Buckeye Local hydroponics program draws state attention

Buckeye Local Junior High School’s hydroponics program has gained the attention of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, with a representative visiting the site for a closer look.

Kara Johnson, education program specialist with the Office of Nutrition, met with Principal Andy Long and district Treasurer Merri Matthews March 19 to view three towers the school acquired through a $35,000 Grow Ohio Grant this past fall.

The equipment is being used by both junior and senior high students to provide homegrown produce for the school’s foods program and cafeteria, including a lush supply of leafy greens and herbs that were ripe for picking.

The program was created by BLHS ag teacher and FFA adviser Cameron Best, who was not present for the visit, but said the Panther Produce: Growing Futures Hydroponics Lab would serve as a catalyst for agricultural career awareness and food systems learning at BLJHS.

Best worked with Long, district Superintendent Coy Sudvary, high school Principal Luke Parsons, and Dustin Pyles and Marcy Raymond of VAZA Consulting on the grant, which also expands on plans for the state-of-the-art greenhouse previously added on campus through a $25,000 windfall from the Ohio Farm Bureau, as well as Panther Farms, which will raise chickens to provide fresh eggs. Meanwhile, a corn plot and vegetable gardens were planted last spring to supply the foods programs and also give students hands-on experience in the growing process.

Long said Best will become a full-time agribusiness instructor next year, which will help generate career-tech classes in the junior high.

“We’ll have the greenhouse and Panther Farms too and [our students] will sequence right into the high school classes,” he said.

The equipment was acquired through Fork Farms of Wisconsin and added earlier this year, and plans are to boost interest in farming opportunities because it is a leading field in Ohio. Hydroponics is the ability to grow seeds without soil and uses nutrient-rich water instead.

“The plan is to harvest and use this in the cafeteria, and with the next cycle we’ll work with the culinary arts class,” Long said. “The junior high kids are excited and already talking about high school classes.”

“It’s really impressive and nice that the students get the opportunity to do it,” Johnson said. “It sounds like it is being incorporated into different curricula. It’s nice to see the hands-on, educational practice.”

She continued that she has seen hydroponic systems being utilized in many schools, and they are helpful because Ohio has brief outdoor growing seasons. Another plus is how it is being integrated into the agricultural pathways, and Johnson offered her support in working to obtain more items for the program.

“I’m so excited for the students to get to have more of this,” Johnson said. “I travel to all of the wonderful Grow Ohio Grant awardees, and Buckeye Local was one of 18 this year. It was wonderful to see how it’s being incorporated into different schools and different districts.”

“I appreciate the support from the state and having Kara Johnson come to see the hydroponics equipment firsthand, and I’m looking forward to seeing the agribusiness program take off next year,” Long said.