When North Kossuth and Sentral schools combined this school year, the classrooms started growing. News 12's Erick Lind was in Swea City to find out how the new school is looking to grow again, but this time it will be in a greenhouse. When you think of a pep fest, you might think athletics. Today at North Sentral Kossuth High School, the students were packed into the stands, but they weren't cheering for a sports team. They were cheering for a new greenhouse coming their way... thanks to a grant from State Farm's Youth Advisory Board. It's one of 73 grants being issued this year out of 500 applicants. Jodee Goche says, "I looked at the State Farm grants that had been given previously and we noticed a trend that they have been awarding greenhouses, and we felt that would be a great addition to the FFA program. When I talked to Jason he agreed and thought it would be something to go forthwith." The green house won't just benefit FFA, either. Special Olympics, Home Ec classes, and others will be able to use the new facility to not only sustain the green house, but to raise funds for their organizations as well, even the newer groups. Ariel Runge says, "We just kind of started these." Morgan Jahr says, "We're non-profit so it's harder and we do have a lot of fund raisers, like we've had garage sales before, bake sales, all that kind of stuff. I think this will be something different we can do." NSK won the grant but because of their students and their project they accomplished a first for not just Iowa, but the entire Midwest region as well. State Farm's Kim Hinkle says, "This school is the first one to receive the 100-thousand dollar grant in our zone, and our zone is pretty wide, so you should be very proud of the work of what the youthful folks are doing in your town." The check was presented to the group today and that was the real cause for the celebration. The school hopes to have the greenhouse open by summer. In Swea City, Iowa, Erick Lind, News 12.







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