The Agricultural Academy at Goshen High School was recently recognized  with a 2024 CLAS School Distinction award. 

The CLAS School of Distinction Award recognizes school programs that serve as outstanding educational models for other schools in Alabama. The program was created in 2001 to recognize schools in Alabama that showcase outstanding programs and services to students. This year, 234 schools were nominated for this recognition.

“It’s a great honor considering only 32 programs around the state are chosen for this award,” GHS Ag Academy instructor Christian Stanley said. “There were more than 200 applicants, so it’s a very competitive award to win. We’re blessed to have won.” 

The Ag Academy is open to Pike County Schools students in grades 10-12. Stanley said the academy has about 35 students with another 160-170 students in grades seven through nine taking agricultural classes during the year. 

Stanley said the academy programs include Agricultural Equipment Repair and Maintenance, Animal and Dairy Science, Vegetable and Orchard Crop Production and Soil Amendments and Fertilizers. The academy is on the campus at GHS and includes a freight farm, three greenhouses, a barn for aquaponics and a repair shop as well as 21 acres of grazing land for goats and cattle. 

“We’ve made a huge commitment to agriculture at Goshen High School,” Principal Bennie Shellhouse said. “Goshen is an agricultural community. We need to foster agricultural opportunities for our students because it’s such a large part of our community. It’s important to offer these types of classes not just for traditional agriculture, but to show students what opportunities there are for careers in agricultural sciences.”