New agricultural hub for Yea High School

Students at Yea High School will soon have access to an agriculture-dedicated learning space, in a bid to encourage more students to pursue a career in the industry.

Lisa Mack (centre) and Brendan Ricci (right) with students from Yea High School.

Students at Yea High School are looking forward to a new, innovative agricultural hub being developed at the school in an effort to encourage more students to explore possible career prospects in the agriculture industry.

Headed up by secondary teacher Brendan Ricci and trainer and assessor Lisa Mack, the hub will provide space to host livestock, an enclosed orchard, and an area to grow berry crops among other agricultural learning opportunities.

“We identified that the biggest employer in the Murrindindi Shire is agriculture. (It’s) more than double the next biggest industry,” Mr Ricci said.

“That is where the jobs are, and the farmers and agricultural workers around here are crying out to get skilled workers into the industry … even if (the hub can help build) only basic skills, when 16 or 17-year-olds come along for a job, they’ve got some basic insight and knowledge.”

Brendan Ricci and Lisa Mack in front of plans for the agriculture hub.

Mr Ricci has been a teacher for more than 25 years, and has only recently moved towards teaching agriculture and heading up the agricultural hub initiative.

“To be able to provide a quality version of hands on learning is our passion here, and it really is just giving students a better pathway into a career,” he said.

“A lot of high school education is geared towards tertiary education and universities, and for a lot of our students here, which would be the case in many places in the country, it’s really not that applicable for many of them for a number of reasons.”

Lisa Mack has worked across the industry from since she was a teenager, from horticulture to conservation and land management to nursery, and loves being able to share her industry experiences with students.

“When you’re talking about a certain topic or delivery unit, it’s very relatable to what I’ve done, and it’s nice to be able to share all the good and bad aspects of it (with students),” she said.

The plans for the agricultural hub.

With the agricultural hub still in the process of coming together, the school is focusing on engaging equipment and practices that are industry standard, and the feedback from students so far has been promising.

“They just want to get into it … so at the moment we’re just building up tools, equipment and all the resources we need with the funds we have,” Ms Mack said.

“Nothing should be foreign to them if they go out onto a farm, whether it’s part time, full-time or holiday work,” said Mr Ricci.