Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
garpal ag grant
Pictured, left to right, are: Mark Sawyer - Gar/Pal Ag teacher and FFA advisor, Travis Frey - Monsanto representative and grant presenter with his daughter, Victoria Welch - FFA president, Tulip O'Neill - FFA vice president, Payson Griner - FFA reporter, Ainslee Marcus - FFA treasurer, Taylor Jones - FFA secretary, Emily Bagott - FFA vice president, Tanner Anderson - FFA sentinel, Jiggs Anderson - FFA booster member and nominating farmer, and Mike Patrick - Gar/Pal Ag teacher and FFA advisor.
A $25,000 grant from Monsanto will help pay for a new greenhouse at Garfield/Palouse High School.
Announced Sept. 2, the funding is part of an annual program which awards one $25,000 grant and one $10,000 grant to ag programs in Washington.
A group of six area farmers nominated Garfield/Palouse High School for the award, led by Jiggs Anderson.
Before the grant came through, the school and ag teacher Mike Patrick had a working budget of $50,000 to build an 18x36 greenhouse, using school building funds from a bond passed last year and a $3,000 grant from Northwest Farm Credit Services.
“Right now we are looking at going larger, up to another $20,000,” Patrick said. “Probably a 30x36 or 30x40. Colton has a 24x36, and they say it's too small,” Patrick said.
The Palouse school now uses an 11x30 greenhouse, built in 1994, which will be used for wood and metal storage once the new facility is built.
Added room by way of a new greenhouse will allow the space for Patrick to teach a separate class for horticulture.
“It creates a lot of awesome opportunities for kids,” he said.
The new building, which is slated to be built next spring, will be in a former sheep pasture above the ag shop.
Monsanto is an American multinational agriculture company based in St. Louis, Mo.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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