The Central State University School of Agriculture will host a biotechnology conference for agriculture education teachers Sept. 27, 2019, in the University Center. Administrators hope that the teachers send more students to Central State.
“We desire for this program to grow,” said Camille Johnson, the program coordinator with the School of Agriculture. “Our goal for the 2020 fall academic year is 20 new students in the program.”
The university is using $15 - $20,000 from a $692,000 grant that it received from the United States Department of Agriculture to produce workshops for teachers. Teachers must pay a $100 registration fee to attend the September conference. In return, they will receive a $400 teaching kit with lesson plans and curriculum materials.
Johnson said that participants will not only learn about biotechnology but also about Central State. “(We want) to let them know what we have to offer,” she said.
Central State became a 1890 Land Grant institution in 2014. It now offers a wide variety of agriculture academic and extension programs.