RICHLANDS, Onslow County — Each week we showcase two schools and what they’re doing off the field in our Academic Showcase brought to you by The United States Air Force.
Agriculture is one of Eastern North Carolina’s biggest industries. At Richlands High School students learn about farm like in a program that has been around for about 100 years.
The Richlands High School farm experience focuses on three categories. Horticulture, animal science and agriculture production.
The program can be traced back to 1921 and is one of the oldest in Onslow County.
“It teaches you how to work hard and actually get your hands dirty and a lot of kids don’t really get to do that at home, so they get to come out here and learn how to do stuff like that actually work with their hands instead of writing on a paper all day,” said student Ryan Morrison.
In the Animal Sciences program students learn how to properly handle animals, identify breeds, work in stalls, animal nutrition and health management. Some students work with sheep for the NC State Fair.
In this year’s results everyone placed.
“Favorite part with the kids is being able to see some kids actually see an animal that they’ve never seen before like some kids have never seen rabbits which that’s cool,” said Kelly Huffman/ Animal Science teacher.
In the Horticulture program, students learn about plant science, how to properly grow a plant, fertilize and seed in the greenhouse and out in the field.
“And like working with the potatoes it was really fun cause like you hit a potato and you get to dig it up and sometimes it will be small and other times it’ll be that big and then this was the outcome, but it was worth it,” said student Antonio Ross.
The program also has active FAA leadership. The students say their favorite part is making good friends and learning about opportunities in agriculture.
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