Grey County and the Bluewater District School Board have reached an agreement for Grey Roots Museum and Archives to host an agricultural education program.
At its meeting on Oct. 26, Grey County council approved moving forward with an agreement with Bluewater for the board’s agriculture specialist high-skills major program to re-locate to Grey Roots.
The board currently runs the program in Chesley and Owen Sound and approached the county about starting a one-year pilot program to relocate the program to Grey Roots in order to make it more accessible for students.
According to the school board’s website, “a specialist high-skills major is a ministry-approved specialized program that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while meeting the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and assists in their transition from secondary school to apprenticeship training, college, university or the workplace.”
The pilot at Grey Roots will run from January 2024 to June 2024. Grey Roots will be the host of the program, which will be run and funded by the school board. Up to 25 students will be able to enrol. The one-year agreement enables Grey Roots and the board to test the suitability of the program being at the museum and archives site and make any adjustments (if necessary) to the agreement should both parties wish it to carry on in the future.
The deal between the board and the county includes:
- Use of the lower level of the barn and chicken coop for animal husbandry
- Use of the schoolhouse for classroom space
- Short-term use of the replica Orange Hall for seed propagation
- Construction of a permanent three-season hoop greenhouse, relocation of maple syrup shack and installation of pre-built storage shed on the regional agriculture learning and demonstration site next door to Grey Roots.
Members of county council were pleased with the collaboration and passed a resolution to authorize the warden and clerk to sign the agreement.
“This is exciting,” said Chatsworth Mayor Scott Mackey. “It has been a very valuable program for the Bluewater board. I think this is a great opportunity both for the students and Grey Roots.”
