Former CAL paraeducator Craighton takes over as Farm to School coordinator

The beginning of Jill Craighton’s tenure as CAL’s Farm to School coordinator began with a boost from the USDA.

The CAL Community School District recently received an $80,920 Farm to School grant through the USDA to benefit the school’s growing program, which includes livestock and garden beds on school grounds. The majority of the grant will help cover salary costs for the instructor position as well as help the program strive towards self-sustainability.

The grant coincided with the recent introduction of Craighton, who previously served as a paraeducator at CAL, as the new Farm to School instructor, replacing long-time CAL administrator Steve Lane, who retired last year.

Craighton, who grew up on a farm in Central Iowa, watched the Farm to School program at CAL grow from an idea to a blossoming program meant to teach all children the cycle of food production. When the position came open last year, Craighton elected to use her background in agriculture to pursue the new role at CAL. Aside from previous experience as a paraeducator at CAL, Craighton has also been an instructor for the equine program at Ellsworth Community College and has managed a barn in Mason City.

She said she is excited for the opportunity to teach children of all backgrounds the ins-and-outs of agriculture and hopes to relay the message that children don’t need to grow up on a farm to pursue a passion or career in ag.

One of her goals as an instructor, she said, is to show all students that agriculture has a presence in many aspects of life and can be applied to virtually any subject or lesson.

“Agriculture fits in everywhere and if they can put it into familiar terms, that could open a huge door and make it more interesting to them,” she said.

Craighton added that her passion for the program stems from her own experiences as a student. In high school, Craighton said she had to travel outside of her school district to participate in FFA at a neighboring school district. While she was happy to participate in a program nearby, she said she’s pleased the students can undergo agricultural education within their own school.

“I think it’s such a great opportunity,” she said. “I grew up on a farm but I know there are a lot of kids that have those interests but don’t know where to go with it. You feel like if you don’t grow up on a farm, you feel like that’s an opportunity that’s completely lost for you but in the Midwest, that’s not true.

“I think there are a lot of kids that will be interested and learn a lot from it,” she added.

Craighton said she has many goals and ambitions for the program but the primary achievement she hopes to accomplish is to help the farm project reach self sustainability.

CAL Superintendent Todd Lettow said the district was fortunate to have someone with Craighton’s background already at the district. With a knowledge of agricultural education and experience at the CAL district, Lettow said he believes Craighton will help the program continue to accelerate in a positive direction.

“Getting the right person is what will make or break the program,” he said. “Being at a small school, we don’t have as many applicants and sometimes, you just get lucky with who you have here.”

Lettow said Craighton’s hiring, along with the grant, will not only help CAL students in the present, but will help facilitate growth in Hampton-Dumont’s programs as CAL students move into the district after sixth grade. He said the example of CAL’s Farm to School success has already spurred new ag-centered programs at H-D, including garden beds at South Side Elementary School and Hampton-Dumont Middle School, as well as the new greenhouse at Hampton-Dumont High School.

“Not only do we want to have that connection be with FFA at the high school, but how can we grow our connections with the other elementaries?” He said. “We want to look how we can grow that at the middle school and look at other areas where we can ramp that up.”