In the San Luis Obispo High School Agricultural Department, students conduct Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects each trimester for five percent of their grade. SAE projects consist of at least ten hours of work, dedicated to what the student is interested in. SLOHS sophomore Tate Isaacs took his project to the next level.

  “For my SAE project I decided to do something I really enjoy, trail maintenance. This involved going out to trail maintenance work days and workshops,” said Isaacs. 

  Isaacs turned his passion for mountain biking into his project by learning the science and techniques of building trails, focusing on the natural resource management proficiency area. Getting to work with professional trail builders, he worked on improving already existing trails to make them more sustainable and user friendly, and created new sections of trail.

  “This helped the community because many people enjoy riding trails around SLO and if it wasn’t for the work of volunteers then there would be no trails for us to enjoy. In addition, working on trails gives you a greater appreciation of the work it takes to create them and therefore you respect them more when you ride, hike, walk, run, or horseback ride,” said Isaacs. 

  SAE projects are allowing students to branch out into workfields and gain experience through hands on learning. 

  “This SAE project also motivated me to get out and do more trail work then I would have normally and it gave me connections with people that could definitely help me if I would like to pursue a career in this avenue later on in my life,” said Isaacs. 

  Last year, Isaacs won first place in the Division 1 Placement Project competition in the San Luis Obispo Section. SLOHS wishes him the best of luck this year on his SAE project!