West Central Valley’s FFA chapter was recently named the recipient of a $2,500 “Be the Seed” grant sponsored by the Iowa Soybean Association and DuPont Pioneer.

The chapter is one of just 12 in the state of Iowa to have received the grant this year, and FFA Advisor Jessica Hebert says it was developed as a means to help “promote kids giving back to the community through agriculture.”

Hebert explains what her students will be using their $2,500 grant for this coming spring.

“This grant is going to be used to put in a reading garden next to the Stuart Public Library… a garden that is going to have a variety of plants that will relate to book that children read that teach them about gardening and the impact of eating healthy.”

Hebert says her FFAers will receive their check from Pioneer later this month, and the garden project must be completed by the end of March.

West Central Valley FFA and the other 11 FFA chapters will then be competing for an additional $5,000 to be awarded to the chapter with the best project during the FFA’s State Convention in April.

Hebert says her students will be out promoting their reading garden once it is completed as part of their valuation process at State Convention.  There, students will be interviewed and asked to explain how their garden project specifically reached and impacted people in the local community.