Published: November 06, 2009 11:34 am      

Kazakhstan business leaders visit Comanche

COMANCHE — When Oklahoma State University was looking for a school to discuss agriculture education with business leaders from Kazakhstan, OSU looked to Comanche High School.

CHS was chosen because it is a school that excels in Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAE) by raising and showing animals. The Kazakhstan visitors went to several schools to get an example of agriculture in Oklahoma and the United States.

Several CHS agriculture students, including Courtney Wright, Jessica Chapman and Andrew Aldridge, were given a chance to discuss their trade with the business leaders Oct. 28. They spent about 1 1/2 hours taking about Comanche’s agriculture.

“They were really interested in sheep production,” Wright said.

CHS FFA teacher Jacey Fye said Kazakhstan’s agriculture isn’t as advanced as agriculture in the United States. For the business leaders, the visit to CHS was a learning experience, a chance for them to see how they could improve agriculture in their country.

Wright said the visitors were surprised to find that sheep could be strengthened by running on a treadmill. They were also interested in finding out about how much money can be made by selling the meat of sheep.

The students also got an opportunity to talk about Comanche’s sheep dairy, which is one of only a few.

“They were eager to hear about it,” Wright said.

In all, 11 people, including one interpreter, came to visit the school. While the business leaders were getting an opportunity to learn, the CHS students got the chance to interact with another culture.

“It’s need for me to meet people from another country,” Wright said.

Chapman said she also liked getting to meet the business leaders, some of whom were unable to speak any English. Those who could speak English were limited to the basics of the English language.

The students said each time they talked, they had to go sentence by sentence to allow the interpreter an opportunity to convey what they were saying to the visitors.

Fye said she was impressed with how the students handled themselves, whether discussing agriculture or giving speeches.

“I was really honored OSU chose us,” Fye said. “The students did an excellent job.”