Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District sees book program expand throughout the county

ClipArt Education School Books

To promote agricultural education among young learners, the Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District has created the Planting the Seed to Read book program.

As part of this new initiative, a book was provided this spring to every kindergarten student in Geauga County who wanted to participate in the free program, according to a press release. The schools participating this year were: St. Helen School, Westwood Elementary, Timmons Elementary, St. Mary School, St. Anselm School, Jordak Elementary and Berkshire Elementary.

The aim of the program is to teach children about the journey of food from the farm to the plate and thus give them a deeper understanding and greater appreciation for agriculture, the press release states.

The program read “Right This Very Minute” by Lisl H. Detlefsen to over 400 kindergarten children in Geauga County. Through illustrations and storytelling, the young readers were transported into the world of agriculture, where they learned about the importance of soil health, the role of pollinators and the seasonal rhythms of agriculture.

In an interactive activity following the reading, the children became food detectives and discovered where their food comes from by identifying examples of a food and its origin, the press release said. They also explored some of the foods grown in Geauga County and connected them to their community’s agricultural heritage.

At the end of the program, each child received their own copy of Right This Very Minute. Thanks to donations from Patterson’s Fruit Farm and Sage’s Apples, each child also received a crisp apple, giving them even more insight into the abundance of local agricultural products.

“We believe every child should have a basic understanding of where their food comes from and how it is produced,” the Geauga SWCD said in the press release. “By introducing children to the farm-to-table concept at an early age, we hope to inspire curiosity, respect and responsibility for the natural world.”