Two years of hard work are paying off for High School Science
Teacher Jeffrey Parnapy and his colleagues in the form of a $25,000 grant from
America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education in association with the Monsanto
Corporation. The grant money will be used to purchase data collection
instruments for 7 through 12 grade science classes
and to bolster the newly established agriculture program, now in its second
year.
The school was nominated by several local farmers for the grant
designated to support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)
programs in rural public school districts. Parnapy, who teaches biology and
agriculture, spearheaded the grant proposal with help from his science
colleagues Michael Conine, Briana Delvecchio, Jenifer Faro, Peter Spence, and
Terry Vick. The grant money will benefit all of the science classes by
providing a range of specialized equipment including meteorological instruments
and soil and water analysis equipment.
"We are so excited to be receiving the $25,000 Monsanto Grant,” said Jr./Sr. High School Principal Patrick McGee. “A huge thank you to our Ag and Science teacher Mr. Parnapy for doing the leg work behind the scenes to win this grant. Last year we started an initiative to bring an Agriculture program back into our building. We established an Agriculture elective and started FFA (Future Farmers of America). This year we will offer two Ag classes and our FFA program continues to grow. The grant money will go a long way into providing even more resources and opportunities for our students in the coming years."
The
agricultural program was established during the 2017-2018 school year at the
suggestion of McGee and Byron-Bergen Superintendent Mickey Edwards. Parnapy
enthusiastically agreed to head the program and founded the Byron-Bergen
chapter of the FFA. Parnapy earned his degree in animal science from Cornell
University and has eight years of experience teaching agriculture in other
school districts. He is excited to bring his expertise to the Byron-Bergen
students and use the grant award to the greatest advantage of current and future
students.
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school received notification of the grant award on July 30, 2018.