Western Christian High School in Hull, Iowa, has received an $8,000 grant through Farm Credit Services of America’s Working Here Fund. The funds will allow Western Christian’s agriculture program to add a greenhouse, which will allow students more opportunities for hands-on learning experiences.

Agriculture instructor Kylie Miller applied for the grant and sees the greenhouse as a great step forward for the school’s two-year-old agriculture program. “While the classroom aspect of the program focuses heavily on hands-on activities, adding the greenhouse to the program will enhance those skills and provide students with greater opportunity to apply real life agriculture experiences,” she said.

Students will be responsible for greenhouse maintenance and the botanicals raised there. Miller hopes to raise a variety of plants. “It would be really cool to have mum sales during the fall as well as a spring garden sale. No matter what we grow, the greenhouse will allow students to see how various plants grow and what they offer,” she said.

Western Christian High School is one of 20 organizations to receive an expanded Working Here Fund grant. FCSAmerica awarded a total of $100,470 to support projects focused on agricultural education, hunger and nutrition, young and beginning producers, or essential services and rural disaster relief.

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