The Beta Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma held their first meeting of the year on
January 23, 2023. The Personal Growth and Service Committee introduced Mrs. Chandra
Hooks, School Nutrition Director, who presented a program on the Farm to School Initiative in
Emanuel County. Farm to School programs create educational opportunities for students to
identify where food comes from, learn why it is important, and apply knowledge from all
subject areas in an engaging way. Emanuel County is fortunate to have Mrs. Kim Hooks as the
Farm to School Coordinator for our district. Mrs. Hooks has thirty years of teaching experience
and a lifetime experiencing agriculture firsthand on her family farms. Mrs. Hooks is passionate
about teaching students about agriculture. “Students of all ages and abilities love working in
school gardens, Mrs. Hooks explained. It gives them a chance to get outside and get their
hands dirty. Our students also can participate in taste tests, sampling foods grown in their
schools’ gardens, take ownership what they have grown when they see it on their lunch trays,
and most importantly learn that they can be successful in growing their own foods at home.”
Gardens and habitats are currently in place, in various stages, at all six schools in Emanuel
County, in addition plans are currently in place to implement school gardens at the Early
Learning Center and Crossroads Transitional Academy next school term. Grow towers for
hydroponic gardening is a new addition to the Farm to School program and can be found at
both Swainsboro High School and Emanuel County Institute. Grow towers allow students to
bring the “farm” inside and experience agriculture in the classroom without the need for soil or
sunlight. According to Mrs. Hooks, “gardening efforts have already produced great results and
with the entire outdoors as our laboratory the sky is the limit”!
After the business session and a short presentation by Dr. Denise Warnock on the Read United Project, the meeting was adjourned by President Renae McNeely.
