Experiential and work-based learning in school based agricultural education allows local programs to extend beyond the classroom and into the community in order to develop an individual student’s industry and career-based competencies. The methodology for delivering such high quality experiential learning is the Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). The SAE is a required component of a total Agricultural Education program and intended for every student. Through their involvement in the SAE program students are able to consider multiple careers and occupations, learn expected workplace behavior, and develop specific skills within an industry, and are provided opportunities to apply academic and occupational skills in the workplace or a simulated workplace environment. Through these strategies, students learn how to apply what they are learning in the classroom as they prepare to transition into the world of college and career opportunities.

SAE in the secondary Agricultural Education Program is delivered through two levels; Foundational and Immersion.

•Foundational

– This level of SAE is appropriate for every student enrolled in the program regardless of their length of time. It is delivered inthe classroom instruction component, throughout the four yearsof the Ag Ed program. Foundational SAE has five separate focus areas. To engage in the Foundational SAE students must conduct activities in all five of the areas. They are;

o Career Exploration and Planning

o Personal Financial Planning and Management

o Workplace Safety

o Career and Employability Skills

o Agriculture Literacy

Foundational SAE involves more than classroom instruction in these five areas. Students engage in individual activities in each area that allows them to gain understanding and knowledge of that area. The activities of each area will progress th

roughout the four years of enrollment. Work done in earlier years is built upon with more complex activities designed to

prepare thestudent for the workplace and or post-secondary education after graduation.

•Immersion SAE

Student progression through the foundational SAE activities can lead them into more intensive experiential and work-based learning experiences that reside within individual pathways of the agriculture industry. These immersion SAEs are based on thefollowing types of experience;

•Placement / Internship

– Placement / Internship programs involve the placement of students in agriculture, food or natural resources related businesses, on farms and ranches, in school laboratories, at community facilities, or in a verified non-profit organization to provide a "learning by doing" environment. These experiences may be paid or non-paid.

•Ownership / Entrepreneurship

- The student plans, implements, operates and assumes financial risks in a productive or service activity or agriculture, food or natural resources-related business. In these types of programs, the student owns the materials and other required inputs and keeps financial records to determine return on investments. An SAE ownership / entrepreneurship program provides students the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to become established in their own business or gain employment. A student moves from an ownership experience into a true entrepreneurship experience when he/she expands the business enterprise to include a business plan that focuses on development of new product, new production / processingprocesses or additional marketopportunities.

• Research

-As agriculture has become more scientific, there is a need to conduct research to discover new knowledge to meet the needs of a growing world. There are three major kinds of research SAE programs.

o Experimental -An extensive activity where the student plans and conducts a major agricultural experiment using the scientific process. The purpose of the experiment is to provide students firsthand experience in verifying, learning or demonstrating scientific principles in the AFNR career cluster, discovering new knowledge and using the scientific process. In an experimental SAE, there is a hypothesis and a control group, and variables are manipulated.

o Analytical –The student chooses real-world agriculture, food or natural resource- related problem that is not amenable to experimentation and designs a plan to investigate and analyze the problem. The student will gather and evaluate data from a variety of sources and then produce some type of finished product. The product may include a marketing display or marketing plan for a commodity, product or service; a series of newspaper articles; a land use plan for a farm; a detailed landscape design for a community facility; an advertising campaign for an agribusiness, and so forth. A student- led analytical SAE is flexible enough so that it could be used in any type of agricultural class, provides valuable experience and contributes to the development of critical thinking skills.

oInvention – The student identifies a need in agriculture, food or natural resource- related industry and performs research and analysis in order to solve a problem or increase efficiency by developing/adapting a new product or service to the industry. The student plans, documents and develops his/her innovation through the iterative processes of design, prototyping and testing with the goal of creating a marketable product or service.

• School-Based Enterprise

– A student-managed, entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods or services that meet the needs of an identified market. To provide for the greatest educational value to the student, the SAE should replicate the workplace environment as closely as possible. A School-Based Enterprise SAE is oftentimes cooperative in nature with management decisions made by students, while the teacher is responsible for the integration of technical content and skills. School-Based Enterprises may include, but are not limited to, cooperative livestock raising, school gardens & land labs, production greenhouses; school based agricultural research, agricultural equipment fabrication, equipment maintenance services, or a school store.

•Service Learning

– A student-managed service activity where students are involved in the development of a needs assessment, planning the goals, objectives and budget, implementation of the activity, promotion, and evaluation/reflection of a chosen project. It may be for a school, a community organization, religious institution, or non‐profit organization. The student(s) are responsible for raising necessary funds for the project (if funds are needed). A project must be a stand‐alone project and not part of an ongoing chapter project, or community fundraiser. The project must present a challenge that requires leadership, but also something that students can do with unskilled helpers, and within a reasonable period of time. Service Learning SAEs may be individual or a small group effort amongst students.

What SAE Projects do students typically do at Onalaska High School?

Students participate in many different SAE projects. The largest one is the Agriscience Fair! Students who are in Ag Biology do this as a part of their class. Other students choose to work in the school greenhouse, work at Buzz & Blooms, work at a Dairy Farm, start a lawn mowing business, raise bees, sell eggs, or raise and sell livestock projects.