PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — One farm in Aroostook County is doing much more than growing apples and carrots. It’s growing future farmers too.
The educational farm at MSAD 1 in Presque Isle started out as a greenhouse. Over the years, it’s turned into a 38-acre working farm.
High school students get to sign up for the class taught by MSAD 1 School Farm Manager John Hoffses. He says students get to learn how to drive and repair tractors, grow and harvest crops, and then sell them at local stores.
The class teaches students important skills that can be used outside of the classroom, Hoffses explained.
"I’ll use an example of a student at the store," Hoffses said. "They get to interact with the customers and they count the change back. It’s not done on a machine like at a convenience store, where you hand them a bill, and it spits out your change automatically. It’s all done right here. I feel it’s very important. It's getting back to the roots of what we used to do."
Right now, his students are finishing up harvesting their apple crop. Over the winter, they will start to plan what crops to plant in the upcoming spring.