In the next few years, the department will add at least one new University of California approved course, and its old facility will be torn down this summer to make way for brand-new classrooms.

And the timing couldn't be better, said Westmont High School agriculture instructor Daniel Sanchez, with the program attracting more students than ever. In fact, Sanchez has been forced to turn some students away because there is not enough enrollment space at the Westmont High School Agriculture Farm, where classes are held.

One reason students are turned away is because Sanchez is the only agriculture instructor. Another reason: The grants that help fund the program stipulate how many students can be taught per class, Sanchez said.

"Part of the grant funding requires a 32 to 1 ratio," Sanchez said. "Although I've had classes as large as 43 before."

Sanchez teaches five agriculture classes at Westmont. During the 2004­05 school year, students will be able to take Fundamentals of Agricultural Science, the only department class that fills a UC entrance requirement for laboratory sciences.

Ideally, Sanchez would like to see another instructor added to the program, enabling them to enroll more students. But he is unsure if that will become a reality in the near future.

By the 2005­06 school year, Sanchez tentatively plans on offering two more UC-approved courses in the department, including agricultural engineering and agricultural government and economics.

The agriculture classes at Westmont are the only ones offered in the Campbell Union High School District, with the closest program in Morgan Hill at Live Oak High School.

Campbell Union High School District Superintendent Rhonda Farber said when people think of a high school agriculture program, they usually think of it being in a place like Fresno. But she wants to make sure the program stays strong at Westmont, because it not only teaches students how to care for livestock, but also challenges their communication and public-speaking skills.

"When students get involved in the agriculture classes, they make a commitment to the program for a long time," Farber said. "It's not like taking a foreign language or a sport—students take the department very seriously, and it is quite competitive."

Through the department, Sanchez likes to use a "hands-on approach." Students raise livestock. They slaughter it to learn the anatomy of the animals. In addition to the course curriculum, the department works with Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County, a University of California Cooperative Extension program. The Master Gardeners' partnership with Westmont allows the Master Gardeners to use the farm's greenhouse to grow plants and in turn, students receive lessons from Master Gardeners in transplanting, growing plants from seeds and cooking vegetables, according to Master Gardeners county director and farm adviser Maria de la Fuente.

Sanchez is worried that the partnership between the two entities will be eliminated because of proposed cuts by the Santa Clara County Director of the Department of Agriculture and Resource Management. The University of California Cooperative Extension, which funds the Master Gardeners program, is on the chopping block. The final decision has yet to be made, but de la Fuente said she is confident that no matter what happens, the partnership will still continue at Westmont next school year, even with reduced resources.

Students are also in for another adjustment at the farm, because in late June or early July, the agriculture classrooms and computer lab will be torn down to build a new facility. The new 3,000-square-foot building will have classrooms, a computer lab and an agricultural mechanics shop, Sanchez said. During construction, a temporary portable building will be onsite for students at the start of the 2004­05 school year. Sanchez hopes the facility will be completed by February 2005 but said it may take a year.

For more information about the Westmont High School agriculture department, call 408.378.1500. For more information about Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County, visit www.mastergardeners.org.