What Draft Horses Teach College Students

Sterling College combines classroom academics and experiential learning.

Photo courtesy of Sterling College

The students at Sterling College learn from demanding teachers—like a stubborn, 2,000-pound draft horse or the campus cows, which need water even on a 20-below-zero Vermont morning when the trough is frozen solid.

Sterling is part of a seven-school consortium that requires students to take practical jobs, such as working on the college’s farm, in its kitchen or offices, or as a mentor to children or seniors.

The students gain a connection to the community, feel an investment in the school, and approach their education as equals with the college staff.

 

More radical acts of education...

Roadtrip Nation		Kids Take Charge		Santa Fe Tells Its Stories		Teens Listen to 90-Somethings		Melia Reschools		Horses as Teachers
Youths Face History		Citizen Scientists		Volunteer Teachers		Climate Activists		Life-long Learning		A City Learns
Parents Who Listen

 

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13 Radical Acts of Education are part of Learn as You Go, the Fall 2009 issue of YES! Magazine.