Like Maple Syrup?? Last year, UCASD was made aware of an opportunity to apply for additional equipment for our CTE program in General Agriculture. There were quite a few stipulations and parameters with the funds, so our team had to really put our heads together about how we could use these funds to take our program to the next level. After conversations with our new Agriculture teacher, Mr. Matthew Colwell, and after reflecting back on some of our Occupational Advisory Committee meetings and the work we’ve been doing, we “put our hats in the ring” to procure a top-of-the-line Corsair maple evaporator through Smoky Lake Products in Wisconsin… Well…We got it! Whoohoooo!!! We secured the funds and made the finalized purchases this summer, and our brand new equipment arrived on campus on Wednesday, July 30! We will now be working within our Agriculture program supply budget, our FFA budget and fundraisers, and other grants (including another grant directly from Smoky Lake Maple Products to help us “get on our feet”) to bring maple syrup production right here to our campus, where we have a host of maple trees to tap. There is a LONG road of careful planning ahead, but our team is excited to have this one large purchase completely covered through grant funds so that we can add this additional element to our program and to our community. Smoky Lake Maple Products will work with us over the next couple of months on ensuring we can get this program up and running, and to say that our Ag teacher–who taps and makes his own maple syrup and knows the process–and our team is excited would be an understatement! This is only one small step with many more ahead through program funds and grants, but it is an exciting one we wanted to share with you!
Maple Treat!
July 31, 2025