(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services, Caption for Photo: Worcester, PA. Russell Redding, Secretary PA Dept. of Agriculture and Secretary Nancy A. Walker of Labor & Industry planting seeds using adaptive equipment during Thursday’s event. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture invited 2nd-12th-grade students to take part in Farm City Day at Variety. Students and educators from public and private schools, as well homeschool students spent the day exploring Variety’s sustainable organic and sensory gardens and greenhouses and participating in a variety of activities to demonstrate how agriculture touches their daily lives and brings their science and technology lessons to life in the world outside the classroom. May 21, 2026.)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Worcester, PA) The Shapiro Administration has invested $62,320 in Variety’s agricultural education programs aimed at expanding access to hands-on learning for students of all abilities. 

The funding will support the creation and expansion of school gardens featuring raised beds, horizontal trellises, wide pathways, lowered potting benches and sinks, and other accessibility-focused features designed to accommodate wheelchair and walker users. 

Pennsylvania has the highest percentage of farmers under the age of 35 in the nation, according to state officials. The administration also says it has expanded apprenticeship and training programs for young people interested in careers in agriculture.