DHS greenhouse alive with activity

“If I had my choice, we would be out here all day every day,” said Franky Jackson with a smile as he surveyed the greenhouse filled with trays full of newly planted seeds, piles of planting pots, rubber plants and several varieties of ferns.

Jackson is an agriculture technology instructor at Daleville High School. He and Ag-Tech Instructor Scott Yelverton are also the advisors for the Future Farmers of America Chapter at Daleville High School.

The two have been working with ag-tech students to fill the greenhouse on the DHS campus with plants and vegetables to sell.

All proceeds of the sale, which is expected to take place by mid-April, will benefit the ag-tech program and FFA at Daleville High School, Jackson said.

The National FFA was officially founded in 1928, “as a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education,” Jackson explained.

An FFA chapter was established in Dale County at Dale County High School in 1929. The Daleville High School FFA Chapter was formed in 1980 with Alan Waters as the first advisor of the organization.

This is DHS junior Autumn Clemmons’ first year in FFA. Her interest in the organization, she said, came while taking a forestry class with Jackson last year. “He has such a passion for this field that you can’t help but be interested,” she said. “I definitely do not regret it.”

DHS sor in accounting after high school graduation. Working with Jackson has shown him how his interest in accounting goes hand in hand with his interest in serving his community. “I love helping the community through the FFA plant and fruit sales,” he said. “I love helping the community in Daleville.”

The beauty of the greenhouse, Jackson said, is that the students can take what they learn in the classroom and see it put into reality in the greenhouse.

Students in the horticulture and green house classes planted seeds last week, some of which have already sprouted. The new “crops” include zinnias, marigolds and several varieties of tomatoes, peppers and squash. There are also stem cuttings that are being nurtured.

“We will transplant the seeds the students planted into sellable six pack trays with descriptive tags and then make them available for sale to the public,” Jackson said. “The proceeds will benefit the class. We will buy more potting mix, pots and seeds.”