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Picking cucumbers is part of the school day for these pupils in 2002 at Belfast's Troy Howard Middle School. The SAD 34 school's curriculum integrates academic concepts with sustainable-agricultural production practices in a garden, orchard and greenhouse setting. The teacher who cultivates this program, Steve Tanguay, was recently honored with the Scott's Classroom Gardener of the Year Award.
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 NEWS: MIDCOAST
Belfast teacher gets garden award
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - Bangor Daily News << Back
BELFAST - Troy Howard Middle School teacher Steve Tanguay has been selected as winner of the Scott's Classroom Gardener of the Year Award for melding the school's gardening program into his curriculum.
Tanguay was presented the award, which is given annually by the Scott's Miracle-Gro Co., at a breakfast ceremony at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
Tanguay was one of four individuals to be chosen for the annual Scott's Give Back to Grow Awards, which includes $5,000 cash. Tanguay was selected in the education category.
A seventh-grade teacher, Tanguay was honored for developing a curriculum that integrates middle school academic concepts with sustainable agricultural production practices in a garden, orchard and greenhouse setting.
Pupils in Tanguay's program develop and run businesses while learning the economics of producing their own food. The pupils are first trained as apprentices and then graduate to "employee" status in one of three in-school enterprises, including a seed company, a farm stand and a compost company.
Middle-schoolers in the Troy Howard program manage their garden and greenhouse, save heirloom seeds, produce fertilizers and provide foods that are distributed at the school cafeteria and local soup kitchens. During the past two years, the pupils have harvested and redistributed approximately 7,000 pounds of all-natural foods and flowers.
The garden-greenhouse project has expanded to include watershed and bird studies, a fruit orchard, a Maine history garden, cut flowers, heirloom gardening, aquaculture, pest management, hanging baskets and a pizza garden.
Tanguay also was recently presented with the Maine State Board of Education's Making the Grade Award for his integrated teaching efforts that bring experiential education into the classroom.
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