Trevor Horn teaches agriculture and food science at Reynoldsburg High School. He’s also a GrowNextGen teacher leader and has presented at several GNG events. His district will receive $91,000 in federal grant money to expand farming learning experiences in an urban setting.
The US Department of Agriculture recognizes the value of Horn’s program, awarding him this grant as part of the department’s $12 million investment in Farm to School Grants this year.
An unused tennis court is now a thriving space with watermelons, peppers, and all types of food that the district uses in its classrooms. “The grant money will be used to upgrade my classroom kitchen equipment, for solar panels for climate control in our greenhouse, for an irrigation system, and to work on promoting biodiversity in our growing space with the hope for a few honey bee hives,” Horn said. Students will also be hired to care for the garden during summer.
“The benefit of having students involved in our program is directly connecting them with the efforts growers and other local producers put in to supply us with the foods we eat on a daily basis,” Horn said.
“Since we’ve started this, I have constantly been inspired by the ‘a-ha’ moments students have when they realize that nearly everything in their day-to-day lives is related to agriculture and provided by farmers. I love to see the lightbulb come on when they connect that it all starts with a seed. We emphasize deeper learning opportunities for constant improvement and we challenge students to think of ways we can all be more sustainable.”
