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Eric Valentine, ’05, works to plant seeds of success in youth

Eric Valentine, ’05, works to plant seeds of success in youth

Johndale Walker, 15, voluntarily spent this past summer planting, weeding, and watering vegetables and grains at a community center garden, rather than hanging out with friends or playing sports 
or video games.

Eric Valentine and Johndale WalkerWALKER EVEN SIGNED UP FOR a second year in an agriculture class at his inner-city Columbus high school to learn more about production agriculture—and he’s now an FFA member, neither of which he’d ever really heard of before he met Eric Valentine, ’05.

Why?

“Because Mr. Valentine makes learning fun,” Walker said, as he stood by a row of soybeans he planted in one of Linden McKinley STEM Academy’s five urban agriculture plots on East 25th Avenue in the north-side Columbus Linden neighborhood. “I now understand why agriculture is important for my life, for everyone’s life, for the world.”

Walker is just one of the hundreds of students that CFAES grad Valentine has impacted in his 18 years of teaching and coaching football. The agriscience education major developed and leads the school’s Agriculture Pathways Community Gardens college and career readiness program, in addition to serving as the school’s head high school football coach.

The students grow corn, lettuce, peppers, and other produce that is available to neighborhood residents upon harvest. Funding for the program comes from the City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods.

Not only are students learning about science, but they’re also learning life lessons through work in the gardens, Valentine said. “There’s a bigger picture here. We’re teaching young men and women to be successful in life,” he said. “When you see these young men and women that have come back and they thank you for what you’ve done, for being real, and they’re successful in their lives—to me, that’s more important.”

Although Valentine thought he’d be a full-time farmer upon graduating from Ohio State, teaching and athletics have since taken on a bigger role in his life, in addition to running his own U.S. Seed company and his work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “

“The most rewarding part of working with young people is that ‘ah-ha’ moment, when they’ve finally gotten it,” he said, noting that it makes him feel “warm 
and humble.”

December 13, 2022 - 2:35pm -- moser.26@osu.edu
Authors: 
Body: 

Johndale Walker, 15, voluntarily spent this past summer planting, weeding, and watering vegetables and grains at a community center garden, rather than hanging out with friends or playing sports 
or video games.

Eric Valentine and Johndale WalkerWALKER EVEN SIGNED UP FOR a second year in an agriculture class at his inner-city Columbus high school to learn more about production agriculture—and he’s now an FFA member, neither of which he’d ever really heard of before he met Eric Valentine, ’05.

Why?

“Because Mr. Valentine makes learning fun,” Walker said, as he stood by a row of soybeans he planted in one of Linden McKinley STEM Academy’s five urban agriculture plots on East 25th Avenue in the north-side Columbus Linden neighborhood. “I now understand why agriculture is important for my life, for everyone’s life, for the world.”

Walker is just one of the hundreds of students that CFAES grad Valentine has impacted in his 18 years of teaching and coaching football. The agriscience education major developed and leads the school’s Agriculture Pathways Community Gardens college and career readiness program, in addition to serving as the school’s head high school football coach.

The students grow corn, lettuce, peppers, and other produce that is available to neighborhood residents upon harvest. Funding for the program comes from the City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods.

Not only are students learning about science, but they’re also learning life lessons through work in the gardens, Valentine said. “There’s a bigger picture here. We’re teaching young men and women to be successful in life,” he said. “When you see these young men and women that have come back and they thank you for what you’ve done, for being real, and they’re successful in their lives—to me, that’s more important.”

Although Valentine thought he’d be a full-time farmer upon graduating from Ohio State, teaching and athletics have since taken on a bigger role in his life, in addition to running his own U.S. Seed company and his work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “

“The most rewarding part of working with young people is that ‘ah-ha’ moment, when they’ve finally gotten it,” he said, noting that it makes him feel “warm 
and humble.”