In this episode of Achieving Joy and Mastery in Public Schools, we visit East Aurora Union Free School District to celebrate a powerful example of authentic, hands-on learning.

Superintendent Brian Russ joins the podcast to share the story behind East Aurora High School’s Sustainable Agriculture program, launched during the 2023–2024 school year on the district’s beautiful 107-acre campus, once family farmland. Rather than simply honoring the land’s history, East Aurora is bringing it back to life as a “living laboratory” where students learn through farming, animal care, composting, soil health, sustainability, food systems, entrepreneurship, and service to the community.

This episode also features 12th grader Maya Reynolds, along with the work of teachers Jeff Shelley and Ethan Hansen, who are helping students connect science, environmental stewardship, responsibility, business, and community in meaningful ways.

At its heart, this conversation is about what happens when public schools create learning experiences that are real, relevant, and rooted in place. East Aurora’s Sustainable Agriculture program reminds us that students can do more than study the world around them. They can help sustain it, improve it, and grow from it.

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Or visit our website E-NSSA.org