During the 2009-2010 academic calendar year Vocational Agriculture Education was removed from the Elliott County School system. During the 2015-2016 school year one vocational agriculture course was offered to Elliott County High School student’s grades 9-10, during the 2016-2017 school year four vocational agriculture courses were offered to student’s grades 9-12 and currently during the 2017-2018 school year seven vocational agriculture courses are offered to student’s grades 9-12. During the 2015-2016 academic calendar year the vocational agriculture program consisted of 38 students, during the 2016-2017 academic calendar year the program grew to include 97 students over a one year time span and currently during the 2017-2018 academic calendar year the vocational agriculture program consists of 112 students! 

Elliott County is a rural county that has at least a 30 minute drive to a city with a large supermarket. With that being said there are 448 farms in Elliott County raising a commodity according to the 2007 Agriculture Statistics and according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture there is 56,336 acres of farm land in Elliott County involved in some type of agriculture practice. Therefore, the CEC, Ag Council, Farmers Market, KFB and Soil Conservation Board’s felt that Agriculture in the school system was extremely important.

The Elliott County Cooperative Extension agent for ANR (Keith Center) partnered with the Elliott County High School Vocational Agriculture teacher (Gary Selby) and 30 students enrolled in the Elliott County High School Commercial Horticulture course to offer a fruit tress grafting workshop to citizens in Elliott County. In early February with permission granted by the Sandy Hook Water District ANR agent Keith Center went and collected scion wood from the different varieties of apple trees located in front of the Sandy Hook Water District Company office. After the collection and labeling of the scion wood it was delivered to the Elliott County High School Commercial Horticulture students where they were in charge of properly managing and caring for the scion wood until it was ready to be grafter later in the month. On February 21^st and 23^rd, 2018 students participated in classroom learning sessions lead by ANR agent Keith Center. Students learned about proper management and care for scion wood and the different varieties of apple and pear rootstock. Concluding the classroom discussion on February 23, 2018 each student received the opportunity to graft their own apple tree to start an apple orchard this spring behind the Elliott County High School greenhouses.

Thirty students and ten producers participated in the grafting workshop that took place at the Elliott County High School on February 26, 2018. Concluding the workshop producers and students were asked to complete a rootstock/grafting workshop follow up survey. 97 percent of participants indicated they had a better understanding of proper rootstock and scion wood management practices, 100 percent felt they had a better understanding of the benefits of grafting, 93 percent felt more confident in collecting scion wood, 86 percent felt more confident in grafting and managing rootstock, 97 percent plan to develop and orchard or extend their fruit tree operation and 100 percent indicated having a better understanding of how to properly care for their fruit trees as a result of the program. In early May the Elliott County High School Commercial Horticulture course students will plant their grafted apple rootstock and begin the process of developing an apple orchard where programs will be conducted for not only students but for the citizens of Elliott County!