Honesdale High School's successful Ag program yields seven graduating seniors

Honesdale High School's Agriculture Program was highlighted at the Feb. 13 Wayne Highlands school board meeting, honoring the program's seven graduating seniors. All FFA members, these were the most to date in any one senior class. This successful program is in its seventh year.

The Ag Program was also represented the day before at the 2024 Wayne County Ag Day hosted by Penn State Extension. After being held at the county fairgrounds for two years, this annual exposition returned to the high school on Presidents Day, a school holiday.

Agricultural education was restored in 2017, after a lapse of 64 years. The program is one of the Career & Technical Education (CTE) curriculum tracks, designed to inspire and enable students to pursue an agricultural field.

Instructor Kayla Pohle said that approximately 50 students are enrolled this school year, grades 9-12. Classes include Introduction to Agriculture, Animal Science, Horticulture, Forestry, Agriculture Mechanics and Agriculture Business.

All the students are automatically members of FFA, formerly standing for Future Farmers of America, but now encompassing a broader range related to agriculture. FFA is a nationwide youth organization inspiring leadership and careers in all agricultural facets.

The FFA chapter has partnered with Billy’s New Hope Barn, Wayne County Farm Bureau and the Cooperage Project for service projects. Field trips are taken locally and to national and state FFA events.

In 2019, a greenhouse was erected at the high school primarily serving the Ag Program. Horticulture is an integral part, Pohle stated. Students taking this class receive a science credit and help manage the greenhouse. "The greenhouse is aquaponic and soil-based greenhouse and we are branching into hydroponics this spring," she said. Weekly they harvest lettuce, Swiss chard and kale, and various herbs. Flowers and vegetable plants are grown for their spring sale. Produce is sold to local businesses, marketed by students.

The greenhouse is occasionally used by middle and elementary school classes, which have done small projects as well as The Cooperage Project, St. Dominick's Academy and a STEM teacher education course. Art and science teachers have used it. 

"It is also a spot for community engagement where we host our wreath making workshop every Christmas season," Pohle said.

Superintendent Greg Frigoletto commented at the board meeting that around nine years ago, the administration discussed possible new CTE programs. Coincidentally, the county was undertaking an Agriculture Feasibility Study to see how agriculture could be restored to prominence in Wayne County. 

Having researched the many emerging occupations that could come from an agricultural school program, Frigoletto and Assistant Superintendent Timothy Morgan traveled to Penn State and met seniors studying agriculture. After meeting with the board and developing ideas for an ag program, they interviewed a handful of Penn State graduates who might be interested in instructing the program here.

One of them, Kayla Hack, was hired (and has since married, becoming Kayla Pohle). "She immediately... immersed herself in the community and built a program," he said. "This general ag program we were developing would hopefully develop into a broad spectrum of ideas and possibilities in the agricultural world. Every year that we have seniors graduating that are going into that program, a high percentage of them are going into that field and are doing many different things."

Frigoletto said that as FFA members, the students become individuals who learn to present themselves and get things done. A wonderful experience, he said, was attending the Pennsylvania Farm Show, where FFA students from across the state bonded together.

The school board monthly honors three seniors with exemplary academics. Honesdale High School Principal Peter Jordan said this month was unique in that all three are FFA members: Carter Kennedy, Drew Rutledge and Gillian Goldstein. "Our FFA program has stood out above and beyond what anybody expected," he said, recognizing all seven FFA seniors, each wearing their blue FFA jacket. The other four are Caleb Bryant, Courtney Crum, Aurora Dutton and Roz Maciejewski.

All seven received the Keystone Award, the top FFA prize, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January. The qualifications are investing over $1,000 or working 300 hours in a supervised agricultural experience outside the classroom; doing 25 hours of community service and attending at least 15 FFA events. Pohle said collectively, these students have spent approximately $38,000 and worked 1,500 volunteer hours over four years.

Drew Rutledge won the FFA's Star Farm Award for the Northern Region. Raised on his family farm in Damascus Township, Drew said he wants to continue as a farmer.

He actively breeds small farm animals and sells them to 4-H members who raise them to show at the Wayne County Fair, where they sell them at the livestock auction which benefits scholarships. He also shows and sells his animals privately at area fairs. Drew said he hopes to sell raw milk, which has a high market value.

"Drew is buying and selling all the time," Pohle said. "At the county fair a year or two ago... it wasn't Drew that was showing the Grand Champion and brought in thousands of dollars, it was one he sold to another kid."

Courtney Crum was the first in her school Ag Program to go to the National FFA Agriscience Fair and was a national finalist for her project, making saddle soap.

Carter Kennedy, whose family has a beef farm in Torrey, is president of the local FFA chapter. He plans to attend Penn State with the goal of teaching agriculture.

"It's nice to see there are people who still care about agriculture and still want to help it grow," Kennedy said.

Aurora Dutton said she plans to attend Penn State and be an agriculture teacher. She is secretary of the FFA chapter. Dutton, who lives on a beef farm in Damascus Township, said that she loves working with horses.

Honesdale Union School District, forerunner of Wayne Highlands, had a vocational agriculture department from 1946 until 1960 when it was disbanded for lack of student interest.

The next two closest Pennsylvania school districts with ag programs are in Tunkhannock and Wilkes-Barre, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) 2017 report on agriculture education. Agriculture is a $135 billion industry facing an aging workforce, PDE states.

More about Pennsylvania FFA is found at paffa.org.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: 7 Honesdale seniors graduating from Ag program, most so far