Monday, Aug. 23, 2010

Sixth-grade teacher harvests national agriculture award

He's instrumental in using garden to teach

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded a Los Banos sixth-grade teacher with a national award.

One of the five Agriculture in the Classroom program's Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture awards went to Sergio de Alba of R.M. Miano Elementary School.

"I grew up with agriculture, and I know how important it is for kids to learn about where our food comes from," he said.

He accepted the plaque during an all-expense paid trip to Baltimore, where the ceremony was held this year.

De Alba won the state award earlier this year and was then eligible for the national prize.

Over the past nine years at Miano Elementary, de Alba built 10 gardens on the school's campus, in which students get hands-on learning. He said there are many in-class lessons that go along with taking care of the gardens: plant science, life cycle, propagation and hybridization, among others.

"Even living here, in the middle of the Central Valley, a lot of kids don't understand where our food comes from," de Alba said. "And it's something that's very easy to connect to many different lessons."

De Alba said his students have had consistent improvement on their state test scores, and he thinks the work the children do in the gardens deserves some of the credit.

"Hands-on lessons are a lot more enjoyable, and they motivate students to want to learn," de Alba said.

Paula Mastrangelo, the principal of Miano Elementary, said de Alba is dedicated to the garden projects. She said the program not only teaches students to appreciate agriculture, but it also is a way to beautify the campus.

Mastrangelo said the students do all aspects of the gardening process.

"From beginning to end, they work in the gardens and are able to see the bountiful harvest," Mastrangelo said.

Mastrangelo said de Alba builds a rapport with his students and incorporates their ideas into his projects.

Enterprise staff writer Thaddeus Miller can be reached at 388-6562 or by e-mail at tmiller@

losbanosenterprise.com.