pCANTON — Starting next school year, 15 to 20 high school seniors from St. Lawrence County will have the chance to attend a full-day agricultural program at the newly-created North Country Agricultural Studies Academy./ppClasses and field work will be held at Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Learning Farm, Route 68. /ppSeveral officials toured the farm Thursday after state Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, announced she had secured $200,000 in the new state budget to help launch the academy. /ppMrs. Ritchie said the new academy will help pave the way for north country students who are interested in agriculture and agri-business, but have few options available because many school districts have cut ag-related classes to save money./pp“I think this is going to fulfill a critical need,” Mrs. Ritchie said. “This is an opportunity to showcase something that’s proposed here that can grow across the state.”/ppFacilities at the farm include a large barn that’s being renovated into an animal laboratory, a greenhouse, an anaerobic digester and several classrooms. Construction of a demonstration/teaching kitchen is underway./ppThe new program is a collaboration between St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services and Cooperative Extension. Officials have been working on the project for more than two years./ppThe program will be staffed through BOCES, which plans to transfer some of its staff from the Northwest Technical Center, Ogdensburg. Staff from the extension will also work with students./ppBOCES Superintendent Thomas R. Burns said the state funding will be used to purchase supplies needed to launch the academy and offset some staffing expenses./pp“This is a perfect partnership for us. We’re really all about establishing partnerships in new, innovative ways,” he said. /p
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