There is a school where children use pumpkins to learn about colors and counting. They learn about _________ by planting seeds 30 centimeters apart. Interesting? Yes, that’s the _________ school. For students at this school in Hamilton, Virginia, the classroom is _________ every day. Jaclyn Jenkins is a founder of the school. The _________ for a school like this started after Jenkins and her husband Kenny bought a farm shortly after their marriage. The Farm School is a _________ –a place for three and four-year-olds to learn and play.

Teacher Alison Huff says The Farm School gives its students more of a hands-on learning _________. Children can use everything a _________ preschool uses, but out in the garden. In addition to planting vegetables and fruits, youngsters help prepare food and _________ afterward. The school teaches children to cook using the food they have grown. They can _________ what they have in the garden __________ going to the grocery store and buying it. Besides, the preschoolers also learn words in languages other than English. Huff speaks __________ in both English and Spanish. Her assistant speaks French and Arabic.__________, a 3-year-old in her class speaks four different languages.

What’s more, Farm animals are also playing an important part in the education program. The youngsters learn about a __________ animal every month. Two months ago, the animal they learnt was a cow. They get to see what the cow is like, and we learn what cows eat. We use little gloves and try to __________ a cow. Using the milk from their work, we make yogurt.

More and more families __________ The Farm School. Their children come home with new experiences, new knowledge and sometimes a few vegetables they plant by themselves. So this kind of school is getting more and more popular!

I work in a middle school. It is pleasant for me to plant in my free time. At the beginning of the school year, I had an idea—what if my students used a classroom ________ to grow vegetables for our school lunches? The students could ________ learn about planting science.

I asked my headmaster ________ I could start a new plant lab garden (植物实验花园). I was only in my second year of ________, but she agreed.

As soon as my students went into the classroom, they got ________. They all wanted to learn how to grow vegetables in this way of indoor gardening called hydroponics (水培). This is great for areas that don't have ________ farmland. It helps people to grow healthy vegetables just about anywhere.

To grow 45 beds of green vegetables, we need many things ________ growing cups, LED growing lights, fans, a water pump (水泵) and so on. Although the students failed for the first time, none of them ________. They kept on trying until they finally succeeded. It was interesting for them to watch the vegetables grow every day. And they all smiled ________ when seeing students in other classes eat the vegetables they grew. My students' new goal is that our school won't need to ________ green vegetables any more.

I decided to be a teacher when I was 10, because I could clearly see some of my teachers had extraordinary powers.

There was an English teacher in fifth grade who could _______ and effortlessly transport us to different worlds every day by telling us stories from books we would otherwise never _______. It was even shocking that my teacher could _______ the invisible. I was one of those who _______ insight (洞察). Yet my teacher would always notice me and the _______ message in her eyes suggested that she could see me through. She had another superpower and even after four decades, I could still _______ remember her lessons about the great masters of art and great geographers. She did this even though her _______ was not art, nor geography. I knew I wanted to be one of those all-seeing ones with the _______ that made children feel safe and valued.

I know being a teacher isn’t the _______ or the most financially rewarding of jobs. And there are occupational ________ —your knees can become worn out from years of carrying piles of notebooks up and down the school staircase; your ________ can give in from too much talking. But despite all that, there are still those choosing this ________. To them, teaching is not just a job—it is a science, an art and a craft, which demands ________ labour and investment.

I have taught for three decades. Occasionally, I meet my ________ students. Their obvious love for me and fond ________ of our time together are my rewards.