BOE Plans Farm in City
Source: 13WMAZ.com, by Jake Wade
November 15, 2007
The Houston County Board of Education plans to build a farm in the middle of the county's largest city.
The board wants to turn a 32 acre site on Elberta Road in Warner Robins into a farm for Northside High School's agriculture students.
It's a learning tool that Virgil Blalock, agriculture teacher at Northside High, says will give inner city students the same opportunities already offered in rural parts of the county.
Ag student at Perry High Danielle Clearwater exercised her pig, Clyde, at the FFA barn on Thursday. She said, "It just exercises them, gets their muscles big, so when they sell them, they make more money off of them."
She makes a trip to the farm each day to care for Clyde. Clearwater said, "He's a fun pig and loves his belly scratched, and he passes out when I do it, and snores like dog." Clearwater and her classmates know things like that about their animals through hands on experience.
Those same opportunities are not yet available to agriculture students at Northside High. Ag teacher at Northside Virgil Blalock said, "We are an inner city school and our kids really haven't been around the farm and ag atmosphere."
Blalock said the school's greenhouse in the shadows of the football practice field is his only hands on teaching tool. The program's doubled in size to 150 students in the past two years, but opportunities for students stayed the same.
Senior Rajeena Albert said a farm could make the program bloom. She said, "One, more people would be interested because you get to get out of school to go to the farm, and two, it would definitely help us with competitions because you have more hands on action."
Facilities Director for the county Dave McMahan said the school system already owns the land for the new farm on Elberta Road. They're waiting for the city of Warner Robins to annex the property before students begin using it.
Agriculture students will build and develop everything on the property over a ten year period. The school system hopes to receive money from the Department of Education for building supplies.
The farm is intended for Northside students, but county director for agricultural education Barbara Wall said Warner Robins High students might be able to use it as well.
Nearly 600 students enrolled in the county's agriculture program this year.
