Agricultural Courses
At SBHS, there is another track that students can opt into besides A-G College track to graduate high school - the Career Techincal Education (CTE) Pathway!
Once the students opt into the pathway, they can either be CTE career-bound or CTE college-bound. This helps them get sought after CTE classes that they are interested in and keep on the pathway for a career or for a college! It's the best of both worlds, gain skills and experience while also being college ready!
Agriculture Pathways
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Sustainable Agriculture
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Ornamental Horticulture (Floriculture)
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Plant & Soil Science
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Animal Science
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Agricultural Mechanics
Sustainable Agriculture Pathway
Biology and Sustainable Agriculture
Grades: 9, 10
Recommendations: None
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This a one-year laboratory science course designed for the college bound students with career interests in agriculture. Using animal science and plant science as the learning vehicle, the course focuses on the following topics: evolution, genetics, cell biology, organisms, and ecology, along with supervised occupational experiences program are an integral part of the instruction.
Meets graduation requirements for Life Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'd.'
Chemistry and Agriscience
Grades: 10, 11, 12
Recommendations: A 'C' or better in Algebra 1
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This course explores the chemical and physical nature of soil as well as the relationship between soil, plants, animals and agricultural practices. Students will examine properties of soil and land and their connections to plant and animal production. Using knowledge of scientific protocols, as well as course content, students will develop an agri-science research program to be conducted throughout the first semester of the course. Throughout this course will gain National FFA Membership and be able to compete in career development events
Meets graduation requirements for Physical Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'd.'
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Interdisciplinary Science for Sustainable
Agriculture Honors
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Passing grade with a “C” or better in both "Biology and Sustainable Agriculture" and Chemistry and Agriscience.
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This integrated class combines an interdisciplinary approach to laboratory science research with agricultural management principles. Using skills and principles learned in the course, students design systems and experiments to solve agricultural management issues currently facing the industry. The course culminates with an agriscience experimental research project in which students design and conduct and experiment to solve a relevant issue. Final projects will be eligible for Career Development Event competitions at FFA Events. Throughout the course students will be graded on participation in intracurricular FFA Activities as well as the development and maintenance of an ongoing Supervised Agricultural Experience program.
Meets graduation requirements for Life Science, or Physical Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'd.'
Students will receive honors bump upon successful completion of the course
Ornamental Horiculture Pathway
Floriculture
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: None
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This class involves the fundamentals of floral design theory, techniques, and skills currently practiced in the floral design industry, including wedding, sympathy, party, holiday, and themed floral designs. Subjects will include applied art principles, cut flower care & handling practices, proper and safe use of florist tools and materials, pricing of floral products and use of current business technology. Skills to be developed include customer relations, consultations, pricing and use of technology in the industry. Course instruction also includes construction of corsages, floral arrangements, foliage plant items, introductory ornamental horticulture, identification of plants and flowers, professional industry organizations, and career opportunities. Construction and servicing of special events, party and holiday floral display are included. In addition, the intracurricular program supports and enhances the materials covered in the classroom. This includes involvement in FFA Activities, planning of agricultural based projects and keeping accurate records. Students have the option of traveling to various colleges and universities throughout the state for FFA Activities.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'f.'
Meets graduation requirement for Career Technical Education and Performing Arts
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Advanced Floral Design
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Floriculture
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This class involves the fundamentals of floral design theory, techniques, and skills currently practiced in the floral design industry, including wedding, sympathy, party, holiday, and themed floral designs. Subjects will include applied art principles, cut flower care & handling practices, proper and safe use of florist tools and materials, pricing of floral products, and use of current business technology. Skills to be developed include customer relations, consultations, pricing, and use of technology in the industry. Course instruction also includes the construction of corsages, floral arrangements, foliage plant items, introductory ornamental horticulture, identification of plants and flowers, professional industry organizations, and career opportunities. Construction and servicing of special events, parties, and holiday floral displays are included. In addition, the intracurricular program supports and enhances the materials covered in the classroom. This includes involvement in FFA Activities, planning agricultural-based projects, and keeping accurate records. Students have the option of traveling to various colleges and universities throughout the state for FFA Activities.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'f.'
Meets graduation requirement for Career Technical Education and Performing Arts
Plant & Soil Science Pathway
Environmental Horticulture
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Biology and Sustainable Agriculture; Chemistry and Agriscience
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This course is designed to instruct students in the growth, production, and care of plants for ornamental and environmental purposes. Students will learn Plant Taxonomy, Physiology, Reproduction, Growth, Identification, Propagation, Soils, Integrated Pest Management, Landscape Design, Vegetable Production, and Floral Design. Students will be introduced to careers in environmental plant science as it is one of the fastest growing sectors in the agricultural industry. The National FFA Organization is an integral part of the instruction. Throughout the course, students will be graded on participation in intra-curricular FFA activities as well as the development and maintenance of an ongoing Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program.
Meets graduation requirements for Life Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'd.'
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Plant Production Management
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Environmental Horticulture
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This capstone class encompasses the curriculum learned in previous Agriculture Science classes and Plant Science pathway courses. Students will learn the farming practices of row crops, orchard production, vineyard production, safe transport methods, quality control, and fresh fruit grading/evaluations. At the conclusion of the year, students will be provided an opportunity to market and sell the products and projects produced at the San Benito High School Agriculture Department school farm to local farmers' markets or other sales venues.
Meets graduation requirements for Life Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'G'
Animal Science Pathway
Animal Science
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Biology and Sustainable Agriculture; Chemistry and Agriscience
Duration: 1 Year
Description:
This course will provide the student with principles in Animal Science focusing on the area of mammalian production, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, nutrition, respiration, and genetics. This course is intended to successfully prepare those students who plan on majoring in Agricultural Sciences at a college or university. Frequent opportunities are given to develop and apply rational and creative thinking processes of observing, comparing, organizing, relating, inferring, applying, and communicating. Also, there is an emphasis on developing values, aspirations, and attitudes that promote the student's understanding of personal involvement with the scientific discoveries of the future. There are ample opportunities for hands-on class participation with animals in this class to enable students to demonstrate their knowledge of restraint, handling, behavior, etc.
Additional emphasis will be placed on industry practices to include record keeping, public relations, and communications.
Meets graduation requirements for Life Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'd.'
Veterinary Science
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Biology and Sustainable Agriculture; Algebra 1, Animal Science
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This course provides an in-depth study of the anatomy and physiology of a variety of animal species and is designed to build knowledgeable problem solvers in the field of Veterinary Science. Students will be exposed to careers relating to small and large animal care by studying anatomy, physiology, nutrition, health and disease prevention. Students will also study many different animal breeds and animal reproductive processes. This class is designed to build knowledgeable problem solvers in the field of Veterinary Science and will equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills required to properly care for their own animals and enter the animal husbandry industry by using a combination of challenging and creative academics and hands-on experience. FFA and the Supervised Agricultural Experience program are an integral part of the instruction. The intracurricular FFA Program supports and enhances the materials covered in the classroom. This includes involvement in FFA Activities, planning of an agricultural based project, and keeping accurate records. Students will have the option of traveling to various colleges and universities throughout the state for FFA Activities.
Meets graduation requirements for Life Science and Career Technical Education.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'd.'
Agricultural Mechanics Pathway
Foundations of Agriculture & Industrial Technology
Grades: 9
Recommendations: None
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This course is designed to introduce students to practical skills in all areas of Ag & IT including, woods, metals, basic Ag mechanics and small engines. Students will learn how to properly use shop equipment and provide the opportunity to learn many valuable skills that may develop into successful careers in one or more of the industry concentrations. Foundations of Agriculture and Industrial Technology is a course that develops individual skills in 10 major areas. In addition, the intracurricular FFA program supports and enhances the materials covered in the classroom.
Meets graduation requirements of Career Technical Education
Intermediate Ag Mechanics
Grades: 10, 11, 12
Recommendations: Foundations of Agriculture & Industrial Technology
Duration: 1 Year
Description: Agricultural Engineering is the second class offered in the Mechanics Pathway at San Benito High School. In this course, students will continue to build skills gained in the Foundations in Agriculture & Industrial Technology course relating to the transfer of matter and energy through electrical, fluid, thermal and mechanical systems. Students will explore professional opportunities in the field of agricultural engineering. Integral to this will also be participating in this program, students will prepare to matriculate into post-secondary Agricultural Engineering programs such as those offered at the University of California, Davis and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Additionally this course may be a gateway program for those students interested in post-secondary study in mechanical or structural engineering.
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'g'
Advanced Ag Mechanics
Grades: 11, 12
Recommendations: Foundations of Agriculture & Industrial Technology, Agriculture Engineering
Duration: 1 Year
Description: Agriculture Fabrication is an academically challenging course that integrates mathematics, science, writing and mechanics. Specific units include: using the Ag Fabrication Shop, Measurement, Project Planning, Oxygen/Acetylene Torch Welding, Gas Metal Arc Welding, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Individual SAE Project, and Careers in Agriculture Fabrication and Mechanics. Students will focus on understanding theory of the preceding areas, as well as mastery of application of these theories. Students will exceed core academic knowledge and demonstrate critical thinking skills as they apply their knowledge to projects, real-life scenarios, and case studies. Students will perform advanced research in various fields within the metal fabrication industry. A variety of resources will be accessed for the creating written oral presentations that demonstrate students' knowledge and ability. Units covered in this course will build upon existing knowledge where applicable. End of the unit projects will incorporate, at minimum, the knowledge acquired from at least one other previously covered unit. Throughout this course students will be assessed on participation in intracurricular FFA Activities as well as the development and maintenance of an ongoing Supervised Agricultural Experience program.
Meets graduation requirement for Career Technical Education. This course may be repeated
Meets UC/CSU entrance requirement 'g'
Non-Pathway Courses
Ag Communication & Leadership
Grades: (9 with instructors approval), 10, 11, 12
Recommendations: None
Duration: 1 Year
Description: This course is designed to promote and develop leadership in the Agriculture Industry. Ag Communications and Leadership is a concentrator course for our CTE Ag Business Pathway and is project-based course aimed at increasing students’ leadership capabilities. Through the planning and execution of numerous events for the school's FFA chapter, students will discover how to best effect change in their communities. Students will read extensively about the nature of leadership and its different styles. Additionally, students write frequently write – critically, reflectively, persuasively – and speak about the real-world issues in Agriculture. Topics will include current issues in Ag legislation, development of personal leadership skills, FFA operations, FFA Judging Teams and exploration of past and present needs in the Ag Industry and its leaders. A supervised Agricultural Experience project is required and will be developed with the aid of the instructor. Students will help plan, organize and put on events in FFA. Students are required to complete 20 hours per semester. FFA participation and SAE, Supervised Agricultural Experience Project will be part of the grade for this course.
Meets graduation requirement for Career Technical Education.
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Agriculture Economics
Grades: 12
Recommendations: None
Duration: 1 Semester
Description: Economics Agriculture is a course that focuses on the economics of the agriculture industry. It is an introduction to the economic aspects of agriculture and their implications to the agricultural producer, consumer, and the food system. The management principles encountered in the day to day operation of an agricultural enterprise are stressed as they relate to the decision-making process. The major purpose of this course is to examine the American and global economies as they relate to food production,
processing, and distribution.
Meets graduation requirements of 'g' Elective
This is a new course for the 2024-2025 school year!
Agriculture Government
Grades: 12
Recommendations: None
Duration: 1 Semester
Description: The twelfth-grade course of study focuses on the structure and processes of the United States Government System. Initial emphasis will be on the responsibilities and rights of citizenship, voting, political parties, elections, campaigns, the Constitution, the branches of government, and the Bill of Rights. Additionally, the course will compare the political power at the local, state, national, and global levels. A consistent focus throughout the course will be an analysis of the role that both the government and the voters play in developing policies and laws affecting the Agriculture Industry. Students will also be involved in Supervised Agricultural Experience projects and develop leadership skills through participation in the FFA program.
Meets graduation requirements of 'a' Social Science
This is a new course for the 2024-2025 school year!