The Best Job Ever

    Chicago: home of the Cubs, the SkyDeck, and deep dish pizza.  If you’ve never been, Chicago is a pretty cool city and is home to some unique sights and foods.  Chicago is also home to a high school unlike anything I have ever seen.  I was lucky enough to experience said high school this past week through my position as the National Teach Ag Campaign intern as we celebrated National Teach Ag Day.

    The Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (CHSAS) is nothing short of amazing.  As you might be able to guess, it’s an inner city school where students focus on different pathways within agriculture.  While this is amazing in itself, here’s a few more fun facts that make it even more incredible. 
            - In order for students to come to CHSAS, they have to apply and been on the lucky side of a lottery drawing.  There is no designated school district, or area, that students have to be from, so they come from all over the city; some students even ride the city bus for two hours to get to school in the morning.

            - Students enroll in pathways, or focus areas, that they’ll study in depth their junior and senior year.  During freshman and sophomore year, they get a taste of each pathway, decide what they like, then have to apply and interview for the pathway they would like at the end of their sophomore year.  Some of the pathways include biotechnology, food science, horticulture, animal science, and agribusiness.

            - They have livestock at the school! (Now I know there are plenty of schools here in Iowa that also have livestock, but remember, this school is in the middle of Chicago).  Chickens, hogs, horses, and goats are just a few of the animals that are a part of the animal science pathway.

            - The produce that the students raise, like sweetcorn, tomatoes and squash, is sold at the school.  There’s a little farmers’ market-like set up where anyone from the public can come in and purchase food from the students.

These and many more unique parts of CHSAS caused me to be in awe pretty much the entire day I was at the school.  While this school is incredible in its own way, it reminded me why I wanted to be an agriculture teacher.  Whether the school is in the heart of a city or in the middle of a corn field, students are learning through hands-on experiences, exploring potential careers, and becoming the leaders our world so desperately needs.  I was reminded how bright and driven agricultural education students are; how no two programs are the same and that’s what makes the ag ed community so strong. 

     If everything you just learned about CHSAS excites you, look into a future as an agriculture teacher. If you like the thought of having a meaningful career while still living in a rural community, consider teaching ag.  If you want to be challenged every day and never stop learning, agricultural education is the right career for you.  The best part about being an agriculture teacher is you can do all that, and more.  Check out www.naae.org/teachag to learn more about your future career and why it really is the best job ever.

Elisa Russ 

Past State President

National Teach Ag Campaign Intern