Big strawberry patch teaches valuable lesson
STRAWBERRY picking is one of the most popular weekend activities on the Coast, but for students at Nambour State College it is also an important learning experience.
The school’s new Strawberry Patch Project has been officially opened, with students hard at work tending to thousands of berries.
The school said the project had been a team effort between staff, students and community members, and was spearheaded by former students Ray Daniels and Rod Spackman.
Year 8 student Kaytlin Champness said the strawberries were of a particularly good quality.
“I have been picking and packaging, and that sort of thing ... we take them up to the tuckshop or they use them in the home economics department so it’s quite versatile,” she said.
“It’s quite amazing. Our school has a pretty big base where everybody helps out and the community is really good.
“I am looking into a future with that agricultural aspect so it would probably help with that. (The program) opens up a lot more opportunities for people later in life.
“It has definitely helped me learn all the different parts in the paddock-to-plate process and that kind of thing.”
Mr Daniels, of Berry Yummy marketing and owner of Sunray Strawberries, donated the 12,500 plants to the school and along with Mr Spackman, a farmer, worked to help educate students on farm management, marketing, agricultural science and agribusiness.
Their aim was to plant the strawberry crop for the students to provide hands-on experience and potentially spark future career interest.
NSC principal Wayne Troyahn said the community link was vital for the school.
“The kids have been involved all the way through, right from the planning to the growing, to the harvesting and sales,” he said.
“They need to know where food is coming from and they also get to see what is involved in producing things.
“It’s really good to have something right in the centre of Nambour which is basically a big farm. We have had cattle for a number of years but to have something like this is amazing.”
The official opening was also attended by councillors Greg Rogerson and Jenny McKay, who donated divisional funds to assist with the project.
In addition to being used at the school, the strawberries are being sold at the Yandina Market and Hinterland Harvest Markets to help raise funds for a new farm shed, the cattle show team truck and provide more opportunities for students.
Sheldon Free, the school’s head of agriculture and home economics, said while the program was still in its infancy, the students were gaining an understanding of the industry.
“Students are just beginning to learn what it’s all about,” he said.
“They have been enjoying it. They have been learning just how much hard work is involved in harvesting a good crop and they are seeing the rewards. There are approximately 450 kids in our agriculture facility and all of them are involved in one way or another. With the population only increasing, they need to learn how to feed the next generation.”
They need to learn how to feed the next generation. — Sheldon Free