Curriculum Offerings and Student Leadership Philosophy

“If you believe there should be a place that explores what a great future might look like, that celebrates life, that’s all about education but doesn’t feel like school, where research is an experience to be shared with everyone, that’s a sanctuary for all those who think the future belongs to us all… then Welcome.”

The Eden Project, an Environmental Education Centre in Bristol, UK

Farm-based learning has the ability to develop the academic and social potential of all students. Research has shown that farm-based learning is an effective means of improving nutrition, increasing physical activity, contributing to positive social development, improving self-confidence, and bolstering academic performance in science and math.

There are many models, programs, and curriculum materials that demonstrate how farm-based learning can help improve educational goals and outcomes. Full Circle Farm’s programs are successfully integrated with California’s curriculum standards, and the farm will serve as rich, multi- disciplinary, hands-on learning environment. Full Circle Farm’s ecology, nutrition, and vocational curricula will form a triad of educational experience for students at Peterson Middle School. Lessons taught in the classroom will be enriched by hands-on garden activities and coming soon, with kitchen activities.

Because students will participate in many aspects of the operations of Full Circle Farm, teachers can use farm, garden and market experiences to help activate prior knowledge and reinforce key concepts. Importantly, research has documented the ability of farm and garden programs to build leadership skills and to help motivate and engage our youth.

Our programming will soon include opportunities for middle & high school students to gain valuable leadership and entrepreneurial skills through involvement in various aspect of the farm’s operations. Rather than simply being “free labor”, students will be encouraged and empowered to take on key leadership roles such training and leading volunteers, running the farm stand, assisting in planting and harvest schedules, creating healthy food marketing and advertising campaigns, planning and implementing events and festivals, and working with our partner food pantries in Sunnyvale in distributing excess produce to the community’s homebound seniors and hungry families.

Nutrition Curriculum

There is a health crisis in this country caused by what we eat and how little we move. Full Circle Farm’s curriculum provides a practical solution: reconnecting children with the source of their food, fostering a love of meaningful physical work, and cultivating a taste for fresh healthy meals. Poor nutrition is a rising health concern among Americans, and no age group is hit harder by its effects than adolescents. Diseases brought on by the over-consumption of unhealthy foods are on the rise among increasingly younger populations, and are affecting both obese and non-obese children.

In addition to being essential to health & vitality, good nutrition is a prime factor in every student’s ability to learn. The school environment plays a vital role in shaping life-long nutritional health. Recent research demonstrates that nutrition affects not only health status, but also cognitive development and readiness to learn. While youth sports are an important part of physical education, they target specific student populations already inclined toward physical activity. The students most at-risk for sedentary lifestyle are the least likely to participate. On the other hand, the programs at Full Circle Farm provide outlets for myriad student interests, seamlessly integrating physical activity into other educational goals, making it part of the process of learning rather than an end unto itself.

Nutrition curriculum traditionally consists of telling students what they should and shouldn’t eat. Students learn about “good” and “bad” foods, dietary choices outlined in a classroom setting, far removed from the food itself. It has been proven again and again that this type of nutrition education simply doesn’t work, with either children or adults.

In contrast, as children form and refine their eating habits, it is Full Circle Farm’s goal to introduce students to an abundant variety of fresh, healthy foods. A farm-based curriculum offers positive, hands-on experiences that can create a lasting impression in both young people and adults. The potential to induce a life-long appreciation of fresh food is immense. When children discover that they do in fact enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, a dramatic shift in eating habits can occur.

Environmental Curriculum

Ecology teaches us about the intricate connections between all living things – from the relationship between plants and soil life, to the relationship between humans and their natural and built environments. Full Circle Farm’s science and ecology programs will not only provide students with grade-appropriate curricula in life, earth, and physical sciences, but will also introduce students a way of analyzing complex systems that will provide a lifetime of critical thinking skills.

Our curriculum will integrate earth, life, and physical science concepts using the farm as a living laboratory. Lessons will be oriented toward independent student inquiry and critical thinking, and outdoor observations and classroom discussions will encourage students to ask questions and explore multiple solutions.

Vocational Programs

In May 2005, the State Board of Education adopted a new set of curriculum standards outlining career technical training for students in grades seven through twelve. Full Circle Farm’s vocational curriculum will cover two objectives from these standards in agriculture and hospitality.

Peterson’s seventh and eighth graders will learn directly from farm operations. Students’ hands-on learning will encompass crop planning, farm financial management, estimating the labor needed to manage and harvest crops, developing a farm budget, projecting revenue, and interaction with buyers.

They will also gain an understanding of harvest practices, bee keeping, rotational grazing, and compost cycles. Once complete, students may work in the farm kitchens, learning how to plan healthy, appealing meals using ingredients they have grown themselves, as well as how to prepare fresh produce and packaged farm goods for sale.

These activities will introduce students to many career options, including, farming, product development and marketing, plant and soil science, nutrition, business, public policy, and environmental science.

Summer Programs (coming soon)

Full Circle Farm is developing a competitive summer internship program for high school students will allow interested students throughout the district to gain hands-on agricultural experience that is aligned with state standards. Students will learn the following:

• Fundamentals of composting
• Nitrate leaching
• Alternative marketing and marketing of value-added products
• Sustainable agriculture
• On-farm research and demonstrations
• Organic weed management
• Non-chemical pest management
• Groundwater protection

The summer intern program will prepare students for careers in agriculture, sustainable agribusiness, agricultural sciences, and environmental science.

Please check back soon for updates on this and many other programs under consideration.