In a field just north of Franklin Community High School, what was once just a vision has come to life with rows and rows of vegetables and a coop filled with dozens of chickens.
Just a couple years ago, the field was just a backdrop for the high school, full of weeds and otherwise empty land. But in 2019, teachers and FFA members got to work, bringing animals and vegetables from the land to students’ cafeteria trays. They transformed it into a nine-acre garden, and in the coming years, it will become a full-blown farm.
The program got a boost from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School grant, which gave the high school an additional $72,497 to work with. The money will help pay for a part-time coordinator, who will manage the garden and organize the transfer of food to the cafeteria. Franklin schools will spend some of the money on equipment and training, to make it easier for cafeteria staff to work with raw proteins and vegetables. Other plans for the money include an aquaponics system and a hoop house, said Alcia Geesey, the high school’s agriculture teacher.
The school’s cafeteria started serving vegetables grown in the garden this spring. Next spring, students will be able to eat chickens from the farm, the first protein to come from the school’s farm-to-table program.
Norman Tuholski, a sophomore and vice president of the school’s FFA program, is one of about 220 students in the agriculture program, which now includes some students from Franklin Community Middle School as well.
“I was born on a farm. I’ve always wanted to do it, and once I got to high school I was able to do FFA,” Tuholski said. “We go over a lot of stuff: how to take care of animals properly (and) how they behave depending on how they’re taken care of. Today, we went through the garden and picked (food). Some kids are planting pumpkins we can have for later or just taking care of the chickens.”
Fruits and vegetables in the garden include blackberries, raspberries, peppers, tomatoes, corn, squash and pumpkins. Students are also planting apple trees and, if they raise enough money, may build a barn in the future that includes a classroom, lab, and space for chickens and cattle, Geesey said.
Since 2019, the school’s agriculture program has more than doubled to about 220 students from about 100, she said.
The friendly aura of the program has helped foster that growth, said Tank Elmore, a sophomore.
“It’s a welcoming environment,” Elmore said. “There’s a lot of great people you can meet and activities to do.”
