SCHOOL Nº 3099 'DANTE ALIGHIERI'

While driving from Las Rosas to neighboring towns in Santa Fe province, people generally overlook the so-called "banquinas," the strings of land between the roads and the wire fences delimiting a farmers' property. The banquinas are publicly owned stretches of normally idle space that the Dante Alighieri School is beginning to use in a productive way with an innovative educational methodology.

Parents of pupils at the school apply their agricultural knowledge in helping the youth sow soy along the banquinas in the outskirts of town. The students then take over in administering the plots as part of an experiential learning process. Their responsibilities include devising a sowing budget, implementing disease and weed control, and distributing their own marketing brochures and posters at rural expositions. Students eventually gather and sell their soy at harvest season.

The project benefits the students by generating economic resources from the sale of the crop yield. In addition, it integrates the young people into their families' agricultural society and the ongoing educational process that helps sustain it.