AppHarvest today announced the expansion of its AgTech Educational Outreach Program that places hydroponic growing systems at high schools across Kentucky and Central Appalachia, unveiling a new container farm at Carter G. Woodson Academy located at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Congressman Andy Barr, Fayette County Superintendent Demetrus Liggins, Senior Adviser to Governor Rocky Adkins, and AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb attended the event to celebrate the container farm’s arrival.
“AppHarvest has been an incredible partner to Team Kentucky because its leaders share so many of our values: putting education first by investing in our students’ potential, building a better Kentucky for all of our families with innovative new jobs and technology, and ensuring our state remains an agricultural leader through the next generation of farming and the next,” said Beshear. “That next generation is right here at Carter G. Woodson Academy, and I can’t wait to see how these students will grow through this program and seize the opportunities it provides.”
Launched in 2018, the AppHarvest AgTech Educational Outreach Program demonstrates the company’s ongoing commitment to developing the next generation of farmers as it works to build America’s AgTech capital in Appalachia. Each retrofitted shipping container serves as a hands-on agricultural classroom for students where they grow fresh leafy greens to provide to their classmates and to those in need in their communities.