News : Open House celebrates The Barn at VSHS

Drew Wiley laughs while being questioned by Bob Quinn of WHO Radio during the open house Friday.

In recent weeks, Vinton-Shellsburg High School Ag students (and others) had an opportunity that is rare for a high school campus: They watched baby pigs being farrowed.

That and other unique lessons are part of the growing and increasingly popular agriculture curriculum at VSHS.

More than 300 students are now enrolled in some sort of ag class, instructor Louise Fleming told Bob Quinn of the WHO Radio Big Show last Friday, during an open house for the farmers, businesses and individuals who helped make The Barn -- as the Agricultural Learning Lab is often called -- a reality.

Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock thanked Fleming for "dreaming big" and bringing the unique idea to school leaders. The facility is believed to be the only of its kind in Iowa, although other districts are considering similar ag labs.

Hainstock also thanked the many farmers, businessmen and companies which donated $150,000 toward the unique project. Then she cut the ribbon with blue and gold painted shears as the FFA welcomed scores of supporters to the open house.

The Barn is part of an ever-growing agriculture education infrastructure that includes a greenhouse where students grow hydroponic vegetables and also raise fish.

FFA members served lunch to nearly 100 guests. Some of them joined Fleming in discussing their thoughts on the ag program in an on-air interview with Quinn.