To ensure students are prepared for in-demand, high-skill, high-wage careers in Texas, Rockdale ISD offers 12 programs of study that include occupations that meet regional labor market criteria that include projected job growth, annual job openings and the state median wage.
We ensure course sequences lead to postsecondary education and training opportunities and work with students to plan for life after high school, wherever their scholastic interests may take them.
One of the programs of study in the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Career Cluster that has gained more interest lately is Plant Science. This is due to the work of Rockdale ISD Ag Science Teacher Paige Martinez and the Floral Design courses that she teaches.
Martinez began teaching in 2017 and has built the program over the past several years. When she first started, the Floral Design course was offered as an Agriculture Science course that also counted as a Fine Arts credit, which many students took in lieu of traditional art.
Now, students in the Plant Science program of study can begin in Principles of Agriculture, and follow up with Floral Design, Advanced Floral Design and a Practicum in Floral Design over the course of four years.
During the primary course, Floral Design, students complete the yearlong curriculum that includes art elements such as color, texture, form and line, and art principles such as continuity, pattern, rhythm, balance, proportion and unity. The students apply these concepts to create basic designs using real flowers and materials.
Students are challenged to pass a Texas State Florists’ Association Knowledge Based approved written exam and the design of two floral pieces in a timed setting to earn their Level 1 High School Floral Design Certification.
Retail florists are always looking for floral designers who know how to create the basic designs needed in a shop on a daily basis, and during the 2020-2021 school year, over 40 RISD students earned a TSFA floral certification.
In the next course, Advanced Floral Design, certified students are provided with additional design experience while providing school employees a good product at a great price. This program is known as the “Flower of the Month Club.” Each month an appropriately themed arrangement is designed and arranged by RISD students.
“This program provides school employees the opportunity to have a beautiful product at a great price,” said Paige Martinez who teaches the class. “Students get hands-on learning opportunities every month and also get to create a wide variety of design types that range from using basic to more advanced techniques and styles.”
“In addition to creating a product to sell, students also learn real-world skills such as ordering, pricing, marketing and customer service,” she said. “Students may also obtain their Texas State Florist Certification Level 2 through this course.”
Students who find their passion for design, and may look to make a career in plant science or floral design take Practicum in Agriculture Science and have the opportunity to intern at local businesses to use the skills they learned and further develop their craft while still in high school.
Please contact Britina Pesak, Executive Director of College and Career Readiness at bpesak@rockdaleisd.net or 512-430-6000, ext. 1021 if you would like to find out more about any of the CTE programs available at Rockdale ISD.
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