In 1992 the Plant Genetic Resources Unit developed a community outreach program with the Geneva City School District. This program is part of Project Promise Enrichment Program, which is designed to offer programs to extend elementary grade-level curriculum. First created as part of the school district's gifted and talented program, in 1991 it was re-designed to offer a variety of enrichment opportunities to all elementary students. As part of this program, many school-community collaborations have been established.
The promise being made by the PGRU is one for the future. The promise is for a future filled with young minds broadened by science, a future which will include plant species of the present and past because of efforts of the USDA - ARS National Plant Germplasm System, and a future which will see these children receiving trees they have grown from seed or chip budding techniques.
The PGRU has developed an annual program with fourth and fifth graders from West and North Street Elemenary Schools. The program consists of three phases conducted over two years. In October, fourth graders visit the PGRU on a class field trip. They meet the PGRU staff, and become familiar with our major activities conducted in the conservation and utilization of germplasm. The students are given a tour of the labs, greenhouses, seed cleaning and storage facilities, and the farms. The highlight being a walk in the orchards to see and taste many types of apples.
In the second phase of the project, members of the PGRU visit fourth graders in their classrooms. In January students are treated to apple slices of the cultivars Jonagold, Mutsu and Empire. A taste test is run, with students voting for their favorites. Then a discussion begins involving the propagation of apples. The differences in asexual (clonal) and sexual (seed) reproduction are explained. Students learn that Johnny Appleseed has been replaced by budding and grafting practices. PGRU participants explain their role in conserving genetic resources and conducting research as part of a national effort within the USDA - ARS National Plant Germplasm System.
Students are then broken into teams, and begin learning how to chip bud. The teams are given aid in budding the three varieties they tasted, as well as an ornamental crab apple called Almey. After the bud tying has been checked by PGRU staff, the students also plant three apple seeds in one of their pots. It is explained that the seedling tree which they have just planted will become their mystery tree. Because the seed is the product of uncontrolled open pollination, rather than clonal propagation, the mystery tree has very little chance of producing a tree with fruit similar to the apple the seeds were taken from.
Three more visits are made to the classrooms over the next two months. During the February visit, the seedling rootstocks are topped in order to force the grafted buds to develop. Data collection sheets are distrubuted and students are instructed how to collect growth data on their trees. During the first week of March a second visit is made and students learn why the suckers sprouting from the soil around their budded trees must be removed. These suckers are actually growth from the roots of the rootstock. If left to grow, they would steal energy from the developing grafted bud. More growth data is collected on each team's trees. Students learn how to collect an graph data on growth of their buds. A single seedling is selected, with others being removed. In late March the third visit is made. Final growth data is collected and graphed, and any new suckers are removed. The trees are taken back to the PGRU and grown in the nursery planting for the season.
The final phase of the program is conducted just over a year later, one day before Arbor Day. The students are now fifth graders. They, their parents, and fourth grade teachers meet with PGRU staff at an evening assembly in the school cafeteria. Students and parents get a chance to try the three varieties of apple again. The trees are distributed to the student teams, along with instructions for planting their tree at home. Parents are told how to contact the local Cornell Cooperative Extension, for care and maintenance instructions, once the trees begin to bloom and bear fruit. Hopefully, this portion of Project Promise will be fruitful too, as the school children and parents of the PGRU's local community learn a little bit more about our work and the role the USDA - ARS plays in improving American agriculture and bringing its benefits to our people.