Maple sugaring is a New England tradition – a staple in the local agriculture industry. In 2023, the USDA New Hampshire Agriculture State Overview reported 148,000 gallons of maple syrup produced within the state, accounting for over $7.4 million of revenue.
For many New Englanders, maple sugaring is a familiar concept, and the NH 4-H program is working to amplify that through NH school classrooms. On Jan. 31, NH 4-H piloted the 4-H Maple Symposium, where local educators gathered to learn the tradition of maple sugaring and how to incorporate it into their classrooms to create robust learning opportunities for their students.
The 4-H Maple Symposium was hosted by Guilford Elementary School. Thirty-three teachers and 4-H volunteers gathered to learn how to incorporate maple sugaring as a piece of curriculum for their students. Topics included tree identification and care, how to tap maple trees, the science of making maple syrup and everything in between.
Cohorts were created so that curriculum could be applied to elementary, middle and high schoolers in age and developmentally appropriate ways. 4-H is a program that aims to provide youth with real world experiences modeled after their own communities. This modified curriculum helps students apply their classroom learning in real-world scenarios and become informed community members.
Guilford Elementary served as the venue for this event because of their established sugar house. The concept was brought to the school through their principal, Danielle Bolduc. Her own passion for maple sugaring sparked the idea to build a sugar house on the school property. Local construction companies, along with Sunnyside Maple, helped design the building. It is now operated by the students and other local entities. The effort helps connect students with their community and dive deeper into a NH tradition.
A group of educators exploring innovative teaching stations used by teachers in their classrooms. Photo courtesy of Emily Pincince
In learning how to tap maple trees, small logs were brought into classrooms and teachers practiced drilling holes and placing taps. Participants also learned how to identify a maple tree, how to make sure the tree is mature enough to tap and how to collect the sap. The hands-on approach to learning helped the educators feel more comfortable with the curriculum while also getting the chance to network with their peers.
The purpose of the 4-H Maple Symposium is to help build a skillset for educators and help them gain confidence in agricultural topics so that their students are able to experience real-world learning. A study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found teachers nationwide are uncomfortable with teaching agriculture because of a lack of familiarity with the topic, even though agriculture plays a large role in every community. Programs like the Maple Symposium utilize experts who are able to explain concepts to teachers and increase their comfort with teaching a topic.
The 4-H maple curriculum is meant to not only be a stand-alone topic, but can also be integrated into other classroom subjects – for example, measuring a maple tree to determine if it is large enough for sap harvesting is also a way to teach students about calculating circumference and diameter.
The program was a combined effort of the NH 4-H Program (a program of UNH Cooperative Extension) and NH Ag in the Classroom. Both groups share similar missions in building ag literacy skills in youth and helping to build well-rounded and informed young adults.
The day was led by Mike Smith, Ag in the Classroom program manager, and Megan Glenn, 4-H STEM Volunteer Program manager.
Looking forward, the 4-H program hopes to expand their offerings to local educators, to help enhance the traditional classroom experiences and prepare youth to become ready for their adult lives.
by Hannah Majewski
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