WOODBURY — The Nonnewaug agriscience department had a special meeting Sept. 27 with several teachers, including Leanne Foster, Kathleen Gorman, Andrew Zielinski, Jesse Hungerford, and Gillian Blood, all of whom are Nonnewaug High School graduates.
The ag department decided it would be beneficial to answer questions that students may have about the industry. The meeting was mandatory for all ag students. Surprisingly, given the opportunity for this special event, many students did not want to attend this meeting.
Eric Birkenberger, the horticulture teacher at Nonnewaug, felt strongly that students should attend.
“I think it would have been valuable for the students to see that there are a lot of options out there,” Birkenberger said. “Teaching agriculture is one of them, and it’s a great opportunity to impact students’ lives.”
Student Katelyn Burrier believes that the ag meeting was beneficial for her.
“I thought it was nice that they were changing it up a little bit instead of just doing the same exact thing as always,” Burrier said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and students should take time and enjoy it as much as they can.”
Burrier also remembers an example on why students should get more involved. Blood mentioned that she didn’t get really involved until her junior year, and she wishes that she got involved sooner.
Birkenberger said events like these can benefit all students, not just those from the ag program.
“Anyone interested in entering teaching should have this valuable opportunity because it’s not just about the ag program, but it’s also about teaching,” Birkenberger expressed. “It might be good to open it up to maybe anyone that is interested in teaching as a career.”
Birkenberger also mentioned that he feels that meeting was too short, so he suggested ways to get more out of the time period.
“Eliminate opening ceremonies,” Birkenberger said. “Getting students in earlier and instead of asking one question for all the teachers to answer, they would ask one question to each teacher.”
Some students disagreed with having to attend because they don’t want to pursue a job in agriculture. Surprisingly, there are many people in the ag program who will not be pursuing further education or career opportunities in the field, including Mumtahina Alam.
“I decided to transfer here to Nonnewaug from Naugatuck High School,” said Alam. “I enjoy the agriculture program because it teaches you life skills that are for outside of the classroom. However, it’s not something that I will be pursuing in my own future.”
