Growing Our Own: Agriscience Technician Training for Viticulture in the Desert Southwest

Yavapai College, Prescott AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This project is designed to meet new demands for trained technicians to support the new and growing wine industry in Yavapai County and throughout the Southwest United States. As a result of the project, the first Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Viticulture and Enology degree program in Arizona is being created. Three partner high schools are delivering viticulture courses onsite, providing opportunities for high school students to earn up to 12 college credits while still in high school. The learning environment is being revitalized through the use of teaching laboratories that provide real world, experiential education. Vineyards, including a one acre plot at the college and three 1/3 acre plots at partner high schools, serve as teaching laboratories. A Enology Laboratory is available to students to conduct wine testing and experimentation. The success of the program is being determined by evaluating progress toward meeting measurable objectives related to enrollment; retention; student success (measured by student learning outcomes); and changes in knowledge experienced by high school and post-secondary teachers after training. Intellectual Merit: The project is advancing knowledge and understanding about growing techniques that contribute to successful grape growing in the high desert regions of the Southwest United States. This knowledge contributes to the overall understanding of sustainable agriculture and natural resource conservation specific to this ecosystem. Development of curriculum, designed to utilize multiple modalities, provides quality teaching materials for use throughout the region. Community college faculty and high school agriscience instructors from around Arizona gain new knowledge about viticulture and enology and industry practices that result in improved teaching practices across the state. Internships and trainings that increase the technical knowledge and skills of secondary and post-secondary agriscience teachers are also provided. Broader Impacts: The project exposes high school students, through dual enrollment, to college-level agricultural science classes because early exposure to college-level courses is known to increase high school graduation and college enrollment. The project thus creates a career pathway that is resulting in more rural students becoming trained in agriscience technology. The curriculum, enology laboratory, and on-campus vineyards provide the college and partner high schools with resources that are useful across multiple disciplines in food and agricultural sciences and thus enhance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education for many students. The Viticulture and Enology program is responsive to the needs of a new, emerging regional industry in the region. Students gain skills needed to successfully compete for employment, while providing a well trained workforce to the industry. Furthermore, the project is a foundational piece in the creation of the larger Southwest Wine Center, and therefore, leverages the knowledge discovery, information-sharing, industry collaboration, job creation, and economic growth for wine making in Arizona and the entire Southwest region.