First-grade students at Pleasant Avenue Elementary recently harvested and taste-tested carrots they planted in the school courtyard last spring as kindergarteners. The hands-on lesson was hosted by the District’s AgriQuest Farm-to-School Coordinators for Pleasant Avenue, Jill Bulger and Nancy Lisicki.
“Every day since the first day of school, our first graders have been asking, ‘When will our carrots be ready?’” Bulger said. “Their excitement, curiosity, and anticipation have been palpable.”
What made the harvest even more exciting was that the carrots didn’t look like the standard orange variety found in most grocery stores. They grew in vibrant shades of yellow, purple, and white, too. Back in the classroom, students put the colorful crop to the test, sampling each variety and casting their votes between “loved it,” “liked it,” and “still learning it.”
“One of AgriQuest’s core goals is to help students understand where their food comes from long before it reaches the supermarket,” Lisicki said. “This cross-grade learning experience gave our young ‘AgriQuestrians’ the opportunity to explore local food production firsthand, connecting classroom learning to real-world experiences and deepening their understanding of the journey from garden to table.”
Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Alicia D. Koster praised the hands-on aspect of the experiment as a critical component of how learning is being shaped at Johnstown.
“As the District moves closer to fully implementing its Portrait of a Johnstown Learner, experiential learning continues to take center stage in shaping students’ educational pathways,” said Koster. “Across our PK–12 buildings, that hands-on approach evolves right alongside our students as they grow – from planting and harvesting in an elementary courtyard to real-world research, career exploration, and community-based projects at the high school level.”
AgriQuest is a priority District initiative that starts with Johnstown’s youngest learners in Pre-K and continues with students through graduation at JHS. At the high school level, the program expands to offer agriculture-related electives, career exploration opportunities, and extracurricular activities such as Ag Club.