The University of Tennessee at Martin will host the annual Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences and Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities summer programs featuring rising high school juniors and seniors learning more about college courses and college life.
The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences (TGSAS) and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities (TGSH) will be held June 1-27 on the UT Martin campus. Participating students will live in the residence halls on campus.
Dr. Philip Smartt, professor of natural resources management in the Department of Agriculture, Geosciences and Natural Resources, is in his first year as the director of the TGSAS program, succeeding Dr. Joey Mehlhorn, the Gil Parker Chair of Excellence in Agriculture, Geosciences and Natural Resources, who guided the program since 2011.
“We normally split the day up into three phases,” Smartt said. “In the morning, we have group study projects, which is where we do a lot of hands-on activity. It might be related to animals; it might be related to crops.
“We try to expose the students to things like precision agriculture and natural resources management. They’ll do field trips and visit sites to give them a broad flavor of the field of agriculture.”
The second part of the day is the classroom phase, where students will attend one of two college-level classes, where they can earn three hours of college credit.
The third part of the day is in the evening, where guest speakers provide discussions on subjects like being a successful person.
“The last week, we’ll do a big field trip where we tour the Capitol,” Smartt said. “We’ll get to meet the governor, and we’ll tour the Department of Agriculture in Nashville.
“Another big trip is going to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, because a lot of these students have an interest in becoming veterinarians.”
Smartt said that 30 students from across Tennessee – all rising seniors – will attend this year’s TGSAS.
“A lot of times, we have students who are interested in science, but they don’t realize that some of the best cutting-edge science is in agriculture,” Smartt said. “So, we try to expose them to that and get them interested.”
There are only three Governor’s Schools for the Agricultural Sciences in the nation, including programs at Penn State and Virginia Tech.
This year’s Governor’s School for the Humanities will feature 50 students from across Tennessee, with 45 of those being rising high school seniors and the other five being rising juniors.
Dr. Jerald Ogg, professor of mass media and strategic communication, has directed the TGSH program since 2001.
“The students will all take one academic class, which is for credit,” he said. “They start out their day with that. Then, they move into what we call an enrichment academic class, which is UTM faculty teaching unique courses.
“After lunch, they have a seminar, which is a more creative kind of thing. We’ve added a new one this year dealing with role-playing in media, along with one focusing on theater and one focusing on the newspaper that they produce and one focusing on the yearbook that they produce.”
Ogg said the experience that the high school students get through the Tennessee Governor’s School programs is exceptional.
“What we try to do is get them ready – not just for the academic aspect but for the college experience,” he said. “My experience is that most of the students who fail at college don’t fail because they’re academically unprepared. They fail because they are unprepared to be on their own and make their own decisions.”
Ogg said the faculty enjoy working with the Governor’s School programs.
“We do it because we love this program,” he said. “We’re going to take a month and, hopefully, invest in these students and make a difference in their lives.”
The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities are two of 11 Tennessee Governor’s School programs hosted by universities across the state.
Students apply in November to take part in the Tennessee Governor’s Schools, working with their school counselors to fill out the application. Students can apply to multiple Tennessee Governor’s School programs and indicate their preferences.
The Tennessee Governor’s Schools began with a multi-disciplinary pilot program under Gov. Lamar Alexander that was funded by the Tennessee General Assembly and held at UT Martin in 1985. The response was so positive that the legislature funded four separate programs across the state the following year, including the Governor’s School for the Humanities at UT Martin. The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences was created in 2004.
For more information about the Tennessee Governor’s School programs at UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu. For information about the TGSAS, call Smartt at 731-881-7954 or email tgsas@utm.edu. For information about the TGSH, call Ogg at 731-881-7579 or email govschol@utm.edu.
PHOTO: Students enjoyed making pizza at last year’s Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences, as they were joined by five high school students from Italy. This year’s Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities will be held June 1-27 at UT Martin.
