Students who speak English as a second language at Sinclair Community College are digging into their language education in a new way.
ESOL professor Kirsten Goeller has been taking students to the University of Dayton’s Flyer Farm to learn English through hands-on, experiential learning since the spring.
Goeller said she first tried contacting Sinclair's own garden but it was in the process of moving locations on their campus at the time.
"So I did a little research and just happened to come across on social media, a recognition post about the Flyer Farm," she said. "So we kind of talked about what we wanted to do with the project and food is an easy project. It means family, it means community, it means home."
Eight students from places like Mexico, Turkey, Haiti and more have been working on cultivating a number of crops on plots throughout the Flyer Farm on Old River Trail in Dayton.
This summer, they’re caring for foods and spices that come from their home regions including mustard and kohlrabi seeds, thyme, eggplant, basil and amaranth.
Goeller said they are learning skills like reading, writing, listening and speaking to learn English through the program, all of which can be taught in the garden.
"We are getting to donate some of the harvest to the Sinclair Food Pantry," she said. "So what my students will be doing is coming up with recipes for the food that we harvest and donate, writing those recipe cards, describing the origin."
UD Student and Flyer Farm volunteer Zac Kissel has been working with the students from Sinclair as a sustainability pperational assistant. He said he can see how beneficial hands-on learning has been.
"Sitting in the classroom is kind of boring learning English and [Goeller] thought, let's get them out in the farm work because we have to communicate and talk of, 'Hey, this has to go here. This is how we water things. This is how things are happening,'" he said. "So it's in practice learning how to use English here."
Edile Charles is a student in the class whose first language is French. He said learning English while working on the farm with his friends makes him happy.
“I like English. I live in the USA," he said. "It's the first language for this country, I want to speak English.”
Goeller said this type of experiential learning is an old teaching practice that puts student learning to real-life use.
“It's difficult to use a new language in everyday life," she said. "And this is a low stakes environment, a warm environment, a welcoming environment. So it was just a perfect match.”
The Flyer Farm operated with help from the Executive Director of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Steve Kendig.
He said this type of educational and collaborative work is exactly what the Flyer Farm was made for.
"It's just been a great partnership and I'm glad that they're getting some benefit out of it," he said. "This is what this was meant for, is to provide experiences for people that don't have the opportunity to get involved."
Kendig said he enjoys bringing urban agriculture to the classroom for Sinclair students and shares professor Goeller's wishes to continue programs like this one.
"They are so eager to learn and it's been really great to at least provide them an opportunity to do this," he said. "To give them a different experience, not to just see their classroom between home and school. Just to give them an opportunity see what urban agriculture is like in Dayton."
