Local teachers receive lesson in agriculture

Rebecca Malone

Monday, July 16, 2001 | 8:43 a.m.

Growing a garden, or even crops, in the middle of the desert may seem a little out of place to some, but a group of Clark County teachers not only says it can be done, but it also plans to show its students how.

About 81 teachers attended the fifth annual Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher Workshop during the weekend to learn how to get students to be interested in growing and cultivating in Nevada.

Every year the teachers meet to find a way to bring more agriculture into students' lives by starting a garden at their schools. They come to the workshops to learn fun and creative projects that can be passed on in the classroom.

Taking a small bag and putting a moist cotton ball with some wheat seeds in it is just one of the projects that is simple and easy for the teachers to show their students how things grow, they were told. The students wear the baggie, tied on a string, around their neck and inside their shirt for a few days, and the seeds will sprout roots.

The project teaches students what seeds need to grow -- water and heat -- and the vocabulary needed to understand the process, said Martha Deichler, the 2000 National Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year. She started a garden at her school in Chula Vista, Calif., about five years ago.

"Kids don't know where their foods and fibers come from," Deichler said. "Gardens let kids get close to nature, and for urban kids, getting close to nature is very important to them."

Most of the students in Clark County are not use to seeing things grow and need to be able to make the connection between what they see and what they eat, said Angela O'Callaghan, spokeswoman of the University of Nevada, Reno, Cooperative Extension. She said the organization is studying how the Clark County School District could support gardens in the schools. It has received around 10 calls from Clark County schools interested in starting a garden.

Having a garden at school allows teachers to use it in every subject they teach, Deichler said. Her school has incorporated literature, science, nutrition and even hunger problems into the study of the garden.

With a banjo and volunteers, Deichler also showed them how they can involve music education by teaching them the song, "Dirt You Made My Lunch."

She said gardens are the best way for kids to learn about plant parts, flowers, fruits, vegetables and the life cycle of insects. She has given many similar lectures at different school districts in hopes of motivating teachers to build their own gardens.

Anyone looking for help starting a garden can call Cooperative Extension at 257-5555.