In this episode, we sit down with Brooke Holcomb, the dynamic voice behind media and marketing at Independence Classical Academy, a public charter school in Fort Pierce, Florida. With plans to grow from a current K–9 school of 650 students to a full K–12 campus serving over 1,500, Brooke shares how agriculture and outdoor learning are deeply rooted in the school’s classical education model.

We explore:

• 📚 What a classical education really looks like—no tablets, no distractions—just deep, meaningful learning.

• 🌱 How school gardens, pollinator habitats, and hands-on ag classes are teaching kids practical life skills.

• 🐄 The exciting plans to build an animal barn as part of the high school expansion, giving students a chance to raise and possibly show livestock.

• 💧 Future goals like aquaculture programs, an FFA chapter, and even entrepreneurial opportunities for students to sell their garden produce.

• 💡 The vision for after-school ag clubs and experiential learning that connects kids to nature and to their food.

• 💰 The challenges of funding and how the school is creatively tackling resource limitations.

Brooke also shares her personal ties to agriculture—having married into a multigenerational family rooted in citrus, cattle, and timber, and now raising a sixth-generation ranch kid on their 40-acre property where they keep a small herd of cattle.

In this heartfelt episode, we sit down with Sarah Jones, founder of Florida Farm School, to explore how one woman’s vision turned a simple piece of land into a transformative learning environment for children. Born from a deep respect for nature and a desire to help kids reconnect with the world around them, Florida Farm School is a place where education, healing, and agriculture meet.

🌿 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• How the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic inspired Sarah to create an indoor petting store—and how that pivot laid the groundwork for something much bigger.

• Sarah’s journey from personal sacrifice to purpose, fueled by the healing power of nature and the unique, profound connection between children and animals.

• Why working with non-verbal and special needs children opened her eyes to the emotional and developmental strength farm experiences offer.

• How farm chores, feeding animals, and making butter build more than just skills—they build resilience, confidence, and teamwork.

• The role of agriculture as a healing industry—a place where love, loss, and responsibility create opportunities to grow emotionally and spiritually.

• A real look at sustainability and where food comes from, shared in age-appropriate, hands-on ways that make kids feel empowered and engaged.

• The importance of community in farming and in life, and why Sarah believes kids are naturally curious, compassionate, and ready to learn when given the chance.

🐐 Key Takeaway:

At Florida Farm School, nature is the teacher—and every child is given the space to grow, take risks, care for animals, and learn the real-life lessons that don’t come from textbooks. It’s a place of love, learning, and legacy.

🌾 Join Us as we dig into how Sarah Jones is planting seeds—both literally and figuratively—for a stronger, kinder, more connected generation.

In this inspiring episode, we chat with Tiffany Gallegos, a dedicated educator with 21 years in the classroom, who has taken her passion for agriculture and turned it into a hands-on learning journey for her students. What began as a classroom visit from Florida Ag Experience sparked a mission to connect kids with agriculture beyond the textbook.

Tiffany shares how she started an ag club as a passion project to bring experiential learning into her school. With no formal ag program in place, she saw agriculture as a perfect vehicle for integrating science, math, reading, and social studies—and wanted to make these kinds of resources available to other teachers, especially the free ones!

Through farm field trips, hatchling projects, and food-based lessons, Tiffany’s students have:

• Picked blueberries and made pancakes and muffins from scratch

• Toured a processing facility and pulled fresh potatoes from the soil

• Visited Dakin Dairy to learn about milk production

• Hatched their own chickens, bringing life science lessons full circle

Her creative, out-of-the-box approach proves you don’t need a formal ag program to make agriculture part of everyday learning. Tiffany encourages other educators to think beyond the mandated curriculum and explore the field—literally!

🔗 Tune in to learn how you, too, can plant the seeds of curiosity and growth in your students with accessible ag resources and real-world learning.

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