National Future Farmer

By Andrew Markwart
The Secrets of Science
STEVE McKay gets his students excited
about science. They're excited about
cloning plants, testing new horticulture
products and engineering better ways to
grow food.
This is no easy feat, considering a large
share of his students at Anderson Valley
High School in Boonville, California,
come from low income and foster homes.
Most of the kids in foster homes live
there after they've been in juvenile deten-
tion or come off the street.
What's his secret? He gets students
involved in a money-making project on
the school's 7-acre land laboratory, then
shows where an application of science
can turn into more profit for them.
"What I've noticed about students lately
is that money seems to be a big motivating
factor," said McKay. "By getting a
return from working on projects on the
school farm, they see that science might
be a way to increase their profits."
"We have a 50-50 arrangement where
the students actually sign up and take
ownership in one of the projects on the
farm. They get 50 percent of the profits
and the other 50 percent goes back to the
school.
McKay lets his students focus on areas
that interest them. "What I've tried to do
is set up a mini-agricultural community,
where those students who are really good
in science, for instance, will be leading
the science projects," he explains. "Those
students who like to make money are in
charge of managing the farm and those
students that just have fun working outside
on projects, that's where they can
start out."
Class Experiments
The list of projects McKay's students
work on sounds like it belongs to a uni-
versity's agriculture experiment station
rather than a small-town high school ag
department. Most impressive is the exten-
sive plant tissue culture lab (seen on the
cover) where everything from tomato to
gooseberry plants are cloned from single
cells in a germ-free environment.
His classes are also experimenting
with kiwi fruit, which are not widely
10
Students are fired-up and having fun. His classroom
is the center of attention at Anderson Valley and the
school administration couldn't be happier.
Can this be vocational agriculture?
students start with basic science experiments such as this insulator quality test. The
glass jars are covered with different kinds of insulators and the interior temperature is
observed using thermometers.
grown in the U.S., but are of special
interest to McKay. Much of his master's
of science degree from the University of
California— Davis was based on kiwi
pollination.
McKay found that bees don't normally
like to switch between male and
female kiwi plants, which is crucial for
pollination to occur. Tlie class has built a
trellis that has a male variety growing on
a wire slightly above a female plant. As a
result, the pollination rate is drastically
increased, kiwi production is higher,
profits are higher—and all because of
some applied science.
The school's greenhouse is a laboratory
within itself Heat sensors have been
placed in the root zones of bedded plants
to show that keeping the roots warm and
lowering the air temperature will save
energy costs. They are also testing different
kinds of insulations under the plant
beds to see which is most efficient at
retaining heat.
McKay believes cooperative science
projects with the agricultural industry
are important. McCalis Grower Supply,
a major west-coast greenhouse supplier,
has contracted McKay and his crew to
do product testing for them. "They want
to test polyfilm on the tops of our greenhouses,"
says McKay. "We've got sen-
sors that can sense the amount of insula-
tion both inside and outside of the
greenhouse. We'll see how much light
actually is transmitted, how long the
plastic lasts and how well it performs. All
sensors are linked to an Apple He computer
in the classroom for constant monitoring
and data storage.
The Northrup King seed company is
working with the class to determine
which tomatoes are best suited for that
particular growing area of California. A
local winery has also contracted the class
to grow grapes for them.
Times have not always been so positive
at Anderson Valley High School.
The National FUTURE FA RMER