A Lebanon County school district will benefit from a grant announced Jan. 6 by state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.
Redding, along with Labor & Industry Secretary Nancy A. Walker, announced $501,123 in PA Farm Bill Agriculture & Youth Grants awarded to 58 organizations in 29 counties. The projects that are funding, a release from the state Department of Agriculture said, “will empower youth to succeed in Pennsylvania’s $132.5 billion agriculture industry.”
Redding, in his remarks, said young people “hold the energy and potential that will power Pennsylvania tomorrow. … Our investments in agriculture education today will help Pennsylvania agriculture businesses meet increasingly complex challenges tomorrow.”
This is the sixth year that Gov. Josh Shapiro has budgeted in the Ag & Youth Grants through the PA Farm Bill. Since 2019, the release said, Ag & Youth Grants have invested $3 million in 315 projects statewide.
“By investing in our young people through education and workforce development initiatives, the Shapiro Administration is investing in powering Pennsylvania’s bright future,” Walker said in the release. “We are setting our Commonwealth up for success by making targeted investments in programs that teach students the skills they need for careers with family-sustaining wages and benefits in growing fields, including – and especially – agriculture.”
In Lebanon County, the grant program awarded $7,500 to Cedar Crest High School for welding gear and lab tools.
“This grant will serve Cedar Crest High School students enrolled in our agricultural courses including FFA members,” Philip Haussener, Agricultural Science instructor and FFA adviser at Cedar Crest, said in the grant application. “Our efforts to expose as many students as possible to careers in various trades has increased the usage of our safety gear. Receiving this grant would eliminate students sharing safety gear within courses and between periods. Sharing gear has sanitary concerns and is an inefficient use of the student’s limited time in class.”
Haussener noted that Cedar Crest’s state-approved agricultural program has been active in the district since the 1960s. Currently, he said, the district has six ag courses with three teachers and more than 200 students enrolled in the program.
The grant will buy 30 welding helmets, 30 sets of welding gloves and 30 welding coats, the application said, as well as various electrical tools, wire and components.
“Receiving this grant would each student in the program to have their own set of safety equipment to use for the duration of the course,” Haussener said in the application.
“At the conclusion of the course, the gear would get washed/sanitized and assigned to another student. This would accomplish three goals: increase the lifespan of the equipment, increase the student’s time spent welding, and decrease risk of sanitary concerns through sharing of equipment. Furthermore, for the electrical tools, we have seen an increase in the need of electricians in our area. We are trying to expose the students to this career field more by wiring various common circuits. With this equipment, students will be able to properly wire five common circuits with proper electrical wiring tools.”
Since taking office, according to the release, Shapiro has invested $13.8 million each year in the PA Farm Bill, continuing support for Pennsylvania’s Commission for Agriculture Education Excellence and supporting youth education and workforce development initiatives. PA Farm Bill Ag and Youth Grants provide direct funding of up to $7,500 and matching grants of up to $25,000 to support projects, programs, and equipment purchases by youth-run organizations, and those with programs that benefit youth or promote agriculture, community leadership, vocational training, and peer networking.
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