BUFFALO - Putnam County's agriculture program showed their facilities to state and local leaders Wednesday.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture, state school board members, and multiple local leaders visited Buffalo High School as part of an event for National FFA Week. Students were able to also present a business plan and network with leaders.
The program, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, was relaunched at Buffalo in 2012 after being defunct for more than 40 years at the school. Since then the program has received multiple state and national awards. Nearly 50 students are involved with the chapter this year.
Danielle Grant, the agriculture science teacher at the school, said in the past students at the school didn't realize agriculture careers were an option because they were never presented to them.
While some students go on to careers in agriculture, others don't. Grant said FFA still taught them lessons they'll use for a lifetime.
"It's a leadership organization. They're leaving here with skills that I hope will take them into any career and help them be successful," Grant said.
She said the program requires students to get their hands dirty - literally and figuratively.
The classes Grant teaches focus on plant-based agriculture. The program partners with multiple organizations, including West Virginia State University, Buffalo Senior Center, Lakin Women's Prison and Gritt's Midway Greenhouse in Eleanor, to provide fresh produce.
"It's a very hands-on type of learning. It's one thing to explain a scientific concept, it's another to take the kids to the greenhouse and show them how plants grow," Grant said.
Students are now trying to grow multiple plants using aquaponics through a partnership with WVSU. The project involves 40 catfish growing under different crops.
Corey Tucker, a senior in the program, comes in to check on the newest crop, mustard greens, regularly including during his weekends. He said he enjoys testing new things, and seeing what works.
"By the end of the spring all the trays in the greenhouse will be full of plants, and it's amazing to see the growth during the season," Tucker said.
West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt said Buffalo's program impressed him.
"If we want to promote agriculture, what a great way to promote agriculture. They will actually be informed consumers when they graduate, whether they're doing agriculture or not," Leonhardt said.
He hopes more counties throughout the state would institute similar programs. Leonhardt believes if schools statewide place a higher focus on agriculture education, the state would improve significantly.
"If everybody did that, we'd have a better understanding of where our food comes from, I think we would have savings in the health care industry further on down the road because everybody would be eating more local foods, fresh foods," Leonhardt said.
More than 4,600 students statewide are involved in FFA, according to the Department of Agriculture. Sixty-eight high schools and ten middle schools in West Virginia sponsor FFA chapters.
Reach Ali Schmitz at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @SchmitzMedia on Twitter.