Redfield agriculture teacher to use $2,000 grant for new textbooks
By Shiloh Appel
Redfield Public School Agriculture teacher, Shane Gross, whose first year teaching in the Redfield School District was during the 2018-2019 school year, will be using the $2,000 Working Here Fund Grant he has received from Farm Credit Services of America to purchase textbooks and workbooks for his Intro to Ag class this school year. Gross applied for the grant and was glad to receive it.
“I’ve applied for the grant before at my previous school and I knew it was a good opportunity to get some additional funds to help grow the program and Farm Credit has always been very supportive of Ag Education and the FFA,” said Gross.
According to Gross, purchasing the textbooks and workbooks will use up most of the grant money. He will have 18 students this year, which is a large class size, and each student will need both a textbook and a workbook.
On another note, Gross said he also incorporates hands-on activities as much as possible.
“When we leave the classroom, a lot of times it is a part of FFA and trying to bring those opportunities in and get the most ‘bang for your buck’, basically,” said Gross.
Some examples of hands-on activities Gross leads outside of the classroom include land judging, leadership development events and agronomy.
“The biggest thing is in everything we do I’m trying to accomplish the FFA mission which is premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education,” said Gross.
Gross teaches grades 9-12 and can be contacted at shane.gross@k12.sd.us for any inquiries.
