After school district cuts agriculture position, community raises funds to pay for teacher

Many schools have turned to agriculture, opening greenhouses or growing their own gardens to supply food to students or raise funds by selling products to the community. Others have created programs or teaching positions to make sure students learn the importance of agriculture, especially in counties or states that rely heavily on the business.

These programs have become important tools for the school and community. So when a school in Northern Kentucky cut its agriculture teacher position because of a financial crisis, the community rallied together to start a non-profit organization to pay for the position, Valarie Honeycutt Spears reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. (Wikipedia photo: Fleming County, Kentucky)

Adam Hinton, president of A Better Community Foundation, said the group "raised $48,000 for Fleming County Schools to fully fund an Agriculture Education teacher for the 2014-15 school year," Spears writes. "Tracy Moran teaches in the new agriculture education program at Simons Middle School and at Fleming County High School, where Hinton said more than 58 percent of students participate in agricultural education programs each year."

Moran, whose courses cover agricultural enrichment, animal science and crop plants, told Spears, "I've never seen a community come together for agricultural heritage more than Fleming County." Spears writes, "Whether or not Fleming County students go into agriculture as an occupation, Hinton said, 'it touches all of our lives, all of our hearts and definitely our tables.'" (Read more)

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/10/10/3474465_fleming-county-non-profit-promotes.html?sp=/99/164/&rh=1#storylink=cpy