March 29, 2024

Murray schools will construct greenhouse to grow produce with $10,000 grant

MURRAY – Murray Community School District has received a $10,000 grant from America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.

The district will use the money to build a greenhouse, which will serve as an innovative way to teach students about food production. Additionally, the greenhouse will serve as a resource to further connect students within the district and foster a partnership with the larger Murray community.

Within the student body, the greenhouse will enhance the district’s curriculum for agriculture science and engineering (CASE) program, help create a mentoring program for high school students, educate elementary students about food and plant nutrition and provide hands-on learning opportunities for students across the district.

Within the Murray community, the district plans to have the greenhouse serve as a resource for gardening and landscaping needs in the community. The school district is working with the Clarke County Community Garden and certified master gardeners in the area to help guide the project.

“We want to broaden our students’ education by offering these experiences, and to once again drive home the values of producing local food,” said Susannah Miller, agriculture education instructor. “It’s important to incorporate our community members and resources to help our students grow their own food.”

Farmers who nominated the school district and representatives from the school and the Monsanto Fund attended a check presentation to celebrate the grant prior to the home volleyball game Sept. 8.

This year the school district also received an educational starter kit from Monsanto Company to help establish a pollinator garden, which will give students first-hand knowledge of the critical role habitat plays in providing bees and butterflies with food, shelter and places to lay eggs.

Since 2011, Grow Rural Education has awarded more than $9 million to help keep rural public school districts growing. The program works with farmers to nominate public school districts to compete for math and science grants of $10,000 or $25,000. Grant applications are reviewed and finalists selected by a panel of teachers. Winning applications are chosen by an advisory council comprised of farmers from across the U.S.

Visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com to see the full list of winners for this year. A sister program, America's Farmers Grow Communities, is currently enrolling farmers for 2016. To sign up, visit www.GrowCommunities.com before Nov. 30.

These programs are part of the America’s Farmers initiative. The America’s Farmers campaign and programs have advocated on behalf of farmers and their efforts to meet society’s needs through agriculture.

Today, consumers are more interested than ever in agriculture and how food is grown. Farmers and others in the industry are joining in on the conversation to help raise awareness about agriculture and share their stories with their communities. Learn more at cfiengage.org.