Agriculture and Horticulture Advisory Committee Everett High School, Room B-230 February 27, 2007 - 3 - 4:30 p.m.
Attending Members: Teachers-Andy Sudkamp, Jeannie Steele, Tammy Price
Community Members-Ralph Quaas, Dee Drake, Duane Diede
CTE Dept-Becky Balbach
Real life mathematics examples Ralph (retired Flower Shop Owner)-Pricing-choose Cost of Goods or % of retail. Profit & markup. Choose a retail base or wholesale base for prices. Add up numbers in your head. 30-35%-cost of goods plus 20% labor. Geometry for design style shapes, need to be able to picture it in your head and then follow through with making it in a 3-D.
Dee (greenhouse)-figure cost of plant cuttings, figure amounts (bench=90 flats, 25 benches, how many total), plug tray=288 seeds, 36 plugs in a tray, etc. Figure volume of containers in order to get the right amount of soil. Figure parts of fertilizer (how many parts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium)because you need different levels depending on what kind of plant it will be used with.
Duane (landscaping)-lots of numbers work, estimate square feet of sod, cubic yards, feet squared divided by 162=the amount of mulch needed at 2 inches deep. Measuring, how to use a measuring tape, read the ruler. Computer program does a lot of math for figuring estimates for clients.
Jeannie (animal, vet related)-know the metric system, measure out correct amounts of meds, vaccines, etc for animals based on their size and what kind of animal.
Updates from Industry – teaching into the 21st century
What do student need to know about the world? Where in the world seeds come from (native), where in the world flowers come from (native), familiarity with climates around the world help with that knowledge
How do you think outside the box in your workplace? Read industry publications, newsletters etc for cutting edge information. Go to trade shows and participate in trials of new products.
How do you research an issue or problem? Where do you find reliable information? Check online, check reference library we all have in our businesses & classrooms, Stubers-a good resource for plant information, networking & talking with others in the industry.
How do you develop people skills in your workplace? Are you required to work in teams? Model behavior, knowledge comes with age & experience, listen to others in leadership positions. Teams-planting in greenhouses, teams for landscaping labor, soil machine in greenhouse, some team work in flower shop-between designer, delivery person, etc.
Upcoming meeting: May 15, 2007, Legion Park Portable Classroom, EHS Horticulture, Andy Sudkamp (by the greenhouses & arboretum)