Buena Park Agriculture Program wins a Golden Bell Award

The Fullerton Joint Union High School District is pleased to share the recent awarding of the California School Boards Association (CSBA) Golden Bell Award to Buena Park High School’s (BPHS) Agriculture Program. The CSBA Golden Bell Awards program recognizes exemplary programs in 22 major categories, which are essential to support teaching and learning. The category in which the BPHS Agriculture program was honored was Partnership and Collaborative. The Partnership and Collaborative category includes programs which create collaborations between school districts, county offices of education, cities and counties, to strengthen instructional supports for students and/or maximize resources and community support. The category also includes partnerships with schools and businesses or community-based organizations. Programs are judged based on descriptors of the following: has made a difference for students; is innovative or exemplary; is connected to the Board’s vision and is supported by the Board of Trustees; is sustainable; and the concepts can be replicated.

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The goal of the BPHS Agriculture Partnership Program (Ag Program) is to motivate students to succeed academically to their highest potential and to aim toward furthering their education at the college level. The Ag Program is innovative in that few city communities can boast an agriculture program, and few schools, urban or rural, can showcase an agriculture program as rich in options (from veterinary science, to agricultural land management, to livestock management and more), offering studies based in academics, leadership, career preparation, and college-bound practices. The Ag Program is exemplary in its depth and breadth, and in its results: drawing over 400 students (up from about 60), raising participant GPAs (from an average of 2.34 to 2.68), and increasing the number of students seeking post-secondary education from zero percent to 32 percent in 2011.

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The Board of Trustees, students, and staff members of BPHS were thrilled to receive recognition for the outstanding Agriculture Program at BPHS during the CSBA Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, on December 3, 2011. The Golden Bell Awards program, now in its 32nd year, promotes excellence in education by recognizing outstanding programs in school districts and county offices of education throughout California. Approximately sixty districts/county offices receive the award, and more than 200 apply each year.

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(Article taken from FJUHSD press release)