A recent announcement at the December Greene County School Board meeting is allowing a project to come to fruition at the high school. Principal Karen Shannon says the greenhouse has needed some updates for a while and with the help of the Max Johnson Educational Trust, $63,500 has been committed to do the work. Shannon tells Raccoon Valley Radio, Max Johnson was a Greene County farmer and when he passed away, the money from the crops on his farmland was to be used for different educational aspects, specifically geared towards Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
Shannon points out that Dustin and Doug Fouch cash rent Johnson's land and at the end of last school year was the first time the proceeds from the trust were accessible, and the Fouchs agreed to allocate the total amount needed for expenses on the greenhouse toward that project. She says, typically the trust has only one allocation period in the spring, and because of legal reasons, everyone agreed this was a good need to fulfill.
High School Agriculture Instructor Steve Kehoe has over 30 years of experience teaching ag and says the ventilation system is currently not functioning properly with the greenhouse, along with needing to upgrade the electrical and install a smaller cooler, among other things. He found a company called Stuppy Greenhouse in Missouri who provided the quote that the trust is covering.
Superintendent Brett Abbotts is impressed with the efforts of Kehoe, coming back out of retirement, to help transition into next school year when a more permanent individual is hired.
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