In Our Principles of AFNR class, our students created our FFA Official Dress using only paper and then got to model it for the other Ag classes.

On Thursday, October 27, 2022 students enrolled in Advanced Animal Science attended the Southeast Texas Beef Symposium hosted by Texas AgriLife Extension, with the assistance of professors from Texas A&M and Sam Houston State University Agriculture Science departments.  Students spent the day attending hands-on sessions including: Anatomy and Physiology dissection lab, a blood draw for pregnancy checks on cows, ultrasounding cattle for carcass traits and fat thickness, taste testing tenderness of different cuts of meat, identifying parts of cattle, where their bones are placed and where each cut of meat comes from on the animal, and digestion, featuring a cannulated cow.  Cannulated cattle are those which have a surgically placed cannula, or porthole-like device placed on their side into the rumen.  This allows veterinarians and researchers to examine content digested by the animal for various purposes.  They finished off the afternoon with a lesson on safe food handling and proper cooking temperatures, followed by seasoning and grilling their own hamburgers.  

Dr. Jason Cleere with Texas A&M University explains to students how blood is taken from a vein in the tail and used to determine if a cow is bred.

Amaree Barfield watches as Dr. Cleere draws blood from a bred Red Brahman cow.

Students in Advanced Animal Science who attended the trip (left to right): Chester Blackmann, Amaree Barfield, Trevor Liljequist, Logan Wilke, Drew Hodge, Kylie Currie, Gray King, Colton Bailey, and Kaylen McAdams.

Logan Wilke and Trevor Liljequist dissect the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys of a pig.

Logan Wilke and Trevor Liljequist investigating the feed intake and digestion of a cannulated cow.  This is done for research of feedstuff and its digestibility in cattle and is not harmful to the animal.

Kalyan McAdams uses an ultrasound machine on a steer to determine the area of the ribeyes, how much fat cover is on the steer and the amount of intramuscular fat.  This steer was around 1,000 pounds and only had around ¼” fat, meaning that he was not market ready just yet.

#AgricultureRocks #TrojanFFA #FutureFarmers

Our Child Guidance class travels to James Street Elementary to help teachers and observe the classrooms. The CTE high school class gets real-world practice in education. 

#TrojansGiveBack #TrojansLearn

“It’s all about the videos and the cards!”

In Mrs.Cook’s Medical Terminology classes, her students get a total of 50 flash cards each week and are expected to memorize all of them.

They are given 25 on Monday, they review those on Tuesday, the other 25 are given on Wednesday, then there’s a huge review on Thursday.

Students study these audionym words and learn the definitions by Friday, when they take the exam. Most kids out of Cook's classes ace the test and find it easy.

“Passing these tests makes me feel accomplished and ready for my next set of flashcards," said I'Kayla Byrd. "It makes me feel like I can be successful in the medical field."

The learning secret seems to be the weird way students learn the words. They’re given these videos that the medical field teachers have been using for decades. These videos give the weirdest and funniest examples of ways to remember words. 

As an example, the video says “Dactyl , this word sounds similar to “ducktail”, so imagine a sitting duck then all of a sudden his tail turns into fingers and toes!”

Weird, right? The first time some of her students watched the videos, they thought it was the most foolish and meaningless way. But the next day, her first period students line up at the door waiting to answer the flash card correctly to enter her classroom. Then they catch themselves going “ OK dactyl, so ducktail-, ummm… FINGERS AND TOES!” 

Mrs.Cook is one of the most understanding and best medical field teachers of all time. She has a great way of teaching and tries to get through to all of her students. ~I'Kayla Byrd

Our JROTC cadets traveled to Waller ISD on October 5th, 2022 to compete in the rocketry competition. They were most excited about competing in the Bulldog Blast Tug of War competition.

Our cadets brought home three trophies: 2nd place 60 Feet Spot Landing, 3rd place Expedition (showing off the rocket and telling the story behind it), and 3rd place tug of war. 

#GoTrojans #JROTCRocks

Mrs. Robertson's English II class attempted to make towers out of four sheets of paper. This activity helped the students learn the necessity of a proper foundation in writing an essay. 

#TrojansLearn #GoTrojans

In Mr. Farr’s Criminal Investigation class, students have been learning tactical entries. Tactical entry teaches the students the execution of a planned building entry,  typically in high-risk situations. Students plan for hostage situations, intruders, and other possible situations.

Two students must correctly enter the room, find all the hidden suspects and have them put their hands up. Students work to legally do what an actual police officer would do in a tactical entry situation. Instructions include sticking near your partner,  watching their back, and thoroughly checking each and every area. 

Students must find all of the suspects for a good grade and MUST NOT pull the trigger or it results in an instant failed grade.

#TrojansLearn #FutureOfficers

Texas game warden, Coty G Castro, visited students in Mr Farr’s law class. Game Warden Castro told the students that he became a game warden because he always loved hunting and wanted his kids to be into it as well.

Castro is involved in many things, such as working with K-9’s to search for drugs and evidence, stopping people for speeding, trespassing, and/or giving them a ticket. He patrols assigned areas by car, boat, horse, or on foot. He issues and checks hunting, fishing, and boat permits.

He explained that game wardens take care of the health and violations of the animals. Students can contact game wardens if they find dead animals, and they will investigate.

The annual salary for a game warden is anywhere from $31,200 per year up to $78,330 for the top 10%.

The six main requirements needed to be a game warden are knowledge of 1) laws, 2) legal codes, 3) court procedures/precedents, 3) government regulations, 4) executive orders, 5) agency orders, and 6) the democratic political process.

You’ll also need to have knowledge of biology, geography, sociology, anthropology, and customer service. 

#TrojansLearn #FutureOfficers

On Wednesday, September 28th, students from Coldspring-Oakhurst High School joined over 400 students from across the state at Lake Livingston State Park for the Ducks Unlimited Field Day. 

Twenty-three students from the COHS Wildlife Class and the Coldspring FFA Wildlife Career Development Event Team participated in the activity. 

Students were engaged in hands-on learning, taught by wildlife biologists, Texas Game Wardens, and Agricultural Science teachers from several schools. 

Students identify native plants that are useful to wildlife.  They learned how to evaluate habitat for different wildlife based on the food, shelter, and water needs of the animals.  They also learned how to identify wildlife species by their tracks, scat, wings, pelts, or skulls.  They aged white-tailed deer based on the growth and wear of the deer's teeth. They watched a demonstration on the training of a Labrador Retriever to help retrieve waterfowl while hunting.  They also engaged in a discussion with local game wardens about laws and regulations relating to outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, and boating. 

Students from the Coldspring FFA Wildlife CDE team will be competing in the District Wildlife Contest using many of the skills that were learned.

#TrojansLearn #HandsonLearning

On Monday, the 19th of September, we had a pretty special tennis practice. We were afraid that we would have to cancel practice because of dark clouds, but our fear was replaced with joy when we saw a beautiful RAINBOW in the sky!!

That was really exciting. We continued our practice and had a lot of fun!

 #tennisrainbows

Homecoming week, the COHS football players and cheerleaders helped greet students in the car rider line at James Street Elementary and Coldspring Intermediate schools.

The young students were so excited to see all of the big Trojan players and the smiling cheer squad. One kid said, “Look at the football players, that's so cool!” It was a great way to show school spirit and a cool way to start off the students' Friday. #smalltownfootball #trojanswin