Montcalm High School presented $25,000 grant to construct greenhouse

Sep. 28—MONTCALM — After being presented a major grant Tuesday, teachers at Montcalm High School starting eyeing the site of a future greenhouse and wondered if putting it near a back door with give their students better access.

Representatives of State Farm Insurance came to Montcalm High School to present a $25,000 grant which will help the school build a greenhouse that will be used to give the students lessons in small business skills and learn to grow their own fresh produce.

"This was part of State Farm's Neighborhood Assist Program," said local agent Brandon Disney. "They do it every year. This year, they increased the number of winners to 100; it used to be 40. We got the community behind us this time. This is about the fourth or fifth time we've tried to win this for somebody in Mercer County, but this was the first time we were able to put it all together. It's going to be used for the greenhouse here at Montcalm High School."

About 4,000 grant applications were submitted.

"They had to apply and they went through a voting process. State Farm trimmed it down, and then the community and everybody involved voted for the winner," Disney said.

Teachers Amanda Feldes and Sarah Krondon submitted the Neighborhood Assist grant application.

"We were awarded $25,000 and the teachers that applied for it, Ms. Krondon and Ms. Feldes, they have a class, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) class, and they also have a previous grant called Farm Bot where the robotics are used for watering plants and feeding," Principal Beth Stone. "So they combining all that for the greenhouse for our kids.

The future greenhouse's dimensions have not been laid out, but Stone said it would be "a pretty good size." It's dimensions will depend on factors such as the cost of labor and materials.

The greenhouse will be built on a flat area between the school and the football field so the students will have direct access, Stone said, adding that the project will start "immediately."

"We're actually working on prices and different things like that. So we're working on it now, and hopefully we'll begin construction soon," she said.

The teachers said after the presentation that they have been preparing for the project.

"We've done a lot of research on greenhouses," Feldes said. "We really want to use this money to purchase a greenhouse for our students so we can teach them how to grow their own food and become entrepreneurs."

"They will learn how to sustain themselves," Krondon stated. "When they need to grow their own food, they can pass this knowledge on to their families and their kids one day," Krondon said. "It's also going to provide healthy produce for folks who cannot or don't have access to larger areas that have grocery stores.

We'd like for the students to learn a little bit of marketing, costs, a little bit of profit," Feldes said. "We don't foresee a whole lot of profit, just to put it back into the greenhouse. We mostly want to use this for the students to consume and for their families in the community to have access to fresh food."

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., sent a letter congratulating the school.

"It is my honor as United States Senator to congratulate the students, faculty, and administration of Montcalm High School in Mercer County on receiving the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Grant for $25,000," Capito said."Although I am unable to be with you in person today, I am excited that out of 4,000 applicants, State Farm chose to award this funding to Montcalm High School to build a greenhouse."

"I would like to commend State Farm and local agent Brandon Disney for being good neighbors and investing in the communities you serve," Capito said. "I would also like to recognize Montcalm High School Principal Beth Stone and her team, especially teachers Amanda Feldes and Sarah Krondon for submitting the winning application."

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com