Dalton and Emily Green worked along with State Senator Jeff Mullis and Toccoa State Rep. John Wilkinson to get the pilot program into twenty-seven elementary schools statewide.  Emily is a teacher at Summerville Middle School and Dalton took his experiences in agriculture education from North Summerville Elementary School as a child and helped to develop the now-permanent program.

Dalton Green told Georgia Public Broadcasting, “Originally, we were worried there wouldn’t be enough schools that wanted to participate,” said Dalton Green, a relationship manager for AgAmerica Lending from LaFayette, Georgia. “But then after it started, there were schools all over that wanted to find out how they could be a part of the pilot.”

As early as this fall, any board of education in the state can opt into the curriculum for their elementary schools, offering classes in the subject. School boards that opt in would have to hire an agriculture education teacher, follow standards established by the Georgia Department of Education and find the money to pay for the program.

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