Sacaton Elementary students have a “veggie venture” at Central Arizona College

May 5, 2017

Mikhail Sundust

Gila River Indian News

Digging in dirt and watering fields were the highlights of the day for students on a fun-filled trip to a local college.

Twenty-eight students from three classrooms from Sacaton Elementary School took a class called “Veggie Ventures” on a field trip to the Central Arizona College’s Natural Resource Education Center, where they learned how plants grow and why vegetables are so nutritious.

“What is the name for this type of soil?” asked teacher Jan Zapata presenting a drawing to the class. “Loam,” said students in unison, who had just learned that sand and thick clay are not ideal for growing plants, but the best soil is a mixture called loam.

Students started the day rotating through three classes on farming, plant growth, and healthy eating. In one classroom, students learned a healthy smoothie recipe to take home, which included yogurt, milk, mango, pineapple, and kale. Dark greens like kale are a great source of vitamins, students learned from NREC’s Jennifer Salcido. Students helped put the ingredients in a blender, and after a quick taste test, approved of the fresh, healthy treat.

NREC Director Loralee Wuertz said, “We try to implement a nutrition element to all of our programs, talk about healthy eating, lots of fruits and vegetables.” The NREC offers a number of courses for visiting classes and serves students of all ages. The Gila River Indian Community supports the NREC through the Community’s gaming revenue sharing program.

“Your grant is a third of our budget. And we use our money very, very wisely,” said Weurtz. She, Salcido, and Zapata are the only staff at NREC. “We’re not only teachers, we’re custodians, we chop weeds, we do it all. We’re farmers,” she said.

The NREC typically sees more than 5,000 students per year, and recently implemented classroom visits for younger ages. The NREC works hard to implement state teaching standards into its lessons.

“We touch on nutrition,” said Weurtz. “We definitely touch on science, and we also do a lot of social studies, you know, just the history of what’s happening in our world with agriculture.” There is a common refrain in farming and ranching circles, which is inscribed on a banner on an NREC wall: “If you eat, you are involved in agriculture.” Nearly every vegetable we eat, every steak we enjoy started on a farm or ranch.

“It’s something we all need to know,” said Weurtz. Students visiting the NREC learn how food goes from a seed in the ground to a plant in the sun, from a crop on farmland to vegetables on their plate at home.

Sacaton teacher Martin Leinberger said it was a great day out of the classroom for the students, who benefit from hands-on learning.

“This was incredible. It was comprehensive exposure on a cultural level for our students,” said Leinberger.

“They got in-classroom lessons, got outdoors. Hands-on learning is very important. They got a multi-sensory experience, which is really key.”

He said, “Our kids need to get out and experience different things, especially hands-on stuff like this that’s culturally based.”

The class finished the day with a visit to the field where students learned how to irrigate fields by hand from a canal and dug through soil and picked carrots, cilantro, and radishes to take home.