A Colorado school district wants its students to know where their food comes from — and how to scramble an egg
Two school districts in Routt County, Hayden and South Routt, are using a state grant to infuse agriculture into every grade, pre-K through high school
The Colorado Sun
HAYDEN — In an eighth-grade health class, in a community surrounded by grazing cattle, chicken farms and fields of spinach, some students had no clue how to make a scrambled egg. A few had never even cracked one into a bowl.
There was a clear division in the class of 13- and 14-year-olds. Some milked cows, collected eggs or tossed hay to their family cattle before they came to school in the mornings, while others were “town kids” — children of coal workers, business owners and employees of the resort hotels and restaurants in nearby Steamboat Springs.
The class — where all students eventually learned to make scrambled eggs, fried eggs, salsa and waffles from scratch — helped motivate Hayden School District and nearby South Routt schools to double down on agriculture. Now, after winning a $1 million grant from the state Department of Education, the districts are infusing agricultural learning into every grade, from preschool to senior year.
The goal is to return to Routt County roots, to connect classroom learning to a way of life long-valued in the rolling hills of northwest Colorado, and, simply, to make sure every student who graduates from Hayden or South Routt knows not just where their food comes from but that their neighbors helped grow it.
Read more via The Colorado Sun.
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