Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Sept. 15, 2025 – Students, faculty and staff at Westside High School can enjoy student-grown produce, harvested by advanced plant science students, in the cafeteria thanks to a partnership with Opaa! Food Management, the school’s new food service partner.
Westside High School principal Alicia Dean said the idea came from WHS advanced plant science teacher Stephanie Phillips, who wanted to develop a farm-to-table program for her students ever since she came across a similar program in college. Phillips has taught at WHS for two years.
The plants the students grow found their way to the cafeteria thanks to the help of Opaa!’s food service director, Jamie Moody, who is stationed at the school. This is the school’s first year using Opaa! One of the services it provides is a fresh fruit and vegetable bar.
“That thing is packed to the brim each day,” Dean said. “Naturally, any fresh fruits or vegetables that they order is costing money. So, anything that we can provide, even if it’s a small amount to begin with, still offsets that some, but also gives kids a little bit of ownership in that… ‘Hey, we put that on the bar. That’s our stuff.’ They even have a sign indicating which vegetables are from Westside students and which ones are through Opaa! so that we know… ‘Hey, these come from our kids. This comes from our garden beds and from our greenhouse.’”
Getting the space where students grow the plants, Westside’s greenhouse, operational again was a nearly two-year process, Dean said. However, the school needed the money to make the necessary repairs.
“This is year two at Westside, and I came in and inherited a rundown greenhouse, but I also inherited a $35,000 Modernization Grant to help fix up the greenhouse, which Mr. Parks and Mr. McClelland had applied for and got,” Phillips said.
Josh Parks and Chase McClelland are WHS agriculture teachers.
The grant was through the Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Career and Technical Education, which was designed to support methods and technologies that produce, store, and use hydrogen, focusing on cost-effectiveness and environmental impact.
Dean said the grant allowed the school to repair and re-equip the old greenhouse. After that project’s completion, Phillips’s shop classes built the beds for the outdoor garden area, which held the plants they grew, such as cucumbers and corn.
According to Dean and Phillips, they plan to continue to grow the program and the variety of plants it provides, such as lettuce from their new hydroponic towers, herbs for cooking, and more. These are expected to be added to the cafeteria’s menu over the next few months.
“The students seem to be enjoying it and getting pretty into it,” Phillips said. “They have to wash their hands after class, which they complain about that a little bit, but I think they prefer it over sitting there taking notes, but they definitely seem to be enjoying it.”