Saturday, March 8, 2025
There’s something about home-grown veggies that even picky eaters can’t resist. When students produce their own produce, says award-winning MPS educator Joshua Gonzalez, they’re more likely to eat their veggies—and like them.
Just before winter break, Mr. Gonzalez’s 2nd-grade students harvested lettuce from the hydroponic towers at River Trail School of Agricultural Science. With a bottle of ranch dressing and some words of encouragement, Mr. Gonzalez persuaded 20 2nd graders to sample their school-grown greens. Then students bagged up the leftovers to share with families.
“Even kids who don’t eat a lot of veggies love eating our lettuce,” he says. “They’re surprised by how good it is.”
Another winter surprise: Wisconsin Agriculture in the Classroom recently named Mr. Gonzalez its 2024 Outstanding Educator of the Year. The nonprofit cited his leadership in securing funding, building resources, and his enthusiastic teaching, which embed agricultural literacy into River Trail’s K–8 curriculum and culture.
“Mr. Gonzalez understands how to connect real-world experiences for his students,” says MPS climate education coach Kimberly Talarico. “He does an outstanding job integrating urban agriculture practices into his curriculum through a variety of lessons throughout the year.”
Building a schoolyard chicken coop and teaching Milwaukee youth to grow pumpkins and pears is a plot twist for Mr. Gonzalez, who now chairs River Trail’s agriculture committee. Raised and educated in Milwaukee from K5 to college, Mr. Gonzalez had no background in agriculture education when he arrived at the traditional K–8 school in 2006.
In 2015, River Trail received a grant from the American Heart Association to install raised-bed gardens, and the agriculture education program grew like a beanstalk. Students and staff now maintain a food forest of 110 chestnut, hazelnut, and pear trees; a chicken coop; composting operation; two outdoor greenhouses; and other agricultural amenities. Beehive Café, open twice a month, is staffed by educators and special education students who use school produce to make and sell soups, salsa, salads, and other dishes.
Gonzalez credits River Trail colleagues for launching the school’s agriculture committee less than a decade ago. The Milwaukee Board of School Directors designated River Trail a citywide urban agriculture specialty school in 2022. Three miles away is Harold S. Vincent School of Agricultural Science for high school students. high school students.
Gonzalez collaborates with the high school to ensure River Trail graduates are prepared for advanced lessons and agriculture responsibilities as Vincent freshmen. The schools are among America’s only public, urban, K–12 agriculture education programs. “River Trail is the junior varsity,” Mr. Gonzalez says. “We are absolutely preparing kids for varsity agriculture and even ag careers. By the time our kids head to Vincent, they’re not afraid of dirt, tools, and chickens.”
After nearly two decades at River Trail, the only thing that scares Mr. Gonzalez is food insecurity. For him, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a deeper connection to sustainable urban food systems.
“Seeing empty shelves in our grocery stores was startling,” he remembers. “We all ought to be able to grow our own food, be self-reliant. Teaching agricultural literacy empowers students to be more self-sufficient and embrace healthier lifestyles."
Mr. Gonzalez and River Trail colleagues divide their 400 students into multigrade units and assign agricultural duties that reinforce academic standards in STEM, social studies, and other subjects. Fifth graders learn about soil and climate science while tending to the food forest and mentoring K5 students who plot and plant corn, peppers, and tomatoes.
The “light bulb” moments—for instance, when students build a hydroponics tower and learn about photosynthesis—inspire Mr. Gonzalez.
“We’re not saying ‘open your book to page 38,’ ” he says. “We’re showing students how to use tools responsibly. They’re gathering pears from the food forest and eggs from our chicken coop to make custard. Fun, tangible experiences are so important for learning.”
Planting season is several weeks away, and new ideas are cropping up. Second graders just built a fourth hydroponics tower. Families will be asked to share recipes for the collard greens that students plant, tend, and harvest.
Pecans are not native to Wisconsin and Mr. Gonzalez is working on a solution so River Trail can grow their own. He’s consulting with an arborist to graft pecan branches onto hickory tree roots to grow the pecanlike “hican.” Check back in four years to see how it’s going.
Mr. Gonzalez will be a featured speaker at the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers conference this April and at the National Agriculture in the Classroom conference in June.