SAEs Are Sweet!

Gracie Collecting Sap

Another tour of the Three Circle Model of Agricultural Education took me all the way to the backyard of Cumberland Valley High School. For my second Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) visit of my Student Teaching Experience I met with Gracie Elliot to learn about her School Based Enterprise SAE project. 

Gracie became interested in global agriculture after learning about the World Food Prize which led her to learn about Growing Hope Globally. This organization was founded in 1999 by two Ohio farmers. Growing Hope Globally uses the proceeds from crops grown and sold in the United States to fund agricultural development programs overseas. In order to help individuals struggling with hunger, Gracie chose to become a part of Growing Hope Globally. After applying for a grant through the Pennsylvania FFA Association, Gracie decided that the crop she would focus on growing would be maple syrup. Not only is this a unique crop to work with as an SAE project, but it is also easily accessible on the Cumberland Valley Educational Campus. 

Boiling Sap Into Maple Syrup

Working with Ms. Darla Romberger Gracie learned how to tap trees to collect sap from the numerous maple trees at Cumberland Valley. Sap is able to be collected when overnight temperatures drop below freezing and then rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. This change in temperature causes stored sugars to move upwards in the tree to feed the tree for growth and budding in the warmer seasons. After tapping each maple tree, Gracie began to collect sap. From forty gallons of sap, Gracie can make one gallon of maple syrup. Once enough sap was collected, she was able to boil the sap down in an evaporator pan and then boil it once more before bottling the finished maple syrup. 

When asked what her favorite part of her project was, Gracie replied, "Collecting sap is a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun". While fun, this process is also challenging. Gracie had to figure out how to boil the sap down at the right temperature to avoid having it boil over the pan or crystalize after being bottled. Once she has enough maple syrup bottled, Gracie will sell her product and donate the proceeds to Growing Hope Globally. Once she becomes more familiar with the process of making maple syrup, I believe she has the potential to further develop her SAE and apply for a proficiency award. Overall, learning about Gracie's SAE project helped me to see the potential that my students have at school to develop and maintain an SAE project. Great work, Gracie!

"Taylor"ed with love,