Oak Hill Middle School Agriculture Instructor and Future Farmers of America advisor Sharon Reeves restarted the agriculture program seven years ago and has worked to transform it.
“We started with very minimal [resources] on campus, only a greenhouse and about 12 raised beds that had deteriorated. We replaced them and started some drip irrigation beds to increase the total number of beds to 18,” said Reeves. “I previously worked in Tifton at a research experiment station and saw how they were running their vegetable production. I mimicked their production and ran with it.”
The school grows produce year-round, alternating between summer and winter crops. During the breaks and off-season of school, Reeves cares for the garden full-time.
During the school year, students volunteer and assist with the care. All of the produce is sent home with students, used in the classroom, or donated to the school community.
While in her care, Reeves has made multiple additions to the garden, including 10 berry boxes, grapevines, perennial beds beside the drip beds, and a chicken coop.
“This year we are adding a strawberry bed to produce more strawberries than what we have because everybody eats them,” said Reeves.
“The last recent addition was the chicken coop.
My expertise is in plant science, but we started raising baby chicks in August 2024 and in January they started laying their own eggs.
We have roosters so these are fertilized eggs, and students are able to observe them and watch them hatch. We have about 10 hatching incubators in our room.”
According to Reeves, when chicks become about two to three days old, they go into an adoption program. The school has adopted out 350 chicks and will continue with adoptions for the foreseeable future.
“We started by allowing students in my classroom to adopt chicks and that expanded to the entire school. The program has since grown to include requests from community members wishing to adopt chicks,” said Reeves. “We saw there was a need in the community due to the bird flu and other circumstances, so this is a way to help the community. In addition, we recently separated our coop so in August we will start having edible eggs in production.”
Another active part of the garden is using hydroponics to grow vegetables. Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without soil, using nutrient- rich water solutions.
Currently, students are growing lettuce.
“My main goal is to have the students grow their own produce and take it home. They’re learning about where their food comes from, alternatives to growing food, why selfgrown food is healthier, and more. They’re learning the basics of plant and animal science, some forestry, and other topics that will feed into the agriculture program at the high school level,” said Reeves. “A future goal of the program I hope to achieve is to be able to host a small farmers market during the summer with the extra produce to teach more about the business side of agriculture and help the community. This program is made to be educational and beneficial to both the school and county.”
The program is funded and expanded through grants applied to by Reeves. Grants have allowed the program to expand the garden to include new plants, incorporate landscaping projects around the school, acquire hydroponic and aquaponic growing methods, teach students to use drones, and more.
“I always have a waiting list for my class. Students continue to want to join the class, and to return, so I try to add something new to the program each year,” said Reeves.
“Our program is a feeder program to the high school. So, they learn the basics with me and that is expanded in high school and it may encourage them to pursue a career in agriculture or at least a hobby in growing their own food. There’s a need for an agricultural workforce. Forestry and nursery landscaping are big in our area, as an example.”
For her dedication to the program, Reeves has received the Pursuit of Excellence award from the Baldwin County School District, School of the Week award from 13WMAZ, Making the Grade award from WGXA, and been recognized during Georgia Teachers Initiative Week 49 by Spotlight. In total she has accumulated a total of $48,000 in grants over the last four years.
Reeves plans to apply for future grants to add tabletop ovens to take food outside and explore new recipes, acquire leadership activities and programming, and acquire rabbits and quail to add to the livestock.
As each year passes, the agriculture program will continue to grow and Reeves plans to continue being its full-time caretaker year-round.