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.

Note‭: ‬In 2022‭, ‬WT Technology and WT Foundation donated a combined total of NTD11.06‭ ‬million to fund the eight projects‭ ‬presented here and other small public interest activities‭.‬