Holmes County fifth-graders turn farm lessons into classroom creativity

The annual Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour isn’t only about getting kids out on the farm to experience farm life; it also is a perfect conduit for teaching math, science, environmental studies, writing and creativity in the classroom.

This annual event for every fifth grade student in Holmes County is hosted by Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District, with this year’s events taking place Oct. 25 for West Holmes students and Sept. 30 for fifth-graders in East Holmes.

Upon attending the events, the students are asked to write essays on whatever topic they found interesting during the tour, and the East and West Holmes FFAs, whose members help host the event, invite students to participate in a poster contest.

Students are encouraged to use their creativity, and over the years, both contests have seen some very creative submissions.

Each fifth grade teacher chooses the top entries. Oftentimes, either the rest of the fifth grade teachers at each individual school or the entire staff are invited to narrow that selection down to two or the submissions that go to the SWCD and respective FFAs.

“It’s always fun to see what the kids come up with for the poster contest,” said Jeff Blakley, Hiland FFA adviser.

For the fifth grade teachers, the tour provides an opportunity to extend their teaching outside of the four walls of the classroom, something that almost all believe creates a lasting impact on the students.

Jana Immel, fifth and sixth grade science teacher at Berlin Elementary, said there are all kinds of life lessons at the students’ disposal. This marks her 16th year at the farm tour.

“In the classroom I can teach them, but out here they can literally get their hands dirty and touch things and experience nature and farmland,” Immel said. “We appreciate this opportunity.”

She said whether it is the sciences or language arts, teachers can carry the lessons of this day back into the classroom.

“There are a lot of standards here that match up with the fifth grade Ohio state standards,” Immel said. “This is a great preface to teaching those standards and the curriculums we teach.”

Heidi Olinger, fifth grade teacher at Chestnut Ridge, said preparing the students for this event is a fun part of the curriculum.

“We talk about ecosystems leading up to this, and the students don’t have a lot of background knowledge,” Olinger said. “When we get back to the classroom, we will look over some of the notes that they took and dive into the essay contest. The creative writing part of this is fun, and it’s always easier to actually write about something that you’ve experienced rather than just read about.”

Like many teachers, she tries to encourage her students to be creative and gives a few examples before turning the students loose on their essays and posters.

Now in her sixth year at the farm tour, Megan Amos of Wise School said she always encourages her students to expand beyond the essay contest and also do the poster contest because it brings artistic skills into play.

She said helping students pour over their notes always helps ignite and inspire ideas for either contest.

Elisabeth Weber, intervention specialist at Winesburg Elementary, has the unique perspective of having her students work on their contest projects and then share their experience with younger students at the school.

“It’s always interesting to see them pass along the knowledge they learned with kindergarten and first-graders,” Weber said. “That helps these younger students look forward to it once they get to fifth grade.”

All of this is important because, according to Trevor Berger, program administrator at Holmes SWCD, fewer and fewer children are experiencing life on the farm in any capacity.

“Getting these kids out here and involved in experiencing an actual working farm and getting their hands dirty with crops, livestock, forestry and more helps them put the pieces together as to what agriculture encompasses,” Berger said. “Most kids today haven’t experienced life on a farm. They may have gardens, but fewer and fewer kids know what this is like out here.”

Janessa Hill, Holmes County OSU Extension agriculture and natural resources educator, said these opportunities invite youngsters to consider agriculture as a possible career and encourage them to learn more about conservation and the environment.

“I wish we had these types of hands-on learning opportunities when I was growing up,” said Hill, who didn’t grow up in Holmes County. “It opens the door to understanding the importance of agricultural resources and the agricultural world and what opportunities are there.”

She said not only do the fifth-graders learn, but also they get a chance for the high school FFA members to enhance their leadership skills in aiding the program.