Leilehua students reap benefits of farm project

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

WAHIAWA — Hidden behind Leilehua High School, beyond California Avenue's strip malls and gridlock, away from customized Civics and fast-food drive-throughs, lies a farm.

Leilehua High School students Tiffany Ruiz, left, Ryan Estaban and Ruth Gerola tend to the three-acre farm, which is part of the Agriculture Learning Center. More than 100 students take agriculture classes there every year. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

More than 100 students take agriculture classes there every year, learning scientific names for plants and tending the rows of vegetables at the farm. They fully engage in farm life: feeding chickens, driving tractors, extracting honey from hives.

But this year the agricultural program has adopted "Food: Just Grow It!" — a state-financed agricultural project that promotes health and wellness among high-school students.

The project-based learning program, run by the Cooperative Extension Services of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawai'i, brings together organic farming and healthful cooking as a way to teach students the benefits of physical activity, nutrition and concerns for the environment.

The project wraps up its first year on Saturday with presentations from students and teachers to UH and state officials on what they've learned.

The state Department of Health is using part of the Tobacco Settlement Fund to finance "Food: Just Grow It!" which will receive $200,000 over three years.

The project started as a solution to the state's obesity epidemic. More than 26 percent of students in Hawai'i are obese, nearly twice the national average of 13 percent to 14 percent, according to a study released in March 2002.

"We want to get them moving, get them physically active," said Barbara Yamashita, Health Department Community Health Division chief.

The Health Department took action when the state Department of Education debated reducing the physical education requirement for high schoolers from one credit to half a credit in November. The idea was rejected, but since then various community groups and hospitals have started looking at alternative ways to get kids motivated to move.

"The DOE has been struggling with improving test scores and we've been very respectful of that," Yamashita said. "All we're asking is not to lose sight of the health of the child. They need to take care of the body that houses the brain."

Six high schools — Leilehua, Wai'anae, Kaua'i, Waimea, Konawaena and Kealakehe — are participating in the project.

Students have to organically grow seven herbs and vegetables — sweet basil, soy beans, green onion, tomatoes, mustard cabbage, wing beans and ganduri beans — then use them to create healthy dishes.

About 100 students in agriculture, culinary arts and science classes at Leilehua High participate in the project. What they learn in the classroom about photosynthesis and soil composition they apply to their work on the farm.

"The focus (in schools) has been so academic, which is sad because kids have to learn about their environment," said David Fuentes, resource teacher for career technology education at UH-West O'ahu. "But this is real. This brings it all together, puts it in context."

Russell Wong has been teaching agriculture at Leilehua High for 22 years. But even for him, the project has been a learning experience.

"The things we're so used to, we couldn't do," Wong said.

They couldn't just toss fertilizer on yellowing plants; they had to use compost. They couldn't just spray aphids and spider mites with herbicide; they had to find organic alternatives.

"You've got to find out how to do it," Wong said. "I learned a lot ... And everything I've learned, I've just added to the program."

Students in the culinary arts program had to research the seven different herbs and vegetables, finding healthful ways to prepare and cook them. In addition, they're learning about the importance of good nutrition.

Last month, the students prepared the dishes they created using the produce from the farm for school faculty and staff, who were impressed by how much the students have learned since October.

"It's a challenge for them," said Jackie Nakamura, food science and culinary arts teacher. "But our kids are becoming more aware of the foods they're eating. Looking at fat content and nutritional values will make them, in the future, better consumers."

But more than that, the students, through the project, are learning valuable life lessons, from effective communication to critical thinking, skills they can apply to any class, to any career.

"I've learned how to grow plants, but I've also learned about leadership and communication," said Blaze Paracuelles, 14, a Leilehua freshman who takes agriculture as a seventh-period elective. "It's been rewarding, definitely."