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Imagine walking into your classroom and discovering that today’s assignment is feeding chickens or exercising goats. That’s everyday life at Springdale Elementary in West Columbia, South Carolina — and House of Raeford Farms FLOCK is proud to support this innovative program.
“Our vision for the AgVenture initiative is to integrate agriculture into academics with a hands-on approach, and create real world learning experiences for the students,” said Springdale principal Annette Ariail. “In order to accomplish our objectives, we need to tap into the community to form partnerships.”
FLOCK has contributed more than $20,000 in funding, supplies, and building materials to create safe, engaging animal enclosures. Chuck Underhill, FLOCK’s outreach coordinator for our Columbia location shared, “We want to be a catalyst for groups and other companies to do good for these children because it is worth it.”
Other partners for Springdale include “Ag in the Classroom” agriculture literacy sponsor Lexington Farm Bureau; the embryology curriculum highlighting the lifecycle of chickens with Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service; and the SC Department of Natural Resources and Trout Unlimited focusing on raising trout from eggs to release into the Saluda River.
Students are assigned tasks to care for the animals and nourish the crops.
“However, this program is not all about agriculture,” said Mary Creech, Agriculture Specialist. “A major concentration is for students to connect what they learn in agriculture with math and English Language Arts (ELA).” Students graph egg production, build vocabulary from agricultural terms, and strengthen reading and writing skills — all while discovering that learning can be hands‑on and fun. In addition, it is laying a foundation for students in younger grades to be successful later in their academic career.
“We want to cultivate well-rounded, caring, and responsible students through this program,” continued principal Ariail. “Our teachers are seeing real-world encounters transfer to the classroom, so children do not just learn but they also live the experiences.” To ensure this objective is achieved and our children have an opportunity to succeed, FLOCK will continue to underwrite these groundbreaking programs.
