Hailed as a one-of-a-kind agricultural school, the Locust Trace AgriScience Farm (LTAF) celebrated its first year with a recent grand opening and ribbon-cutting, bringing agriculture and education officials from around the state together for the event.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer was one of the many dignitaries on hand for the ceremony. He told staff, students and visitors the school was something that would provide a great return for many years to come.
“I’d like to emphasize to the students how fortunate you are to have a facility like this and how fortunate you are to have instructors and teachers that are knowledgeable in agriculture and in cutting-edge technology in agrisciences,” he said. “This is a unique facility — a one-of-a-kind facility in the United States — and it’s here in Fayette County, and you should be very proud of that.”
He also told students that there is a demand for the things they will learn through the programs taught at the school.
“We need more people involved in agriculture,” Comer said. “We’re trying to inspire a new generation of young people to have careers in agriculture, and Locust Trace will be very important in your development, whether you further your education or go directly into a career in agriculture. There’s a demand for that, and this school will help meet that demand.”
LTAF teacher Todd Harp knows firsthand the importance of such a facility and said the new school is phenomenal. Harp added that with Locust Trace’s opening, agriculture education has become a priority.
“Sometimes in agriculture we often tell our story to each other, but we don’t educate other people outside of the agricultural field,” he said. “We are all active participants in agriculture at least three times a day, every time we eat, and I think sometimes we fail to realize the importance [of that] to the younger generation.”
Harp also said he recognizes the fact that most of his students won’t go into full-time production agriculture, but they will make consumer decisions involving agricultural issues and the school will mean a lot to them.
“This is going to give [students] the opportunity to be exposed to agriculture; they’re going to be aware of where their food comes from and they are going to have a better understanding of how agriculture plays a huge role in their everyday life,” he said.
But the attention the facility is receiving goes well beyond ag officials or local teachers.
At least two groups, one from Alabama and one from Illinois, have visited the school and have left in awe of the facility and what it will mean to agriculture education.
Ben Maples, an agriculture teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor from Sulligent High School in northwest Alabama, brought his students to the school last February after learning about it from his uncle, Dave Maples, who is the executive director of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association. Ben Maples said the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of his students.
“My students were able to go through the whole school and were really impressed just to see the comparison from what we have to what Locust Trace is,” he said. “I teach a lot of different things, and Locust Trace is more specialized in each area of ag. My students liked seeing the different specializations.”
Maples added that most of his students, coming from a small, rural area, were interested to see what agriculture education was like in another state.
“They came back with so many ideas of things we can do with our program, and that has been really beneficial. I learned a lot, too, just to see how we can keep growing our program,” he said.
Maples emphasized another reason for the trip was to introduce his students to others involved in agriculture and build a network with people who have the same interests.
“Just to have our two FFAs interact with each other, that’s really beneficial,” he said.
Maples said he would like to return to Locust Trace and perhaps have its students visit his program and see what agriculture in rural Alabama is like, exposing the students to as much as possible.
Brandy Krapf, a teaching associate and undergraduate advising coordinator for the agriculture education program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, recently brought a group of future agriculture educators to LTAF. She typically leads a spring field trip for the students, who decided this year they wanted to go to Kentucky. Krapf said after doing a little research, she discovered Locust Trace and wanted to make that a stop on the tour.
“Our students were blown away by LTAF,” she said. “They were amazed, realizing it was an urban program, and couldn’t believe the endless opportunities there and what the students were getting. The facilities are outstanding. The teachers seemed so passionate for the programs and the students and for what they are doing.”
Krapf added that many of her students said, after the visit, they were ready to move to Kentucky and teach at Locust Trace.
She also said a school like this is important in teaching others there is more to agriculture than just farming. Through the school, she added, students can learn of the opportunities and prepare for careers in Kentucky, Illinois or anywhere in the country.
The next bit of attention for the school will come by way of Kentucky’s first lady Jane Beshear, who is celebrating a new Governor’s Garden to be planted at the school and tended by it students.
The gardens were designed to promote growing food locally by schools, local organizations, businesses and communities in an effort to promote the health and economical benefits of community gardens.
For more information about LTAF, check online at http://www.techcenters.fcps.net/locusttrace.