CTE Grant gives Bridgeport Ag program a boost

BRIDGEPORT – For a school with a modest student body, Bridgeport enjoys a large participation in its agriculture-related programs. One big reason is the variety of skillsets the students learn that are of valuable use later in their everyday adult lives.

Bridgeport High School Ag teacher and FFA advisor Adam Corum said he has some 129 students enrolled in his FFA and ag classes, so it takes a leader who knows his business to keep everyone engaged and productive. Corum is in his ninth year with the Bridgeport program and spent another four at Tonasket High School where he was an alumnus.

The largest annual fundraiser and the spring event anticipated by local gardeners is the school’s annual greenhouse plant sale that is scheduled this year for Friday, April 26. The Ag students started planting on Jan. 9 to have their selections ready for the big sale.

“All of our plants are grown from seed and we receive our seeds from Ball Seeds,” said Corum. “We are focusing on our baskets this year as well as bedding plants and a variety of vegetables.”

The plant sales proceeds pay to send many of the FFA chapter students to the annual state FFA convention scheduled for May 9-11 in Pullman.  Funds from previous sales even helped fund a trip to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in 2017. A goal this year is to raise enough money for a 2019 trip to National.

A big boost to the school ag program came from a Career and Technological Education (CTE) grant from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) earlier this year. CTE grants allow schools to invest in their high-demand career and technical programs through facilities upgrades, equipment purchases, and other actions.

Bridgeport received $65,000 that the ag students put to good use renovating the Ag greenhouse and purchasing shop equipment.

“We poured a new concrete floor in the greenhouse,” said Corum, “and bought a plasma cutter for the shop.”