LEXINGTON, Ky. — Hailed as a one-of-a-kind agricultural school, the Locust Trace Agri-Science Farm (LTAF) celebrated its first year with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting, bringing ag and education officials from around the state together for the event.

The school is the newest career and technical education high school in Fayette County, designed as a net-zero facility for maximum energy efficiency. Along with large classrooms and adjoining labs, the school has a state-of-the-art greenhouse, six and a half acres for gardening, an aquaculture area, a large modern equine barn and an on-site veterinary clinic.

Programs include Intro to Agriculture, Environmental and Wildlife Science, Agriculture Power Mechanics, Equine and Vet Science and Small and Large Animal Science.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer was one of the many dignitaries on hand for the ceremony. He told the crowd the school was something from which they would see a great return for many years.

“I’d like to emphasize to the students here how fortunate you are to have a facility like this and how fortunate you are to have instructors and teachers that are knowledgeable in agriculture and in cutting-edge technology in agrisciences,” he said. “This is a unique facility; a one-of-a-kind facility in the United States, and it’s here in Fayette County and you should be very proud of that.”

He also told students that there is such a demand for what they will learn through programs taught at the school. “We need more people involved in agriculture,” Comer said.

“We’re trying to inspire a new generation of young people to have careers in agriculture, and Locust Trace will be very important in your development whether you further your education or go directly into a career in agriculture. There’s a demand for that and this school will help meet that demand.”

LTAF Teacher Todd Harp knows firsthand the importance of such a facility and said the new school is phenomenal and with its opening, agriculture education has become a priority.

“Sometimes, in agriculture we often tell our story to each other, but we don’t educate other people outside of the agricultural field,” he said. “We are all active participants in agriculture at least three times a day, every time we eat, and I think sometimes we fail to realize the importance to the younger generation.”

Harp also said he recognizes that most of his students won’t go into full-time production agriculture, but they will make consumer decisions involving agricultural issues and the school will mean much to the students of Fayette County.

“This is going to give (students) the opportunity to be exposed to agriculture; they’re going to be aware of where their food comes from and they are going to have a better understanding of how agriculture plays a huge role in their everyday life,” he said.

While Comer was accompanied by a number of guest speakers during the ribbon cutting ceremony, including school officials, Lexington’s mayor and Locust Trace students, the facility is also receiving attention from ag programs in other states. At least two groups – one from Alabama and one from Illinois – have visited and have left in awe of the facility and what it will mean to agriculture education.

Ben Maples, an ag teacher and FFA advisor from Sulligent High School in northwestern Alabama, brought his students to the school last February after learning about it from his uncle, Dave Maples, who is executive director of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Assoc. Ben Maples said the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of his students.

“My students were able to go through the whole school and were really impressed just to see the comparison from what we have to what Locust Trace is,” he said. “I teach a lot of different things, and Locust Trace is more specialized in each area of ag. My students liked seeing the different specializations.”

Maples added most of his students, coming from a small, rural area, were interested to see what ag education was like in another state. “They came back with so many ideas of things we can do with our program and that has been really beneficial. I learned a lot, too, just to see how we can keep growing our program and how ag-ed is done in a different state,” he said.

Maples said another reason for the trip was to introduce his students to others involved in agriculture and build a network with people who have the same interests. “Just to have our two FFAs interact with each other, that was really beneficial.”

He would like to return to Locust Trace and perhaps have its students visit his program and see what agriculture in rural Alabama is like, exposing them to as much as possible when it comes to agriculture.

Brandy Krapf, a teaching associate and undergraduate advising coordinator for the ag education program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, recently brought a group of future ag educators to LTAF. She typically leads a spring field trip for the students, who decided this year they wanted to go to Kentucky.

Krapf said after doing a little research, she discovered Locust Trace and wanted to make that a stop on the tour. “Our students were blown away by LTAF,” she said. “They were amazed, realizing it was an urban program, and couldn’t believe the endless opportunities there and what the students were getting.

“The facilities are outstanding, the teachers seemed so passionate for the programs and the students and for what they are doing.”

She added many of her students said after the visit they were ready to move to Kentucky and teach at Locust Trace. She also said a school like this is important in teaching others that there is more to agriculture than just farming and through the school, students may learn of opportunities and prepare for careers anywhere in the country.

For more information about LTAF, go to www.techcenters.fcps.net/locusttrace