In 2024, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell, Kentucky Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher and Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman spoke candidly on the expansion of farm and crop education in the state’s elementary schools — urging that agrarian knowledge, if embraced, could lead to overall higher learning.
Today, such lesson plans developed at the state level are quickly taking root in the Pennyrile — and being nurtured by students and teachers alike.
Thursday morning and afternoon in Cadiz, local, regional and state stakeholders paid visit to Trigg County Public Schools — and observed how the curriculum is being implemented in the third, fourth and fifth grades, before being further developed in high school not just through Future Farmers of America, but also in the classroom.
According to Farm Credit Mid-America’s Becky Joe Marlowe, she, John David Fourqurean, DeAnna Litchfield and others took time last year to contemplate and form a working plan based on the Shell and Coleman vision, and what it might look like in Trigg County’s classrooms — which still have to adhere to state core standards.
Turns out tilling the agriculture concepts into daily lesson plans can succeed, and a meeting with John David’s wife, Abby, a third-grade teacher, Superintendent Rex Booth, Director of Curriculum Lacey Schrock and Principal Lisa Bush has borne fruit.
Known as “the chicken lady,” because she has started hatching chicks with the students, Abby said corn, pumpkins, soybeans and pigs — their uses, best farming practices, the science and math behind it, and more — are just some of the subjects being addressed.
In fact, Thursday’s fourth grade lessons involved soil health, and how dirt changes at different depths, while fifth graders stepped out of their reading class to create “seed bombs” — before returning to their desks for prompts related to the project.
Jennifer Roeder, teacher, explained that most students prefer to learn this way — and earlier this year began work on another project called “Seed to Slice,” where the group is growing ingredients they might find on their pizza.
Reid, son of John David and Abby, was born into agriculture, yet finds the development in the classroom enriching for he and his friends.
Lee Ellen Naghtin was also born into agriculture, through Jolly Farms, but also enjoys taking away nuggets from within the walls of Trigg County Schools.
Bethany Mattingly, director of agriculture education and outreach for Kentucky’s Department of Agriculture, said Trigg County was specifically chosen for a stop during “All In For Ag” Week because of this classroom growth in Cadiz.
Marlowe, meanwhile, said bridging the Trigg County Middle School into this mission is the next step.
SEED BOMBS
Full interview with Reid Fourqurean:
Full interview with Lee Ellen Naghtin:
Full interview with Jennifer Roeder:
Full morning introduction of the visit:
Full interview with Becky Joe Marlowe and Catelyn Ellis:
Full interview with Abby Fourqurean:
