Students sow good seeds

Agriculture classes and local FFA chapter students at Jay County High School handed out between 300 and 400 flat vegetables to Community and Family Services Thursday morning as the end of a semester-long program they called “the Community Garden.”
Students gathered in the greenhouse behind the high school and loaded about four to five trucks with plants that Don Cole, community services specialist with CFS, would later distribute to the community garden located behind Jay County Hospital and to food bank clientele.
This is the second year the agriculture class at Jay County worked on its Community Garden program, this year doubling the number of plants.
Brittany Bridges, one of the teachers and advisor to the FFA, said that although the program was successful last year, it did not have financial support.
“It was a financial burden for us, so this year we looked for grants that could help us,” she said.
The class received $3,500 from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National FFA Organization this year.
The grant, called “Living to Serve,” is given to local FFA chapters that work on programs helping the community.
Students at the class started planting the seeds in January, and they dedicated their time to the vegetables almost on a daily basis, senior student Megan Taylor said.
“We gave about an hour or so to help, after school or during class.”
Cole, who was at the greenhouse as the students loaded the trucks, said he was pleased with the class’s efforts to give to the community.
“Everybody here gets involved,” he said. “We live in a great community.”[[In-content Ad]]