Involvement of High School Students Enrolled in a STEM Curriculum with Cotton Agronomic Education.

The actual and estimated occupational demand for students trained in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) continues to exceed the available supply.  Agronomic education, especially in rural areas; can provide valuable STEM training opportunities.  Since 2012, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has involved  STEM students at Roscoe Independent School District, Roscoe, Texas; in cotton applied agronomic research.  Students are taught about cotton agronomics, experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, and presentation of results.  Students have assisted with both cotton harvest aid and cotton seed germination with saline water experiments.   Students come to the field and assist with trial establishment and rating.  Students collect the data and are assisted with analysis and interpretation. The end product has been student research posters presented at an annual STEM showcase event.  This helps fulfil the science education and occupational experience requirements for this STEM education program.  It also provided students with agricultural production, research, and extension career exposure.