Gifft Hill School Recognized for EARTH Farming Program at Agricultural Fair

 

 

Dr. David Minner of Gifft Hill School, left, and Jon Mahoney of Iowa State University display the $600 prize won at the St. Thomas-St. John Agriculture and Food Fair on Saturday, Nov. 22. Gifft Hill School was one of four public and private schools awarded by FINTRAC for work promoting youth engagement in farming and horticultural projects.

 

ST. THOMAS — A five year old program at the Gifft Hill Schol designed to give students the link between food from the ground and food on the plate received special recognition at the 2014 St. Thomas-St. John Agriculture and Food Fair.

Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen presented Dr. Dave Minner from Gifft Hill School a check for $600 for his work with the EARTH program. Gifft Hill School was one of four district schools honored for farming and horticulture programs. EARTH stands for Education And Resiliency Through Horticulture.

The check presentation occurred Nov. 22 on the grounds of Reichhold Center on St. Thomas, on the first day of the two-day event. Dr. Kwame Garcia, state director of the UVI Cooperative Extension Service said he brought some agronomists to Gifft Hill School and to the Ivanna Eudora High School on St. Thomas to observe youth-based programs during July’s convention of the Caribbean Food Crops Society.

“Everybody was so impressed,” Garcia said.

 “The program is only five years old and it’s a gardening and kitchen program,” Minner said as he accepted the award. “But only when we hooked up with the University of the Virgin Islands did we find ourselves.”

As an added benefit the EARTH program has attracted 30 college students to Gifft Hill to share agriculture-based knowledge with the St. John students, Minner said after the presentation. A number of those students, he said, come from UVI.

Three other schools, the Charlotte Amalie High School, Gladys Abraham Elementary School and Ulla Muller Elementary School, received cash awards from FINTRAC, a St. Thomas-based non-profit promoting best farming practices and technology.