Schoolyard Sugaring Maple Contest Produces Sweet Results for the 7th Year

ITHACA, N.Y. — New York Agriculture in the Classroom (NYAITC) is pleased to announce the winners of the seventh annual Schoolyard Sugaring Maple Contest.

Tapping into the history, art, and science of maple syrup production, New York students are challenged to produce maple syrup. Investing time, energy, and using their critical thinking skills, classrooms experience the process of syrup production from tapping trees for sap to bottling syrup while using their experience as a lens for leaning core academic concepts. To extend this experience, participants are challenged to use photography to creatively capture their learning and syrup production throughout the experience.

A total of one hundred thirty-seven educators in public, private, and homeschools from across New York registered their classrooms to vie for the top syrup and photograph in three divisions: Elementary, Middle, and High School.

To aid hands-on learning and provide teachers with lasting resources, the first forty classrooms received a maple starter kit valued at $120. The starter kits provide classrooms with maple production equipment consisting of sap bags and holders, spouts, a tapping bit, a hydrometer, and a hydrometer test cup. Since being first offered in the 2020 maple season, two hundred fourteen classrooms have received starter kits. All registered classrooms received an empty syrup jug to fill with their syrup and return for judging.

At the conclusion of the season, fifty-two student produced maple samples were submitted. A panel of maple experts and producers judged classroom syrup entries for density, clarity, color, and taste. The first-place classroom in each of the grade level division earned a $250 prize. Additionally, judges awarded the first-place photographers $50 prizes.

To extend the engagement with the maple industry, enrich classroom learning, and increase agricultural literacy of students and educators, annual virtual field trips to an active maple farm are offered to coincide with the Schoolyard Sugaring Contest. This year the virtual field trip toured the Stockbridge Valley and Vernon Verona Sherril (VVS) Central School Districts student-run maple programs. These experiences were led by agriculture educators Erin Smith (Stockbridge Valley) and Justin Ferreira (VVS) and their students.

Over one hundred seventy-seven classrooms attended the two virtual field trip experiences reaching approximately 3,500 students.

New York Agriculture in the Classroom would like to thank each school that participated in the contest for increasing the agricultural literacy of their students, and a special thanks to Sugarhill Container, a division of Altium Packaging, for donating the “Taste the Tradition” branded jugs for each classroom. The hope of NYAITC and the state’s maple organizations is for students to cultivate an appreciation and changed perspective about the maple and agricultural industries in New York while growing their awareness and understanding of New York’s food and fiber systems.

For more information about the Schoolyard Sugaring Maple Contest, visit our website at www.agclassroom.org/ny. NYAITC is an outreach program of Cornell University working with classroom teachers, volunteers, and agriculture’s stakeholders throughout the state, meeting our mission to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education.