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Ballard R-II
The Ballard R-II School District is nestled in the heart of Bates County and serves a community that skirts the rural areas of several towns including Adrian, Urich, Montrose, and Butler. Our school serves approximately 120 students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Our students thrive on agricultural and Future Farmers of America experiences. We hope to secure this grant to continue providing the agricultural experience our students need and crave.
The funds secured with this grant will provide vital structural improvements to our agricultural building. We hope to restore windows, improve the heating and air conditioning, update the exterior, and replace a garage door and exterior doors. In addition, we will joyfully purchase a new greenhouse, as well as some necessary shop tools and agricultural equipment.
We planted our agricultural program 12 years ago; since then, it has been nurtured and continues to blossom. Our current agriculture teacher diligently works to provide rich experiences that will greatly benefit students, whether they plan to continue in an agricultural vocation beyond high school or learn vocational skills like gardening and soil testing. Either way, our program positively affects students for a lifetime.
Recently, our high school students celebrated FFA week, with a culminating activity where they brought working animals from their family farms as well as tractors and all-terrain vehicles. These students constructed creative presentations for elementary and middle school students; they provided information about animals and machinery common to our rural atmosphere. Younger students participated in horseback riding and ATV safety information, and they explored and touched tractors and other farm machinery. They were thrilled to sit in the tractor seats and learn more about the heavy equipment. Our high school students relished being the teachers as they shared their expertise. It was a real experience in which they appealed to the next group of students and the agricultural lifestyle.
Every time they till, cultivate and harvest, and every time they raise, train, and show their animals, our students, past and present, touch the future. Ballard already possesses the personnel, the expertise, and the aspiration to train students for rural, agricultural careers if so desired, but we desperately need to shore up our facilities and ancillary supplies. The improvements we have in mind exceed the costs normally covered by our normal operating budget, and this grant will provide a blessing that will affect countless future lives.
With sincerity and gratitude,
Stephanie Nold
K-12 Principal
Ballard R-II
Butler, MO 64730