It's pretty easy to get into the Christmas spirit when you are surrounded by kids every day as I am with Project Pickle. In my visits in the classroom and at the school farms lately, the common theme is excitement.
Next week we will be tying up some loose ends and Delta students are already picking early spring crops to plant by reading seed charts. We will be sampling some of the veggies we will be growing and I will also be delivering several hundred candy canes to my young friends. This goes against what I preach to them for the most part, but hey, it's Christmas time.
I am excited for them too. Not only for the fun that Christmas promises, but for their access to educational programming that will afford them exposure to understanding aspects of farming and the food system.
The educational programming around agri-literacy in Delta is second to none and is being streamlined quickly.
Project Pickle, which was started just four years ago, will begin 2017 with over 30 classes and approximately 700 young farmers receiving food and farming lessons on a weekly basis. These numbers will likely double by end of 2017.
At a meeting with senior school district staff last week, we discussed how the elementary school programming via Project Pickle will meld with the senior programming at the Farm Roots Mini School at Boundary Beach.
In addition to their work on the Project Pickle farm sites at their own schools, students will have the opportunity to visit and participate in farming activities at the Farm Roots facility where they will be taught by experts in the farming community and through a wide association of local community partners. A school district bus will transport the kids from their schools to the Farm Roots site.
Principals and educators are excited about how the rapidly expanding Project Pickle program dovetails seamlessly with the Ministry of Education's new curriculum.
Delta has been out of the chute quickly on the topic of agrieducation and it's exciting that a team of dedicated educators is being gathered to sort through logistics to ensure that a cohesive and streamlined path to success is achieved for our kids.
Summer programming for farm work is being developed for mentors who will supervise students participating in farming activities at the Boundary Beach site. Check out www.deltalearns.ca/farmroots to learn more.
Project Pickle has also lined up experts to assist students in marketing and retailing their farm products. This, and the fact young people will earn an income from first summer jobs, learn valuable life skills as well as business and nutritional health skills, all point to an opportunity of which parents should be aware.
It is good to see that agriliteracy in Delta is being taught within the bold vision of the Delta School District.
If nothing else, the journey for those who choose it will be a boatload of fun and they will learn a ton along the way. You can follow the fun on Twitter @dirtworking.
In Delta, we grow spuds, corn, cranberries, blueberries, hot house veggies and all kinds of other crops, but most importantly, we can also say that we grow farmers.
Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food. He is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution ambassador.
