In this village school, education goes in parallel with the vegetable and fruit farming. Apart from the curricular activities, children here learn how to create and manage a farm, develop their business projects. Academic literature, co-authored by the school headmaster himself, helps the children to adopt professional approach in the matter. The result of the course is naturally grown ripe fruits from the trees, with no chemical fertilizers used. They have already harvested cherries. Part was sold, and the other was canned to be used later for the school meals.
Now it's time for apricots. "We will prepare dried fruits, which in winter will be put in the lobby so that the whole school can enjoy them, also some of them will be canned in order to prepare beverages for serving in the school canteen," one of the students shared her plans for this season.
Parents assist teachers in cooking. When preparing a meal nothing extra is added, not even sugar. The whole crop is used without residue. Spare fruits and vegetables that were not used for school meals go on sale. The school committee have already decided how the extra-earned money from the sale will be spent.
The money is put on an account opened especially for these purposes, where it is saved until the right moment comes - the implementation of the next project. According to local students, the plan for this year funds received from the sale of apricots is to spend them on the construction of a garage for a school bus. The school has its own bus, tractor and truck.
The equipment necessary for the functioning of the agricultural school was granted by both charitable compatriots from abroad and local patrons. The minibus was gifted by Armenian community in Sydney, a tractor from American Armenians, and a truck from the My Step Foundation. Apart from being implemented in school gardens, the machinery is also used for educational purposes.
The fact of having a truck and a tractor allows children since September to learn more information about the profession of tractor driver and driving a truck in order to become farmers in the future.
Also, there are blackcurrants in the school gardens. These berries are rich in vitamins, they are dehydrated and packaged in bags with the school logo on them. They then sold on the market. The demand is quite high, especially among tea lovers.
The school doors do not close throughout the year, here everyone is working to achieve the status of a rural educational site, and in order to reach this goal there is still a lot to be done!
Based on the materials of the First Public Television Channel in Armenia