An Agricultural Education That Provides Community Nourishment
It’s pretty rare for a high school to have a farm. Uniquely situated upon 350 acres of USDA certified organic farmland, our school is a working farm that also serves as our largest classroom! Our land use history demonstrates the commitment to local, sustainable, and organic agriculture that is rooted in our Quaker values.
This is agricultural education that doesn’t separate learning from doing. There’s no hiding behind theory when you’re responsible for actual crops and livestock— especially when you rely on it to nourish you and your community.
The Problem with Classroom-Only Learning
Teenagers are restless learners. They fidget through lectures but will spend hours troubleshooting real problems. They struggle with abstract concepts but master complex processes when those processes serve actual purposes.
Agriculture education works when students see the purpose behind the work. Research supports this—students in inquiry-based agricultural programs consistently outperform their peers in traditional settings. They ask different questions and think through problems systematically.
One recent study found that students prefer hands-on agricultural education approaches because these methods feel authentic to them.
How We Actually Provide an Agricultural Education
The Farm Becomes the Lab
The farm is a living classroom:
- Humanities classes learning about the origins of agriculture might herd goats to a new pasture
- Spanish students might spend class in the garden studying names of different plants and their parts
- Art classes might take place in the barn and use our chickens as living models for their drawings
- Chemistry class could balance and maintain the water quality in the greenhouse aquaponics system
And much more! Our organic farm, fields, and forests provide endless opportunities for in-depth and hands-on learning.
Where Subjects Stop Being Separate
The farm is a transdisciplinary classroom where problems must be tackled from many different disciplines. These connections happen naturally because farming demands multiple skills simultaneously.
For example, harvesting our field of potatoes this fall could involve calculating yield for each variety grown (math), understanding the life cycle of a potato plant (biology), maintaining soil health and the benefits of organic production (environmental science), researching the cultural origins of the potato and how indigenous peoples today protect their biodiversity (Spanish and Humanities), and much more.
Research shows students respond well to this integrated approach in agricultural education programs. They develop broader thinking patterns and stronger analytical abilities. Academic boundaries disappear when learning serves real purposes.
The Ways Students Get Involved
Farm Team
At Olney Friends School, farming is a sport during the first and fourth quarters of the school year! Our Student Farm Team regularly tends to our gardens and livestock. They plant, harvest, weigh, process, and deliver our produce to the kitchen. They feed the hens and collect, wash, and package their eggs. They experience the satisfaction of seeing the literal fruits of their labor on the plates of their fellow students.
The farm is a tangible expression of the love and learning that has happened on this campus for nearly 200 years. Through the farm, Olney students learn to respect the value of work and land stewardship. We participate in caring for the land that in turn cares for us.
The work also builds physical strength and mental toughness. More importantly, it feeds the school community.
From Field to Fork
Meal time at Olney is one of many opportunities to bring our learning community together. During the three on-campus meals served each day, students enjoy a variety of food grown or raised within walking distance of our kitchen. Our meals include free-range eggs, freshly harvested vegetables, and an assortment of protein from meat operations that include chicken, beef, and goat.
Our organic certification means zero pesticides. Students learn sustainable methods while improving soil health over time. The nine-year crop rotation system demonstrates long-term land management.
Food waste from our meals is incorporated into compost on the farm. Students begin to see the circular cycles involved in sustainable agriculture- food waste is transformed into a soil amendment, which then becomes plant nutrition, which then becomes our nutrition, and so on.
There’s satisfaction in eating food you helped produce. Students develop a practical understanding of food systems through daily experience.
What We’ve Learned Actually Works
Hands-on agricultural education consistently beats traditional classroom instruction. Students in agricultural science programs develop critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and systems thinking abilities.
But research doesn’t capture everything. It doesn’t measure the confidence students gain from solving complex problems. It doesn’t quantify the satisfaction of feeding your community with something you had a direct role in providing.
Students here learn skills that transfer: problem-solving under pressure, responsibility, working with uncertainty, and managing interconnected systems. These abilities serve them regardless of future career paths.
Ten Years of Growing
Olney has had a farm for as long as it has been a school- since 1837! Ten years ago, Olney achieved USDA certified organic certification. Don Guindon, our head farmer, has spent that decade getting students more involved in their local food system and discovering capabilities and interests they didn’t know they had.
Students may arrive thinking they’re “bad at science.” They leave with an understanding of complex ecological relationships because they’ve managed them personally. They develop expertise through experience rather than memorization.
Our certification allows the production of nearly two dozen crop varieties plus multiple livestock species. But the real measure of success is graduating students who tackle challenges confidently.
What This Means for Your Teen
Today’s students may face environmental and food security challenges we’re only beginning to understand. Agricultural education here prepares them through genuine experience with sustainable systems and complex problem-solving.
Students study more than sustainability— they practice it. They don’t learn about food systems— they operate them. They don’t memorize scientific principles— they apply them to solve immediate problems.
This education prepares students for life, not just college admission.
Curious about how agriculture education might change your child’s approach to learning? Our farm-to-table curriculum combines serious academics with practical application.
Contact us today to learn about Olney Friends School’s agricultural education program and schedule a campus visit.
