The Boys & Girls Club Teen Center in Ozark, Alabama, has introduced a new initiative to teach teenagers entrepreneurship through farming. Supported by the Wiregrass Foundation, the program involves hands-on activities in sustainability and beekeeping. Teens will grow vegetables and harvest honey for sale at the local farmers market.
In Ozark, Alabama, the Boys & Girls Club Teen Center has completed construction on facilities for its Garden to Table Sustainability and Beekeeping Program. The setup includes fencing, gardening beds, and a bee house, funded with assistance from the Wiregrass Foundation.
The program aims to provide teenagers with practical experience in farming and business skills. Participants will plant vegetables and collect honey, which they plan to sell at Ozark’s Farmers Market. This hands-on approach is designed to immerse teens in real-world activities.
Teen Center Director Jonathan Rogers emphasized the educational value of the initiative. “Kids are sponges these days. They take in everything, so just putting them in the environment and immersing them in that world and getting them to where they see how to talk to customers, how to take in money, how to manage money, how to do all those things, and then how to market their produce, how to market their honey, all the things...,” Rogers said. He added, “It’s really an important thing to us here to basically teach them ways of life and how to become self-sustainable.”
The launch aligns with efforts to foster sustainability and entrepreneurial skills among youth in the Wiregrass region. Rogers noted that the program helps teens learn customer interaction, financial management, and product marketing, promoting self-sufficiency from a young age.