An acre of field on campus to start land education with "busy farming"
Huaren Elementary School is located in the Liou Tribe of Dongchang Village, Jian Township, Hualien County. It is located in the vast alluvial plain of the lower reaches of the Jian River, and geographically suitable for planting. Beginning in 2021, WT was invited by Lovely Taiwan Foundation’s Operation Shennong to co-organize the school-field life class at Huaren Elementary School for a period of 5 years.
The Shennong project takes “organic diet”, “land education” and “hometown identity” as the three cores, aiming for children to eat locally produced organic fruits and vegetables, develop good dietary habits, and remember the taste of hometown. The Project started with “one acre at one school” , turning farms into classrooms. The children practice organic farming without spraying pesticides. They get close to the land in the farming practice, and learn to respect life, and coexist with nature. A benign cycle and environmental sustainability start from the education and one acre of land.
The organic fruits enjoyed by children during the semester all come from local organic farms in Hualien. While enjoying the taste of organic seasonal high-quality fruits sourced from local partner farms, children learn about the growth time, production period, variety characteristics, and farming methods. The knowledge of agricultural production and local hydrology enhances children’s understanding of agriculture.
The land education course is carried out in a dual-track way of concept teaching and school field practice. The professional agricultural teaching team composed of local youths and farmers in Hualien, give lectures on the entire farming procedures, from seedling cultivation to harvesting, together with concepts covering soil, diseases, pests, and eco-friendly farming. Professional agricultural knowledge is systematically given to teachers and students to revive the teaching and lay the cornerstone for the development of food and agriculture theme with school characteristics. The school fields mainly grow seasonal vegetables and local characteristic crops. The rotation of seasonal vegetables in spring, summer, autumn and winter allows children to learn solar terms and agricultural community culture; while the rotation of Jian’s characteristic crops such as chayote and taro permits a coherent and locally relevant education for children of different grades.
For every semester, age-appropriate syllabus of the four sessions are developed for different age groups, the teaching content are updated according to the school field status, and the school field hardware renewed. Every September, the school fields are affected by the typhoon season. The agricultural teacher integrates the natural disaster topic into the curriculum and guides the students to explore the relationship between agriculture and climate and the importance of water resources; takes the children to do leaf mulching and composting, introduces the concept of natural circulation in the class, and shows them how to cooperate with nature; allows children to participate in the process from the place of origin to the table and establish a deep connection with food in the hands-on session of post-harvest cooking.
In 2022, a total of NTD11.06 million were donated to shine a warm light to every corner of the rural areas.
Key activity name |
Donation amount(NTD) |
Contet |
Input and results |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Public Welfare Foundation's Junyi International Education Experimental School Experimental Course Plan of (2015 to present) |
$2,000,000
|
In order to expand students' international vision and respective, and cultivate children's ability to improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a natural environment, and apply them in daily life, Junyi is committed to creating an environment in which English is used lively both in campus courses and dormitory life. |
Benefiting 460 individuals |
|
KIST's (KIPP Inspired School in Taiwan) Jeeng-min Elementary School Private Sponsorship Program(2017 to present) |
$1,660,000
|
Since the reform and transformation, the number of students has increased from 27 to 150 (estimated in August 2022) with a growth rate of 455%. The academic ability test results, including Mandarin, English, Mathematics, of students in all grades are better than other schools in Yunlin County. It became Chengzhi Foundation's KIST demonstration school. In total, 50 institutions visited the school, teachers share in 60 external occasions, and there were 35 parents and family days. |
Benefiting 150 individuals |
|
Premature Baby Foundation of Taiwan's Support with Heart ‧ Hug with Love: Integral Care for Premature Babies Project(2015~2022) |
$800,434
|
WT attaches great importance to the medical environment. Through various publicity, it increases awareness of premature babies, so that the public pay attention to and understand the issues of premature infants, better their knowledge and skills of nursing care, and improve home care capability of families with premature infants. |
Communicating with 469,151 person-times |
|
Vox Nativa Taiwan's Distance Learning Project (2015 to 2022) |
$500,000 |
Care is offered through remote companionship through video for rural areas, and universities and enterprises are also invited to develop USR and CSR through digital tutoring and study pals. |
Benefiting 135 individuals |
|
PTWA's (Program the World Association) PAIA Machine Learning Platform Development Project (2020 to 2022) |
$500,000
|
PAIA, a competition event for the 2022 National Bicycle Competition, was held in Taitung in July 2022. A total of 136 teams from 7 counties and cities across the country and about 300 teachers and students signed up for the competition. |
Nearly 3,200 people registered on the platform PAIA Machine Learning Platform accessed by 4102 teachers and students |
|
ROC Foundation for Autistic Children and Adults in Taiwan WHO CST Taiwan Conference (2020 to 2022) |
$200,000
|
WT strengthened the promotion of CST to early care centers and hospitals, trained lead trainers, and tried out the Taiwanese version of WHO-AS CST trainer guidelines and participant manuals, so that autistic children can receive more medical care. |
Benefiting 352 families |
|
Good Liver Foundation (2021 to 2022) |
$1,000,000
|
The death of people suffering from liver disease is listed as one of the top ten causes of death in Taiwan. In order to improve the prevention mechanism of early detection and early treatment, Professor Hsu Ching-chuan, chairman of the Good Liver Foundation, made great effort to set up a liver disease medical center. It is the first public interest health examination center donated by the public in Taiwan, providing more advanced medical equipment, better quality and warm care, and benefiting the health of people in Taiwan. |
More than 600,000 individuals received the free screenings Thousands of health education sessions |
|
Chang Yan-Hu Foundation Taipei Medical University Charity Bazaar for Stone Soup Integrated Care Services (2022) |
$240,000
|
The Chang Yan-Hu Foundation has been supporting stone soup integrated care service providers for many years, and taking care of the elderly in Wenshan District who need long-term care. WT supports the TMU Charity Bazaar, and used the revenue exclusively to assist stone soup integrated nursing service providers in Wenshan District to acquire adequate software and hardware. |
Dozens of individuals |
Note: In 2022, WT Technology and WT Education Foundation donated a combined total of NTD11.06 million to fund the eight projects presented here and other small public interest activities.
