Context is foundational to authentic, experiential learning, and understanding how to build soil health within a landscape context. Hands-on educational activities and programs help students of all ages better understand the context and real-life application of learning objectives, principles, and practices. Nicole Shuman is a community agriculturalist with Henrico County Public Schools. Nicole shares her experience with Mary, Jeff, and Eric and how she became interested in soil health and agricultural education work, Nicole specifically talks about her community agriculture work at Cornerstone Farm at Fairfield Middle School and how the farm helps get the students outside and gives them hands-on experiences.

Nicole offered the Soil Your Undies experiment and demonstration as one activity that provides context and experiential learning in a variety of settings on the farm. A 4 The Soil blog post that describes and further explains the Soil Your Undies activity and experiment can be accessed at https://www.4thesoil.org/post/featured-resource-soil-your-undies-challenge  

To learn more about Cornerstone Farm and the context of the agricultural learning program at Fairfield Middle School, please visit https://henricogives.org/cornerstone-farm-a-context-for-authentic-learning/ 

To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office. 

As always, we encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement and share your stories and the context of your agricultural and soil health work on your farm, in your garden, or backyard. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.

4 the Soil: A Conversation is made possible with funding support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Agua Fund. Other partners include the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Virginia Cooperative Extension; Virginia State University; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation; and partners of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition.

Disclaimer: Views expressed on this podcast are those of each individual guest.

To download a copy of this, or any other show, visit the website 4thesoil.org. Music used during today’s program is courtesy of the Flip Charts. All rights reserved. 4 the Soil: A Conversation is produced by On the Farm Radio in collaboration with Virginia Tech. The host and co-hosts are Jeff Ishee, Mary Sketch Bryant, and Eric Bendfeldt.