From The Boston Globe - “How agricultural education programs are reshaping kids’ learning”

Excerpt from The Boston Globe By Annie Sherman Globe Correspondent,Updated September 1, 2023, 6:00 a.m.

A cloudy afternoon at Portsmouth’s AgInnovation Farm finds 75 middle school students harvesting vegetables, collecting eggs, and fixing fencing around the garden beds. These youth are involved in every aspect of the farm — they even drew the garden blueprints, researched ideal plants for the climate and season, installed an irrigation system, and comprise the board of trustees.

About 600 students from Portsmouth Middle and High schools, as well as Gaudet Middle School in Middletown, have participated in this student-driven farm education program since its inception in 2020. Its 70 acres lay fallow then, when Portsmouth K-8 science coach and now AgInnovation education director Margie Brennan offered a virtual after-school class to 25 students. But it has bloomed into an active community garden and education center. They have harvested 250 pounds of produce and 200 eggs this season, all of which was donated, as the program’s popularity— and student waiting list — grows…click to read more (you may need to refresh the page after loading).