ORLANDO, Fla. — At first glance, it might look like snack time at Orlando’s Edgewater High School, but instead, it’s Susan Peoski’s agriscience class.
“So teaching has really changed over the years since the time I was a student,” Peoski said. “I didn’t have as much hands-on, and I feel like hands-on really helps us understand better real-life authentic learning.”
That’s why she puts her creative skills on display with a soil lab where sweet snacks replace the real thing.
“So that students can better understand what is under our feet and not only that — what is under our plants and our food that we’re growing and what is needed to grow good food,” she said.
Whether Peoski’s students are inside the classroom, outside among farm animals or even in the school garden where fresh food is growing, she said what her students are learning are life skills that they can take with them.
“Agricultural education is incredibly important, because it helps our students understand where their food comes from, where they might be able to create their own farms in the future and create their own food and businesses,” she said.
As passionate as Peoski is, she said teaching was not her first career choice.
“I was actually a marketing director for a small company, and one day I was driving home thinking I needed to do something that fulfilled my purpose a little differently,” she said. “And within a minute of that thought, I saw a sign, a little sign, a college digital sign that said, ‘Start your teaching career,’ and that was my sign.”
“I started subbing and then discovered that I was really passionate about helping middle school students through the transitions that they go through,” she added. “And then eventually I moved into high school, which is very similar still working on those transitional times.
“I hope that they know that there’s an incredible world to explore, and this is just the beginning.”