Clagett Farm, located in Upper Marlboro and owned by the Chesapeake Bay foundation, is known for providing free and reduced-price produce to people living in poverty and near-poverty in the Washington, D.C. area.
A lesser-known responsibility of the historic 283-acre tobacco farm is educating students about agriculture and land use in relation to the Chesapeake Bay. The farm hosts field trips for teachers, girl scouts, and students ranging from 1st grade to college.
“We teach them about where they are in relationship to the Chesapeake Bay and we start out by teaching them about watersheds,” said Phillip McKnight, the Clagett Farm Educator. “Everyone in the Chesapeake Bay watershed usually lives within a five minute walk to a stream that affects the Bay, so we use interactive games to teach the students that we all, in one way or another, affect the Chesapeake.”
McKnight, a native of Garrettsville in Hartford County, Md., decided to work as farm educator because he was interested in a job that would help make students appreciate nature and want to protect it.
“I'm interested in farming because there has been a big movement of people interested in knowing where their food comes from,” he said. “I grew up on a farm from the start.
Students participating in Clagett Farm’s field trips are also taught about the problems faced by the Chesapeake, focusing on the Bay’s three main pollutants: nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution.
“We also teach them about gardening and about raising vegetables organically,” explained McKnight. “Depending on the season, we’ll have students either planting or harvesting. They learn about why we grow organically, using no chemical pesticides.”
Some other concepts students learn about include the importance of raising cattle on a grass diet, how chickens affect the Chesapeake and the various ways land is used in the surrounding area. Some students even have the opportunity to canoe down the Patuxent River, in order to see firsthand how water is used.
“We try to make it as hands on as possible for students,” McKnight said.
