JTSD JTSD students students learn
learn
time-honored tradition
John Thomas School of Discovery is
known for its innovative and hands-on
learning. One of the newest lessons
is one that many students may have
only seen their mom or grandma doing:
canning.
The school has a garden and farmer’s
market. The students have tested
soil types and have researched how
vegetables and fruits grow and have
then grown them to eat and sell. But
what lesson can students learn when
there are leftovers at the end of a
growing season?
“When you have an abundance of
produce at the end of the season,
instead of it going to waste, preserve
it to use when you cannot get fresh
produce,” stated teacher Tracy Harris.
“I think it is a natural progression
from learning about how vegetables
are started in our school gardening
program. They work so hard on starting
everything we grow from seeds, to
transplanting these plants, to putting
them in the ground.”
Canning is just another way that
JTSD continues their focus of teaching
how students learn. The school
focuses on having students ask questions
and then encourages them to
find ways to answer those questions
without just being told an answer.
Teachers work to show students how
to see everything through the lens of
science and inquiry. Having a garden
is a way to show students an entire
cycle of a process. There is a science
to gardening, learning about the soil,
how to plant certain plants together to
combat pests, and there is a science to
canning and food preservation.
Harris stated that canning is just another
part of that process. “Our building
is such a project-driven school that
this is just a natural occurrence. There
are so many students who learn by
doing hands-on learning. You need to
see it in action to be able to comprehend
and truly understand the concept.
I could talk about processes, but to see
it in action, that makes a bigger and
better impression,” stated Harris.
Student had learned how to grow the
food, but the learning needed to continue
to see the bigger picture of how
people made that food last them an
entire year until the next growing season
or seeing canning as a healthier
option. “In the future, when these kiddos
are adults, they may have gardens,
and they will understand the process
of how you can preserve your own
food instead of purchasing processed
foods,” added Harris.
But, this is also about learning those
4 THE NEST NIXA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAGAZINE FALL 2018