Sergio de Alba

My first year teaching fourth grade at R.M. Miano Elementary, I asked my students what could be done to improve the education of our students. One of them told me about the school garden at his old school and how much fun he had learning while in the garden. I also have a strong connection to plants and agriculture and as a class we decided to make it our community project for the year. After the first year I knew that this garden would change the way my students learned and the level of success that I would achieve as a teacher.

For the past ten years I have had many wonderful positive learning experiences develop because of the school garden. I first learned about Agriculture in the Classroom during a website search for garden lessons two years ago. Every fact of life can be taught using the gardens. You cannot look at only one particular lesson to truly understand the value of school gardens.

The best moments for me are when students are there looking around and connect something that they had learned in the past or are in the middle of learning and are finally able to make the connection because of something that they saw in the garden. The best way to understand this is to think of how students learn when they go on a field trip. They're excited and eager to learn and gain new experiences. Our school garden is like a weekly field trip.

Ag is an essential part of my teaching program. Every subject is enhanced with the use of agriculture. On a weekly basis I have students refer to a lesson in the garden when making connections with other in-class lessons. Sometimes the connections they make are surprising, but it goes to show just how powerful the garden can be.

My students think more about their environment, their role in our small farming community, and in the value of living a clean healthy life filled with service and appreciation for what agriculture brings to our lives.

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