Milwaukee City Wire

Students at River Trail School of Agricultural Science are embracing healthy eating habits through their involvement in growing their own vegetables. According to Joshua Gonzalez, an award-winning educator at the school, students are more inclined to eat and enjoy vegetables they have grown themselves.

Before winter break, Mr. Gonzalez's second-grade class harvested lettuce from the school's hydroponic towers. With some ranch dressing and encouragement, 20 students tried the lettuce they had grown. The leftover produce was bagged for families to take home.

"Even kids who don’t eat a lot of veggies love eating our lettuce," Mr. Gonzalez noted. "They’re surprised by how good it is."

Mr. Gonzalez was recently recognized as Wisconsin Agriculture in the Classroom's 2024 Outstanding Educator of the Year for his efforts in integrating agricultural literacy into River Trail’s curriculum and culture.

“Mr. Gonzalez understands how to connect real-world experiences for his students,” said Kimberly Talarico, an MPS climate education coach. “He does an outstanding job integrating urban agriculture practices into his curriculum through a variety of lessons throughout the year.”

The school's agriculture program has expanded significantly since receiving a grant from the American Heart Association in 2015 to install raised-bed gardens. The program now includes a food forest with various trees, a chicken coop, composting operation, greenhouses, and other facilities.

Gonzalez attributes much of this success to his colleagues at River Trail who helped establish the agriculture committee nearly ten years ago. In 2022, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors designated River Trail as a citywide urban agriculture specialty school.

River Trail collaborates with Harold S. Vincent School of Agricultural Science to prepare its graduates for advanced agricultural studies and responsibilities in high school.

“River Trail is the junior varsity,” Mr. Gonzalez stated. “We are absolutely preparing kids for varsity agriculture and even ag careers."

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified Mr. Gonzalez's focus on sustainable urban food systems due to concerns about food insecurity.

“Seeing empty shelves in our grocery stores was startling,” he recalled. “We all ought to be able to grow our own food, be self-reliant."

At River Trail, students engage in agricultural duties that reinforce academic standards across subjects like STEM and social studies.

Mr. Gonzalez finds inspiration when students experience "light bulb" moments during hands-on activities such as building hydroponics towers or gathering produce from their projects.

“We’re not saying ‘open your book to page 38,’ ” he explained. “We’re showing students how to use tools responsibly."

Looking ahead, new projects are underway including plans for growing pecanlike "hican" nuts by grafting pecan branches onto hickory tree roots with help from an arborist.

Mr. Gonzalez will speak at upcoming conferences hosted by the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers and National Agriculture in the Classroom this year.