Faculty in the College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are working closely with high schools in Nebraska to share resources and create concepts for students to learn more about agriculture and natural resources.

 Fabio Mattos, associate professor, Jeff Peterson, assistant professor of practice, and Cory Walters, associate professor, all in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the university developed a commodity marketing course for the high school level.

 “Some students do not have a good understanding of what kind of jobs or careers are available within commodity marketing,” Mattos said. “The curriculum helps students learn they have the possibility to do commodity marketing for their family operations or explore other types of related careers.”

 Additionally, Bailey Feit and Tammera Mittelstet, the CASNR K-12 Education Pathways coordinators, work with high schools to incorporate natural resource and agricultural concepts into curriculums by utilizing the broad topics of Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWSS, pronounced like the word fuse).

The goal is to offer Nebraska high school students a better understanding of the big picture of agriculture and natural resources and career opportunities within them.

 “Careers are ever changing so to help students prepare for any type of job or career, it is beneficial for a focus program like this to be involved in high schools,” Feit said.

Commodity Marketing Curriculum

“Commodity marketing is essentially the selling or buying of commodities. Studying commodity marketing is important not only to learn different strategies to buy and sell commodities, but also to understand how markets work and how prices for commodities are determined,” Mattos said.

Mattos’ commodity marketing curriculum is designed to teach students through module topics such as describing commodities, how commodities are bought and sold, how producers market commodities, trading in futures markets, and students also have the opportunity to practice knowledge in marketing and trading simulators.   

 “The program gives high school students a general introduction about marketing and identifies main topics for them to learn,” Mattos said.

 Mattos created the course to include lecture material, worksheets, and videos that are accessed through an online platform for students and teachers. He said the curriculum teaches students a basic understanding of commodity marking earlier in life, to give them broader idea of career opportunities available for them in their future.

 “It is useful for students to learn more about one of the key pieces that can generate profits for their family operations or state economy,” Mattos said.

 So far, the program has run two pilots including 29 schools to develop the program. Mattos, Peterson and Walters have gained positive feedback and continues to build the program.

FEWSS Brings Agriculture to the City

The introduction of the FEWSS program began at Northeast High School in Lincoln, Nebraska with the goal of adding concepts related to food, energy, water, and societal systems into daily high school lessons.

 “Northeast High School does not currently have any agricultural education programming,” Feit said. “By using the lens of FEWSS, agriculture topics are infused to the curriculum – it is so much more than agricultural education.”

FEWSS encourages the use of agricultural and natural resources topics in a different way, such as exploring agriculture from a policy lens or environmental lens.

 For instance, Feit said a social studies class studying societal systems might include discussion about how agriculture is a main economic driver in Nebraska. In doing so, students learn that there many jobs in Nebraska that are related to agriculture, but also suitable for those that grew up in urban areas.

 “One in four jobs in Nebraska is related to agriculture and natural resources,” Mittelstet said. “If students do not know what any of the concepts are, it is hard to encourage them to take a look at that as a career.”

Feit said the FEWSS program is designed to help bridge this gap and introduce agricultural and environmental topics more directly to high school students, particularly those in an urban setting that may or may not have direct connections to the agricultural industry.

The Future of Agricultural Education in Nebraska High Schools

Mattos and Feit are hoping to have growth in the future of both programs. With the success from the commodity marketing curriculum, Mattos has received interest from schools outside of Nebraska as well.

 “We have primarily focused on the needs of high schools in Nebraska, but if any teacher in any high school in the country believes that the curriculum is useful for them, we will be glad to have it used by anyone in the country,” Mattos said.

 Growth is also a main goal for the future of the FEWSS program as they hope to be able to use the cross curricular opportunity in more schools across the state to benefit the future of Nebraska.

 “Broadening students’ focus and allowing them to explore new topics is beneficial,” Feit said. “The students are likely our future Nebraska citizens, so it is important for them to be knowledgeable, educated, aware, and interested in these topics.”

 For more information about the commodity marketing curriculum and to become involved, contact Fabio Mattos at fmattos@unl.edu or visit https://agecon.unl.edu/commodity-marketing-high-school-students

 For more information on the FEWSS program visit https://casnr.unl.edu/k-12-partners

Key Takeaways:

1. Faculty in CASNR are working closely with high schools in Nebraska to share resources and create concepts for students to learn more about agriculture and natural resources.
2. Two new distinct programs were created to bring college topics to high school classrooms: The Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWSS) program and a commodity marketing curriculum.
3. The FEWSS program integrates agricultural and natural resource topics into everyday classes through different lenses, such as a policy point of view or an environmental perspective.
4. The commodity marketing curriculum is designed as a six-module format to educate students on the general topics of commodity marketing and job opportunities within the industry.
5. For more information about the commodity marketing curriculum and to become involved, contact Fabio Mattos at fmattos@unl.edu or visit https://agecon.unl.edu/commodity-marketing-high-school-students. For more information on the FEWSS program visit https://casnr.unl.edu/k-12-partners