With a replica check representing the grant award that will fund a new animal science facility at South Lenoir High School are, from left, Allison Jennings, eastern region agricultural education coordinator with the North Carolina FFA; LCPS Superintendent Brent Williams; Margo Harper, South Lenoir agricultural science teacher; students and FFA chapter representatives Adilee Rich, Rachel Noble, Callie Shackelford and Taylor Lane; Amy Jones, LCPS director of high school education and CTE; and Bruce Hill, chair of the Lenoir County Board of Education.

A grant award of $14,545 to South Lenoir High School’s FFA will bolster the school’s animal science curriculum and give students a real-world connection to a variety of livestock.

The award is part of the more than $180,000 provided this year to the North Carolina FFA Foundation by the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission for educational grants, according to Allison Jennings, eastern region agricultural education coordinator with the North Carolina FFA.

Jennings announced the grant during a presentation to South Lenoir agricultural science teacher Margo Harper and several students from the school’s FFA chapter at the June 6 meeting of the Lenoir County Board of Education.

The grant will fund construction of a 24-by-21-foot temporary animal housing facility.

“Through the establishment of this facility, students taking animal science classes at South Lenoir will have unique hands-on opportunities to learn about a wide variety of animal species and breeds,” said Harper, an FFA chapter advisor.

 “We are excited the facility will house their animal science supplies and serve as temporary housing for the animal science labs,” Jennings said.

The facility is to be built over the summer. “We are looking forward to having everything finished and ready to go by the end of the fall semester,” Harper said.