Edutopia: The George Lucas Educational Foundation

Edutopia is a member driven organization that discusses what works in Public Education. One of their videos, talk about a program hosted by Heifer International, a non profit organization that helps supply livestock to poverty stricken parts of the world and helps teach them to better sustain themselves. They also have a five acre ranch in Arkansas, where students can visit and spend a night in their 'global village', created as a educational tool to teach about poverty and rustic living conditions. There's even a refuge group, where those assigned are not allowed to speak English and must find alternate ways to communicate with the others.

This program takes students out of their comfort zone and teaches them about hunger and poverty in a tangible way they get to actually experience. It may be temporary circumstances, but the lessons leave lasting impressions on the students who attend. Hands-on teaching is far more beneficial than lesson plans in a classroom. Here the students must work together to accomplish their goals, they understand frustrations associated with bartering and not having everything you need or want at your fingertips.

Another hands-on educational program is at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in California. Here students start each day off in their outdoor classroom where they learn about gardening and spend time cultivating and growing their own food and plants. They learn to cook what they grow and these lessons are used as a way to incorporate academic lessons with real hands-on experiences. They tie in social studies, match and science skills to help teach students, often times without them realizing they're actually learning. It's fun and the kids seem to thrive in the program. Teaching them in fun, interesting ways, helps them to retain what they're learning and better understand when they have practical applications for the skills they're learning.