West Hills College Coalinga adds ag teachers to Farm of the Future

The number of faculty at the state-of-the-art facility in Coalinga expanded to include newcomers Tim Ellsworth, Ph.D., Sherri Freeman and Norman Oilar.

“West Hills College Coalinga understands that agriculture is an important part of our history, but more importantly, it is critical for our future,” said Carole Goldsmith, president of WHCC. “We must ensure that our largest economic sector has the high-skilled workforce it needs to continue to lead the nation.”

Goldsmith said that with the help of newly added faculty, WHCC will continue to employ innovative practices to train students and integrate new programs to fulfill industry demand.

 “California produces nearly half of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the U.S., and demand continues to grow for Valley-grown products,” Goldsmith said.

Ellsworth came to West Hills College Coalinga as an agriculture technology instructor from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He taught there for 23 years and also served as faculty director of the online M.S. program for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science.

A Fresno native, Freeman returned to the Central Valley from San Diego County. She taught at Warner High School in Warner Springs, Calif., for 17 years, during which time she developed a new agriculture program with UC-approved curriculum. Freeman is currently enrolled in a distance doctorate program through Texas A&M and Texas Tech University in agriculture education and communication.

Oilar began teaching agriculture education in 1996 and is knowledgeable in the areas of agricultural mechanics, animal science, agricultural business and natural resources. He previously taught welding in the agricultural mechanics program at Greenville High School and Feather River College. Oilar also brings 25 years’ experience in the construction trades industry to the WHC Farm of the Future.

The introduction of these new faculty members will help WHCC achieve some of its goals for the Farm of the Future.

“We will expand our pest control advisor, ag engineering and welding programs, redesign our heavy equipment, industrial maintenance program, and agriculture business,” said Goldsmith. “We will bring on new programs based on industry demand. We are exploring water technician, environmental studies and range management.”