JAMESTOWN, Tenn. – Alvin C. York Agricultural Institute (YAI) is a public high school in Jamestown with 477 students in grades 9-12. The school is known for its strong focus on agricultural education, offering hands-on learning experiences alongside traditional academics.

Students at the school have been engaged in many student-run tasks at the farm at York. They started a heifer program, raised turkeys for people to buy at Thanksgiving, and several other events. Three years ago, Sawbriar Lodge in Allardt, Tenn., contacted the school and asked if the students could raise pheasants for the lodge’s annual hunt in October. The students didn’t hesitate, nor did their adviser.

This event is in its fourth year and is called the Feather to Fork program. It is an innovative agriculture and outdoor education initiative that pairs high school students with a hunting preserve to raise and harvest birds, combining classroom learning with hands-on outdoor experience.

“The Feather to Fork program is giving students a diversified agriculture opportunity, but raising pheasants is something kids don’t normally think of when they think about ag,” said Marissa Wright, agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at YAI.

“When the lodge called and asked if I’d be interested in students raising birds for their hunts I started thinking about how we could raise the ag school some money while allowing students to raise the birds. Taking on this opportunity allows them to see other avenues in agriculture they may be interested in and helping them see they can do this in their own backyard.”

The inaugural Feather to Fork hunt in 2023 was a huge success, with sponsors like Quail Forever, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Tech University, University of Tennessee Knoxville, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and local banks pitching in.

According to Wright, the students raised 300 pheasants the first few years and are raising 500 pheasants this year. The venture starts when one-day-old chicks are delivered to the school in April, which will be intended for the annual upland bird hunt in October.

Sawbriar Lodge is situated in the Upper Cumberland Plateau near the scenic Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. It’s been a bird hunting preserve since 2007. Lodge owner Fred Moody is a YAI graduate and saw a unique opportunity to partner with York students in 2022.

Moody and his wife, Rhonda, came up with the idea for the Feather to Fork program. In spring 2023, students launched the project with a $15,000 donation from Eye Centers of Tennessee. Money from the Eye Centers of Tennessee allowed them to build a fly pen to house the pheasants and helped purchase the chicks and other necessities.

“Our first year in 2023 we had about 150 students participating in the Feather to Fork program,” Wright said.

In April 2024, 500 one-day-old were delivered to the school. The same number was delivered this year.

“It’s an exciting time, everybody loves the baby chicks,” Wright said. “Our students are fully responsible for the care and nutrition for the chicks during the week, and our farm manager, Sam Brown, takes care of them on weekends.”

While growing, the pheasants wear blinders to reduce the incidence of the birds injuring one another.

“Pleasants are aggressive toward one another and have been known to peck each other to death,” Wright said. “Once they get big enough, we catch them and put blinders on them so that when we release them in the fly pen, we don’t have any injuries.”

The blinders are removed before the birds are released at the hunting preserve.

All this leads up to the single-day Feather to Fork hunt at the lodge, with sponsors playing between $250 and $1,000 to take part in the hunt. Students help prepare and serve a farm-to-table lunch for sponsors and hunters.

“Our overall goal is to raise money for the school’s agriculture program, but there are three main objectives,” Moody said. “First, students experience an alternative agriculture produce like game birds and see that not every farmer raises corn or cattle. Second, they learn about the conservation side of agriculture. And third, they see the hospitality aspect of the hunting business and how we take care of our customers. Students help them sign up and show them around.”

YAI is the largest public high school campus by acreage in the U.S., spanning 400 acres.

“The school farm has been underutilized the past 40 years, but we currently have a working farm with 16 species of animals,” said John Bush, YAI director of schools. “In summer and fall, we have more than 1,000 animals, the majority of which are turkeys, chickens, pheasants and quail we will either process or use in our Feather to Fork program.”

The proceeds earned from the program will continue to support the school’s farm as it grows in the future.

“We plan to hold the Feather to Fork hunt annually, and it could grow into a two- or three-day event for sporting enthusiasts,” Moody said. “Agriculture is important for everyone because you couldn’t eat if you didn’t have a farmer out there. The school is doing a great job teaching kids about that, and I want to support their efforts.”

Last fall, senior agriculture students got to accompany hunters in the field.

“We allowed three shooters in the field at a time, so two of the hunters took a student out with them so students could experience the bird hunt with adults,” Moody said. “My goal is to give them the experience of bird hunting because it has died in the Southeast with the drop in bird numbers. They also got to see the bird dogs working in the field.

“And there is more. Students got to practice shooting clay targets, and Orvis out of Knoxville came and taught about fly casting as a form of fishing. We had drone demos, too. A lot of cool stuff went on that day, and the students are anxious to do it again.”