Tyson Aids Agriculture Students At Fayetteville High School Company donates $75,000 to equip new facilities

— Agriculture classes at Fayetteville High School recently received a big boost when Tyson Foods contributed $75,000 to the program.

The money will be divided over the next three years to pay for items such as new equipment allowing students to work with large animals, such as horses and cattle, said Bill Laney, one of three agriculture teachers at the high school.

New facilities are planned, and the program is in temporary quarters at the ALLPS Center, formerly West Campus Technical Center on Old Farmington Road.

One of the purchases likely will be a squeeze chute, which Laney described as one of the safest ways students can work with large animals. Another piece of equipment is a refrigeration unit for keeping medicines.

At A Glance

Grant Process

Each year, teachers apply to the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation for grants for supplies and programming to supplement classroom instruction. The grants are awarded in the spring. The Tyson grant will be a part of the selection process and used for programs specifically related to agriculture. In its 20-year history, the foundation has distributed more than $3 million.

Source: Fayetteville Public Education Foundation.

A student could leave high school capable of running a small cattle ranch because of the instruction he will receive at the high school, Laney said.

“This grant will get us up and working,” he said. “We were totally surprised and totally thrilled.”

The program has 390 students enrolled in agriculture classes. Laney said 500 to 600 students apply each year to take agriculture-related courses.

Superintendent Vicki Thomas said the program will have 10,850 square feet in the three-story classroom building being built on the site of the former gymnasium along Bulldog Boulevard. The facilities are expected to be ready to move into in January 2014, Laney said. The classroom building is part of a $93 million transformation of the high school.

There will be new classrooms; indoor and outdoor laboratories, including an area for live animals; a shop for gasoline engines, electronics, welding, carpentry and woodworking; an agriculture business computer laboratory and a greenhouse, Thomas said.

Once considered part of a rooftop garden area, Laney said an 1,800-square-foot greenhouse is being designed as a separate facility at ground level. A major portion of the greenhouse is paid for by a grant from 66 Credit Union.

The Tyson grant is made through the company’s corporate charitable giving program, said Brady Tackett, a Tyson spokesman.

“We’re committed to providing funds for programs that benefit students and their communities and align with our business needs,” Tackett said. “Naturally, agriculture is one of our primary focuses.” 

The Fayetteville Public Education Foundation will administer the grant.

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