in his AgriScience classes that will benefit him in his future career, including tree identification and GPS usage. Participating in FFA and the Envirothon competition have also increased his knowledge about forestry. In addition, completing various projects and doing presentations have prepared him for interviews and speaking in front of others.
Rosi-Carney has enjoyed spending time at the school farm. “I’ve worked with honey bees, gathered apples to make apple cider, picked vegetables, pruned apple trees, and mowed the lawn,” stated Rosi-Carney.
Students also spend time in the greenhouse. “I really like how we go to the school farm every week. It’s nice to get out of the classroom,” stated Rosi-Carney. Field trips, such as visiting a local dairy farm, have also been positive experiences for Rosi-Carney.
Rosi-Carney will also be taking a pesticides course in this program. Once he completes the course, he can take other courses related to the forestry field that will benefit him. When he graduates in June, Rosi-Carney will be participating in a summer internship with Seven Islands. In the fall, he plans to attend the University of Maine at Fort Kent to earn his associate’s degree in forestry. Upon completion of his degree, he plans to obtain employment in Aroostook County.
Gross encourages students to choose this program to try something new. “We’ve had students come to us for elective credits and absolutely fall in love with the topics and decide to go to university for life science-based programming,” said Gross, “Also, our classroom is more laid back, easy going, and hands-on than some traditional science classes.” Because programs at PITC are in a 3-period block, Gross likes the additional time she gets with her students. “I thoroughly enjoy the students that I work with,” Gross stated.
Gross offers advice for students who may be considering a career in this field. “Don’t ever let people stop you from doing what you enjoy because you are ‘too smart’ or ‘won’t make enough money.’ Agriculture needs smart people to pave the way into the future as we continue to deal with feeding more and more people, are slowly losing fossil fuels, and deal with greenhouse effects. Technology is continually changing and so is agriculture!”
The Presque Isle Tech Center serves high school students in the Central Aroostook area including Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Easton, Washburn, Ashland, and Mars Hill. For more information about the Plant Sciences program or any of the programs at the PITC, please contact 207-764-1356 or visit pirctc.sad1.org.
