MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee teacher has been recognized as Wisconsin’s 2024 Agriculture Teacher of the Year.

Joshua Gonzalez is a second-grade teacher at the River Trail School of Agricultural Science.

What You Need To Know

  • Second-grade teacher Joshua Gonzalez of River Trail School in Milwaukee has been recognized as Wisconsin's 2024 Agriculture Teacher of the Year

  • For 19 years, Gonzalez has inspired his students to take an interest in how to grow plants during Wisconsin’s harsh winters

  • It’s because of this hands-on instruction that Gonzalez received this honor

  • Gonzalez hopes his students understand that whether you are growing food in a rural community or in a city, the fundamentals are the same.

For 19 years, Gonzalez has inspired his students to take an interest in how to grow plants during Wisconsin’s harsh winters.

As part of his lesson plan, his students plant and grow collard greens.

“With these [hydroponics] machines, we are able to get as much food grown as we want,” said Gonzalez.

It’s because of this hands-on instruction, Gonzalez was named Wisconsin Agriculture in the Classroom’s Outstanding Teacher for 2024.

Gonzalez said he is grateful to be recognized by his peers, but his real joy comes from seeing what his students have learned.

“To see them asking for more lettuce, to see them asking for more veggies that they grew, it’s awesome because it’s affecting their lives and it gives them a sense of pride too,” said Gonzalez.“To see them asking for more lettuce, to see them asking for more veggies that they grew, it’s awesome because it’s affecting their lives and it gives them a sense of pride too,” said Gonzalez. “I’m happy that I’m able to pass that sense of pride on to the students who are coming from the same neighborhood that I grew up in.”

One of those students is second-grader Mekhi Pirtle

“I like where we put the plants inside the hydroponics machine,” said Pirtle. “I like when we built the hydroponics machine.”

Gonzalez said he also enjoys being part of the only school system in the state that offers K-12 agricultural education.

“These kids have a leg up that I know that I certainly didn’t have,” said Gonzalez. “They can go straight from here after 8th grade if they want to go to Vincent High School. They can continue their agricultural education and you can go right through to the UW school system or anywhere else they would like to go or just take that knowledge that they have and put it into their real life.”

Gonzalez said he hopes his students understand that whether you are growing food in a rural community or in a city, the fundamentals are the same.

He said he also wants them to know they can provide food for themselves and for their neighbors.

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