FROM THE BOARD 



Teach the Children: 

 The Future of Our Industry Could Depend on It 



Ann Hilton 



For the last couple of years, I've 

 had the pleasure of represent- 

 ing the New Hampshire Plant Grow- 

 ers' Association (NHPGA) to the 

 Board of New Hampshire Agricul- 

 ture in the Classroom (NHAITC). 



NHAITC is part of a national ef- 

 fort to bring agriculture to students 

 in the elementary grades. Many 

 children today — especially in urban 

 areas — know their food only as 

 something that comes from a gro- 

 cery store. NHAITC offers classroom 

 materials, newsletters, a lending li- 

 brary, and training workshops to 

 help teachers bring agriculture alive. 



NHAITC has developed what 

 they call a Barn Box. This Barn Box 

 contains teaching materials on top- 

 ics ranging from apples to milk to 

 honey to maple sugar. The one 

 area for which NHAITC still needed 

 to develop a curriculum was 

 plants — especially since horticulture 

 has become the largest agricultural 

 industry in New Hampshire. The 

 NHPGA board felt that this gap 

 needed to be filled and that the 

 NHPGA could help. After some 

 hunting, we found a set of 4-H pub- 

 lications for students from kinder- 

 garten through eighth grade called 

 "Exploring the World of Plants and 

 Soils." This is broken down into 

 smaller areas of study; plant repro- 

 duction, soils, plant growth factors, 

 pant characteristics, and growing 

 and using plants. It comes with a 

 teaching plan, so it can used as a 

 complete unit that lasts several 

 months or divided into smaller 

 units — or even into single experi- 

 ments. The set is very user- 

 friendly — especially to teachers who 

 fear they have black thumbs — 

 which, I've found out, is one of the 

 biggest obstacles to hands-on 

 teaching about plants. 



NHPGA is purchasing 65 of these 

 sets for NHAITC Fifty of them will 

 go out to Barn Boxes already in 

 schools. The rest will go into boxes 

 yet to be sold. Donating these 

 publications will prevent the cost of 

 the Barn Boxes from increasing and 

 make these teaching materials avail- 

 able to schools already with boxes. 

 That's 50 elementary schools — think 

 of how many children we will reach! 



Our industry's future depends on 

 people developing a love for grow- 

 ing plants. Introducing people to 



the plant word when they are 

 young is key. So open your green- 

 houses to schools, take a project 

 into the classroom, or donate sup- 

 plies. Or, through NHAITC, donate a 

 Barn Box to the elementary school 

 in your town. The cost is $140 — 

 which covers just the cost of the 

 materials. For information on NHAITC 

 and its programs, contact Lisa Oden 

 at 603-224-1934. 



And for more information, contact 

 Ann Hilton at 603-435-6425. 



FALL COURSES AT THE THOMPSON SCHOOL 



Jl he Thompson School at UNH, Durham, offers a wide selection of 

 courses in ornamental horticulture, a portion of which are listed be- 

 low. (Some courses have prerequisites — course work or experience.) 

 The fall semester runs from September 2 through December 12, 1997. 



Introduction to Plant Materials F 8-1 lam 2 cr 



Plant Structure & Function MW 10-1 lam, T 10am- 1 2 3 cr 



Soils & Land Use MWF llam-I2, Th lOam-12 



(Sept 2-Oct 17) 2 cr 



Soils & Plant Nutrition MWF llam-12, Th IOam-12 



(Oct 20-Dec 12) 2 cr 



Horticulture Facilities Management Hours arranged 2 cr 



Pest Management: Weeds M l-4pm (Sept 2-Oct 17) 1 cr 



Pest Management: Control Applications M l-4pm 



(Oct 20-Dec 12) 1 cr 



Introduction to Floral Design TTh 2-5pm (Sept 2-Oct 17) 2 cr 



Floral Design Seminar: Funerals TTh 2-5pm (Oct 20-Dec 12) 



2 cr 



Water Management F 10am- 1 pm 2 cr 



Woody Landscape Plants W 8-1 lam 2 cr 



Interior Plants and Plantscaping M 6-9pm 2 cr 



Landscape Construction & Maintenance W 1 lam-5pm 4 cr 



Floricultural Crop Production TTh 8- 10am 3 cr 



You may enroll by phoning the Division of Continuing Education at 

 603-862-2015 or access on-line at <www.learn.unh.edu>. Make sure 

 you get onto their catalog mailing list. For information on course con- 

 tent, the part-time degree program, or the Diploma in Landscape 

 Horticulture, call 603-862-1035. 



AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 1997 



