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Ag curriculum perfect fit for elementary schoolBy Kylene Scott Petey the goat. Chickens of all shapes, sizes and colors. Rabbits. Plants, a garden, and a greenhouse. Not many of these things are found at a normal elementary school, but at Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center, all of the above are pretty commonplace. Located in Walton, Kan., the Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center is a kindergarten through fifth-grade elementary school with about 130 students. Walton is part of the Newton School District, and each class has special projects, all based on an agricultural curriculum. Principal Natise Vogt has been with the school since the inception of the charter. "We want kids to come here and get a great--not good--education," she said. "We want to make learning fun and meaningful. Hands-on does that. We have cut out tardies and absences in half this year. Kids love to come to school." Originally from a special education background, Vogt was a bit unsure about the agriculture concept at first. She knew nothing about agriculture, as she was "raised in the city." "When they first asked me to do this, I kind of balked at first," Vogt said. "Ag is a natural fit. Ag is all around us. It's hands-on, making things real when they are learning. Why not give it to every child?" Vogt said Walton was the first elementary Kansas school to be a charter school based on agriculture. "Oswego visited recently and is now replicating our style," Vogt said. "They are K-8, so it is a little different." Hands-on is what makes the learning so fun and allows the students to grasp concepts easily, sometimes not even realizing they are learning something new. "Ag is a good tool for teaching," Vogt said. "It's not that we are trying to create farmers, but why not?" Vogt said this is their third year as a functioning charter school. Walton was a regular elementary school before, with a regular curriculum. The school is at maximum capacity right now. Students come from Walton and the Newton District first. These students have priority and are placed on a first-come, first-served basis. Next, students in other nearby towns--Hillsboro, Peabody, Whitewater and Sedgwick--can enroll if space allows. The village Three hundred people call Walton home. "The school is the heart of the small town. It's literally a village that is raising kids," Vogt said. "Without the school, the town might not make it. It wouldn't be viable." The community support is unreal, the principal said. "There are so many people that support us," she said. "Businesses give us breaks and discounts." Every little bit helps the school survive. In its third year as a charter school, the funding is dwindling, Vogt said. "We really appreciate those that have helped us," she said. "Charter funding saved us. But that has now run out. I'm not opposed to looking for corporate sponsors to help out." In the classroom Whether it is a butterfly house project or a salsa-making kit, each classroom project is linked to agriculture in some way. Then teachers tie in vocabulary, writing and reading skills, math and science into each project. "All subjects are somehow related to agriculture," Vogt said. "Whether it be with the kindergartners relating something to their five senses, then writing about it--working on their writing and vocabulary in the process." Angela Black, the Walton kindergarten teacher, said some of the activities in her class include: studying a commodity a month; visits to dairy, hog, cattle and horse farms; cooking and baking. "When we went to the dairy farm, the kids got to see the milking process and the baby calves," Black said. "All the steps in the process." Each class is paired with a local farm family, and the kindergarten class had the opportunity to visit their farm during harvest. Some rode in the combine and got to see different products that result from the commodity being harvested. "We have more farm families than we have classes," Vogt said. "The farmers are very receptive." Kids grow plants, studying everything in the lifecycle from seeds to harvest. They learn to deal with pests and disease on their plants, as well as issues that arise when the plant is deficient or getting too much of a certain nutrient. One class grew tomatoes, another class grew beans, and one grew pumpkins. The fifth-grade class is a functioning 4-H club and regularly prepares for talks, speeches and other activities. Recently they learned what livestock judging was all about. Carol Budde, fifth-grade teacher, said the students have worked on composting and breeding rabbits and will raise pigs this spring. "It's just awesome," Budde said. "The kids will go visit farmers and learn how their food gets to their plate." Outside of the classroom, students can work in the barn with goats and chickens, or enjoy the sensory garden that allows them to get their hands on plants or objects and then talk about it; a green house and wheat plot allow students to plant things and learn about their growth and life cycles. They also have a rain garden and plants of Kansas around the main school building. Parents and family Parents are very involved. Many help with classroom projects, family-style meals the school hosts, field trips and animals. "I think they are more involved (than in a traditional setting), I really do," Vogt said. "They volunteer to do things in the classrooms and take care of the animals during breaks." Walton hosts family-style meals once a month. The meals help students work on table manners--passing and serving etiquette, as well as tabletop discussions. "It's a simulated family dinner. Everybody seems to love it," Vogt said. "Parents come in and kids gather in their home rooms." Grades are mixed within the home rooms, with about 15 kids in each home room. Siblings are grouped together in the same home room, which adds to the family feel of the school and the dinners. "We're here to help kids that need it, and redirect them when they need it," Vogt said. "Every kid here knows we love them and want to help them. It's a family atmosphere." Change on the way Vogt said the fifth graders will move into a fifth- and sixth-grade center next year in Newton. "I'd love to start a preschool (with the extra classroom). But we do have a super large kindergarten class coming up," Vogt said. Current class sizes range from 18 to 25 students. Smaller class sizes help the kids get the attention they need. With the ag-based curriculum, the students have outperformed their traditional counterparts. "They score above other schools on their state assessments, but I don't want to brag," Vogt said. Expansion could be a possibility if there were funding. "I'd love to have two classes of each grade, but then we'd have to come up with money to build," Vogt said. "We have turned away nine families this year." Kylene Scott can be reached by phone at 620-227-1804 or by e-mail at kscott@hpj.com.
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