By Weakley County Schools Communications Director Karen Campbell
Sharon, Tenn.–Sharon students got a firsthand introduction to product development as vendors from the Dresden Farmers Market took time to demonstrate and, in some cases, sell their products to the young learners.
Summer Scholars across the county are discovering various aspects of economics during the four weeks of the mandated classes meant to address potential learning loss due to the pandemic. To make the program as attractive as possible to the students and the teachers who went directly into new material only a week after schools closed, program planners put an emphasis on hands-on experiences. They also chose a topic from the newly adopted English Language Arts curriculum that lent itself to experiential learning.
“The subject of economics has allowed us to move from reading about spending money and necessary resources and their impact to seeing where our food comes from and how things we buy are made,” according to Beth Davidson, Sharon School vice principal and the director for the Summer Scholars Program.
“We’ve made butter, ice cream, and strawberry freezer jam and discovered the math and sequencing involved to do it. We’ve interacted with our local businesses, bank, and services. And today’s introduction to Farmers Markets was another great opportunity for applying what we are learning from the materials we are reading,” she said.
Demonstrating and exhibiting their wares on the third week of the four-week program were Farmers Market vendors Kenneth Byrd, K & D Custom Creations; Kathy Adams, Dry Hollow Farms; and Wilbur Brewer, Northwest TN Beekeepers.
Byrd provided a rope making demonstration and showed the math skills that can be practiced as he taught the children to play his handcrafted Shut the Box Game. Adams discussed her goat and sheep farm and kept the conversation lively with chances to touch fleece shorn from a sheep, homegrown loofah, and dryer balls made from wool. Brewer showed students a hive and hive frames along with the protective gear needed in beekeeping and bottles of the finished product.
Davidson expressed gratitude for the community support from dairy farmer Laura Bell, Simmons Bank, Sharon Fire Department, Sharon Post Office, Sharon Furniture and Appliance, and Mayor Ali Stalter. She also offered words of appreciation to Dresden City Recorder Jennifer Branscum who oversees the Farmers Market and enlisted those who presented at Sharon’s mini markets.
Photo: Sharon Summer Scholar Marcus Dixon views bees as they are making honey. The demonstration was provided by Wilbur Brewer of Northwest Tennessee Beekeepers. Weakley Co. Schools photo.