COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2018
Summer Institute plants seeds of
knowledge Five-day course gives teachers a glimpse of agriculture
by RONDA PAYNE
ABBOTSFORD – It was back to school in mid-July for a group of teachers who enrolled in the Summer Institute, a collaboration of BC Agriculture in the Classroom and the UBC Faculty of Education Summer Institute. The five-day course exposes teachers to all sides of agriculture from the perspectives of producers, agriculture policymakers and other industry members. The course is a mix of classroom- based learning and field trip experiences.
While gaining course
credits is one motivation for attending, Jill Blewman, a Life Skills teacher at Argyle Secondary in North Vancouver, says the outcome of the program goes far beyond teaching credits. “I was in 4-H and Junior
Farmers and all that … but when I moved to BC [from Ontario], I kind of left all that behind and I missed that,” she says. “So when I heard about [the Summer Institute through] Ag in the Classroom, I wanted to sign up for it.” Held in Abbotsford, the Summer Institute is ideally situated to expose participants to various aspects of agriculture throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, in addition to the in-class sessions.
Stops included Rose Gate
Dairy, greenhouse grower Gravis Farms and a Sumas Prairie vegetable field where participants picked carrots (many for the first time) as the pinnacle of a bus tour narrated by Bill Zylmans of Richmond’s W&A Farms. During the bus tour,
Zylmans, a commissioner with the Agricultural Land Commission, also gave teachers an understanding of what the ALR is about, while explaining food and geographical perspectives involved in agriculture. “It was an agricultural
overview course in about an hour and a half on a bus,” he says. “I think Ag in the Classroom is a great tool and however we can help with that through industry is good.”
That day’s bus tour explored farms throughout Learn to recognize the hazards
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Sumas Prairie while Zylmans explained the issues facing farmers.
“I tried to explain to them the changing in agriculture, the diversity in agriculture, the challenges in agriculture … how important all this is today,” he says. Emma Sweeney, communications co-ordinator with Ag in the Classroom, says the program allows teachers to take information back to students in the fall. “If they have that first-hand experience, they are better able to share with students,” she says.
The need to teach teachers about agriculture remains as great as it was in 1996 when the program began. “I gave them a really good
overview because they had lots of instruction in the classroom,” Zylmans says. “So it was nice to meet a real farmer. Give them a perspective of agriculture from a farmer’s perspective.” Zylmans helped launch Ag in the Classroom’s Spuds in Tubs program, so some teachers knew his name before the tour. He feels getting information about agriculture to teachers is important for promoting the industry and getting families talking about where their food comes from. “We don’t have enough ambassadors in the world educating the teachers who are educating the children, and what better way to get to
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A W&A Farms potato stimulates conversation among teachers at AITC’s Summer Institute. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO
the children than through the teachers?” he asks. “I’ve been [taking part in the Summer Institute] for probably the last six or seven years. It really ties everything together.” Blewman wants to incorporate gardens and agriculture into her teaching practices for her special education students. She wants to find ways to eliminate barriers for her students and find their unique gifts. She sees agriculture and gardening as a way to make this happen. Without the Summer Institute, she’s not sure she would have the skills and information needed to realize her vision. “It’s been a busy five days,
but it’s been so much fun,” she says. “The greenhouse was mind-blowing. It was like Jack and the Beanstalk. I
didn’t know peppers could grow that big. There were takeaways every day. It’s just been magical.”
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