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Mike Smith, 4-H program manager who coordinates the NH Agriculture in the Classroom program, doesn’t want credit for the runaway success of the Maple in the Classroom projects he’s had a role in creating.

“When I talk about this I tend to say, ‘even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while,’” Smith says with a shrug.

The result is clear: The programs that Extension has been creating to promote practical education around maple production are a hit. 

The effort began years ago with the development of a curriculum for educators who wanted to incorporate maple production into their lesson planning. Teaching maple production provides opportunities to integrate botany, chemistry, math and economics, nutrition and engineering, even history and language arts. It’s been so successful that Smith was invited to present at a national Agriculture in the Classroom convention.

Then last winter, after receiving a USDA grant, 4-H and NH Agriculture in the Classroom hosted a symposium for educators interested in teaching maple production. They had tapped into a wellspring of interest.

“They took off running,” Smith says about the 35 attendees at the symposium, which was held at Gilford Elementary School in January 2025. “Once they started rolling, we realized, whoa, this is bigger than planning a single event. We’ve got educators who are super interested, not just in teaching students but in bringing more people into maple education.”

Sweet stuff

Gilford Elementary School has had a maple sugaring program since 2016, says Danielle Bolduc, principal, and they built their own sugar shack in 2018. It’s a K-4 school, and each classroom has its own tree, which students tap, collect, and record the sap flow, and boil on site.

“They taste the sap, they taste the syrup, they make candies,” Bolduc says. “Every kid, every classroom, takes part in it.” Gilford has also invited neighboring schools to make use of the sugarbush.

“Any time that you can take a subject and turn it into a hands-on [activity], so they can see it, explore it, and be curious about it, it’s a home run. Maple sugaring allows us to do that,” Bolduc says. 

Gilford students talk about conditions that trees need in order for sap to flow (cold at night, above freezing during the day) and make predictions about sap flow based on weather reports. Then they test their theories by measuring the contents of the sap buckets. “It’s taking the abstract number and making it concrete,” Bolduc says, adding that the program also offers the benefit of bringing a traditional practice into the classroom, and that it can break the ice between students. 

“We play this maple sugaring game – we compete against Belmont, ‘The Sugar Bowl.’ It’s crazy, they get so excited about it, they always talk about how their favorite part was getting to know the other kids,” Bolduc says. “It’s really nice to have that connection.”

Sticky business

Having a statewide symposium lends credibility to syrup education, Bolduc says, and it brought together not just students but educators as well. The group that convened for the symposium has kept in touch since, in what Smith calls a “community of learning.”

That community includes elementary through high school teachers, as well as 4-H and other educators.

“People are able to connect with their peers who share similar challenges (and) talk with someone who knows what they’re going through,” says Megan Glenn, 4-H program manager. “It has been a great peer support network.”

Smith has been gratified to watch the process unfold.

“It’s been fantastic to see something we need more of in school,” something that touches on sustainable agriculture and food systems, Smith says. “To see these teachers work on it together, there’s nothing better for me.”