- March 5, 2025
Haydon Winslow tends to the plants in one of the planters the students built. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Agriscience and agritechnology instructor Maggie Reaves talks on camera in the FPC greenhouse for a Flagler County Education Foundation video. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jay Steffen said the agritechnology and veterinary assisting programs have changed her life for the better. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Plants growing in the greenhouse at Flagler Palm Coast. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Olivia Acloque took Agriscience Foundations as a freshman because she loves gardening, but learning about machinery and livestock sparked her interest in pursuing an agricultural career. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Agriscience students grow plants in the classroom using hydroponics and aeroponics. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC Assistant Principal Mandy Kraverotis talks about the agritechnology program. Photo by Brent Woronoff
During National FFA Week, Feb. 15-22, Flagler Palm Coast students and staffulty got the opportunity to meet, pet and even take a selfie with some of the livestock students will be showing at the Flagler County Fair. Courtesy photo
Flagler Palm Coast High School junior Jay Steffen wants to go into the agriculture and livestock veterinary fields after she graduates. She is currently in both the Agritechnology and Veterinary Assisting career technical education programs at her school. They were not her first choices.
“My freshman year of high school, I thought that I could go into computer science, but then I realized that computer science just was not my thing,” she said. “Then I found the ag program, and my sophomore year I joined the vet science and agriculture programs, and honestly, it has changed my life for the better. I'm just super thankful for the program.”
The CTE programs at FPC and Matanzas high schools are part of Flagler Schools’ Diploma Plus initiative with the goal of having every student graduate with not only a diploma but also an accelerated option.
That could be industry certifications through a CTE program, advanced placement program, the Cambridge AICE Diploma, the International Baccalaureate Diploma, dual enrollment for college credits or Jr. ROTC.
“All of those things,” Superintendent LaShakia Moore said. “We want our students to graduate with more than a diploma, and we need help with getting the word out with what programs we offer in our schools and how our students can take advantage of them, because these programs are free of charge to our students.”
Together, the two high schools offer over 20 CTE, or classroom to career, programs. The choices allow students to see what they like, FPC Assistant Principal Mandy Kraverotis said.
Kraverotis, who oversees FPC’s accelerated programs, said 600 to 700 FPC students take some kind of CTE course.
“They may not be enrolled in a full program. They might be in Digital Media 1 or TV Production 1, and they may not choose to continue on that full path and complete the program,” Kraverotis said. “But to me, that's just as valuable, because in high school they're finding out what they like and what they don't like. So if I take Firefighting 1 and I find out I'm not cut out to be a fireman, then I have saved thousands of dollars starting fire college after high school.”
Steffen discovered her career path as a high school sophomore.
She was one of three students in FPC’s Agritechnology program that were chosen to be on camera for a Flagler County Education Foundation video promoting the district’s CTE programs.
Getting the word out about the CTE programs is a district priority because last year only 47% graduated with an accelerated option, said Jeff Reaves, the district’s director of Teaching and Learning. Reaves said the district’s target is 57%. The Ed Foundation sponsored a College and Career Fair on Feb. 28 at the Palm Coast Community Center. The previous week, both high schools held their program of study nights for eighth graders and their parents to meet the teachers and learn about the programs.
The Agritechnology program is just two years old. Maggie Reaves (no relation to Jeff) is the program instructor. She teaches about 150 students, most of whom are in the entry-level Agriscience Foundations course which is prerequisite for students in both the Agritechnology and Veterinary Assisting programs.
“We do a little bit of plant science, a little bit of animal science, a little bit of plumbing, welding, small engines, electricity and food science, and we definitely talk about careers, what paths it would take to get to each career,” Maggie Reaves said. “Agriscience Foundations is the introductory level, and then Agritechnology 1 and Agritechnology 2 cover the same topics; they just go deeper and deeper with the topic each year.”
The students grow plants in the classroom through hydroponic systems. They supply the culinary program with herbs they grow in the classroom. They also have a garden outside of the football stadium and a greenhouse outside of the classroom.
All of the students in both the veterinary and ag programs are automatically enrolled as members of the Bunnell Future Farmers of America and are eligible to show at the Flagler County Fair. The Agritechnology program has some animals at the farm at the Flagler County Fairgrounds. Junior Haydon Winslow takes care of the chapter heifer.
“My family has been all in ag for years,” Winslow said, “from when lived up in Kansas until I moved down here. What I like about the program is the diversity of it. There’s something for everybody — plant science, animals hands-on, engines. We built planters out of old wooden pallets. It was a student project, so we designed them, manufactured them and grow plants in them.”
Junior Olivia Acloque said she took Agriscience Foundations as a freshman because she loves gardening, but learning about machinery and livestock sparked her interest in moving on with Agritechnology.
“I definitely want to do more with farm work because my grandpa is a bit of a farmer. And I do like learning about mechanics, so I want to become a mechanic as well,” she said.
The program offers Agriculture Education Services and Technology certifications through the Florida Farm Bureau.
“We offer the Agriculture Associate Exam to the Agriscience Foundations students and then the Agritechnology students can take the Agritechnology Specialist Exam and industry certification," Maggie Reaves said. “It’s basically a way to boost their resume. These industry certifications are great because they benefit students who are going to college and students who are going straight to the workforce.”
Kraverotis said Maggie Reaves has grown the Agritechnology program through the Agriscience Foundations class.
“She draws them in with that class and builds her program that way. Next year she’ll have an Agritech 3 class, so she’s really growing the program,” Kraverotis said. “She probably has 60 kids in Agritech, which is quite a bit when you think about it. Plant science, welding, irrigation are not things that all high school kids are thinking, ‘I want to do that.’ But we don't care whether it's the largest program or the smallest, as long as it's reaching students.”
