The chicks in these photos are about a week old. Jeff's LEAF students hatched them. Next week, they’ll ride into Grayslake D127 High School classrooms along with the teens who raised them, and students who have never held anything that small and alive will get their turn.
That’s the pace of October at the farm. The days are getting shorter, and every teacher we work with is trying to fit in as much real-world learning as possible before the frost.
This month, students are pulling the farm’s annual soil samples, clipboards in hand, field by field. They’re broadcasting cover crop seed so the soil stays protected through winter. Ninety culinary students are coming out to glean. They'll learn how food really reaches a working kitchen, and how imperfect produce can still make a perfect dinner.
Next week, we'll be at the Lake County Fairgrounds with 7,000 eighth graders and high schoolers, giving them hands-on time with careers in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. There are hundreds of those careers, and most students may not even realize the possibilities.
We share with students a lesson we've shared with beginning farmers for years: confidence comes from doing. Hard work, connection, and the sense that your work matters aren’t abstract ideas. You can feel them any day of the week on the farm.
These students are also learning who grows their food, what it costs, how far it travels, and what a changing climate does to it. They’re the future seed scientists, hydrologic engineers, chefs, forest rangers, food activists, and veterinarians. They’ll also be the eaters, voters, and neighbors who decide what our regional food system looks like in twenty years. This winter, they’ll be the ones watching the forecast, working with cold hands, and learning about the creative ways we grow food year-round. After all, we all need to eat!
