Todd Shultz and Greg Gilman

"Adopt a Chick" is the winning program idea by Shultz and Gilman. Jackson County, where East Jackson Comprehensive High School is located, ranks first in the nation for the number of farms in a county according to Shultz and Gilman. Through the program, students at all levels, from the local elementary schools to the high school, will learn where their food and fiber originates, environmental issues, and the value of agriculture in Georgia. Students in the program will participate in raising poultry and learning important record-keeping skills. The program began with elementary school students in the animal science class using broiler chicks and learning about basic care for the chicks, weighing and recording the chicks' weights, and inventorying expenses. They were led by the high school students through the completion of a record book as well as taught about health issues. Shultz and Gilman hope that the students will learn that agricultural awareness is essential to the continuation of the most abundant and safest food supply in the world and that going green is not just a fad but a way of life.