What does a 70 acre forest, hedgehogs, a sheep herd and Milwaukee have in common? You can find students learning about all of those topics and more at Milwaukee Vincent High School.
Located on the Northwest side of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Vincent High School is home to over 700 students in a very unique agriculture based program. Gail Kraus, Agriculture Program Specialist shares more about this unique agriculture based school in urban Milwaukee. The school has big goals to build a new learning barn this year where they can continue to help students learn about agriculture in a hands-on manner.
For the most part, since the early 1970’s Vincent has been teaching students about the world of agriculture. In the early 1990’s funding was cut and the agriculture program was eliminated. Brought back in 2012 with only one teacher, the program has continued to grow and now has six different pathways for students. Those six tracts, Ag Business and Entrepreneurship, Animal Science, Culinary Arts, Environmental Science, Food Science and Horticulture, are explored by all freshmen, who then are able to pick which area they would like to focus on in their following years. Vincent has grown to now have a dedicated teacher heading up each of the six pathways.
The programming isn’t the only unique part of this high school. The school sits on a 70 acre campus with a greenhouse, an arboretum, an orchard, a learning barn and more, ensuring students have ample opportunity to work hands-on with subject matter.
Support for the work Vincent High School is doing is welcome in many different forms. Although there is only a limited amount of space and hours available, volunteers are always needed. Gail says they keep a specific needs list where people can donate various items to the school. There is also a specific fund for Milwaukee Vincent’s agriculture program in the Milwaukee Public School Foundation that people or companies can donate funds too.
With the help of generous donors, this year the school is building a new hands on learning barn. This new building will allow the school to move all of their animals into one building and allow growth for some of their livestock endeavors. They also planned an arena as part of the building, this year several students showed animals at the Wisconsin State Fair. The arena will not only provide more space for hands-on learning, it will also better prepare students and their animal projects for the show ring.
Want to learn more about how Milwaukee Vincent is opening up the world of agriculture to urban students? You can follow them on Facebook or check out their website. If you’re interested in donating to the program visit http://mpsfdn.com/donate/ and specify your donation goes to the Vincent Agriculture Program & FFA Chapter.
Leave a Reply