I am a 7th Grade Science teacher at Charity Middle School in Rose Hill, North Carolina.  Rose Hill has a population of about 1,500 and it is part of Duplin County, NC, in the South Eastern corner of the state.  It is a very rural area and the primary (only) economy is agriculture and meat processing. There are more hogs in Duplin County than there are people in all of North Carolina.  There is not a lot of STEM awareness or industry or opportunities.  The schools here are Title I, and have very limited funding and resources.  There isn’t connection with outside research or educational institutions, nor economic industries.  The kids grow up with very little excitement for school or STEM subjects and without awareness of the STEM opportunities out there for them.  The Kenan Fellows program is completely new to my school and county, and its an incredibly opportunity for the students, staff and community.

My Kenan Fellows externship is with The Duplin Winery, which is probably the biggest industry in Duplin County (apart from Murphy Brown’s Hog Production).  It is the place with the most STEM happening and connections to be made.  The Duplin Winery uses muscadine grapes, which is a sweet grape variety only found in the Southeastern United States.  This type of grape has 40 chromosomes, as opposed to all other grape varieties, which have 38.  This means it cannot be mixed with any other grape varieties.  Duplin Winery is the biggest winery on the East Coast, and has vineyards all over the South East in order to protect itself from economic loss due to bad weather.

In my externship, I will have the opportunity of shadowing, training, and working in all different parts of the winery.  This past week I have been working in the vineyards with Carlos and Telivio, propagating a new vineyard.  We have been waking up at the crack of dawn to clip, cut, transport and plant grape plants before the Southern Sun gets too strong for the newly transplanted shocked plants to survive. I’ll work in the production facilities, guide tastings and tours, figure out finances, and working in the bistro and the retail shop.  I will also work closely with the agro-tourism team at the winery at a variety of events, including weddings, food and wine pairings, and a murder mystery dinner.

  At the Duplin Winery, in the science realm, I am especially excited to explore the genetics of vitaculture. Genetics is currently a critical area of science and full of research and career opportunities for my students.  I want to help them connect the unknown and exciting field of genetics with the world of agriculture that they have grown up in.  So, I am very excited to learn more about bioengineering, biotechnology, and selective breeding.  I also would like to make some connections between meteorology and agriculture, as well as soil composition, plant reproduction, and defense against viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Although my excitement is more for science than mathematics, the need for engaging mathematics is currently much greater at my school.  Our kids generally despise math and our test scores are struggling.  So, I am also looking to build exciting math lesson plans related to the winery.  I have been thinking mostly about algebraic models of running and business, inputs and outputs, profits and losses, etc. I spent 3 days of last week doing profit/loss calculations for various events that I think would really excite and engage my kiddos – for festivals, weddings, murder mystery dinners, etc. I would also like to examine the geometry involved in spacing for planting and for events.