Stokes Early College High School (SECHS) in Walnut Cove, N.C. is the recipient of this year’s grant from Horne Creek Farm’s “Instructional Heirloom Apple Orchard for Schools” program. The school will receive four apple trees grafted from those in the Southern Heritage Apple Orchard (SHAO) to establish a min orchard at the school.
The program was established in 2018 to give Horne Creek Farm a means to further spread the heirloom apple varieties grown in the farm’s orchard, and also to promote the site, educate children about food production, and provide students with the hands-on experience of growing their own food. Teachers can apply to the grant program each year.
Sayrd Price, who teaches Biology and Earth/Environmental Sciences at Stokes Early College High School, submitted the winning application.
"We were very impressed with the level of thought Mr. Price put into how the trees would be cared for to ensure their survival throughout the year," Horne Creek Farm Site Manager Lisa Turney said, "He is to be commended; his application was the strongest we have ever received regarding this grant program. The fact that the Stokes Early College High School applied for funding from the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Auxiliary which could be used to help defray planting and maintenance costs, as well as Mr. Price's outreach to the NCSU Cooperative Extension to help assist in the maintenance of trees, showed us that the school could successfully establish and care for an orchard."
Horne Creek Farm Assistant Site Manager Mark Farnsworth delivered the trees to SECHS in early December, where members of the school’s Envirothon club planted them. The varieties included: Red Royal Limbertwig, Arkansas Black, Harrison, and Virginia Beauty. The mini orchard will be used in a number of creative ways to further the students’ education. Growth rates, animal/plant relationships, transpiration, and photosynthesis are just a few lessons that students will learn about. The orchard will be a “living laboratory” at the school.
Horne Creek Farm would like to congratulate Stokes Early College High School and members of the Envirothon Club for a job well done! We wish them much success in this endeavor and look forward to seeing photographs of the fruits of their labor in a few years.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. NCDNCR's mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development. NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, three science museums, three aquariums and Jennette's Pier, 41 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the N.C. Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, and the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please visit www.ncdcr.gov.