Chilling Hours

January can be a temperature-temperamental month with sunny and 60 degree highs sliding into 20ish degree lows, but it is all very necessary for the ecosystem. Many of the plants we as humans rely on for food and beauty need 300–400 or more hours between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature gets too low, plants don’t achieve the proper dormancy; instead, they completely shut down the plant. Chilling, but not freezing, hours properly set the plant’s internal alarm clock, so that it wakes up in the Spring instead of Summer or Fall, giving it a full year to bloom, set fruit, and complete the seed cycle before Winter comes again.

Teachers also know that, just like these trees need these chilling hours, our students need the “chill” time to learn, absorb the knowledge and figuratively produce “fruit”. Many times students can get discouraged, but like a Master Gardener, the educational professionals in Forney ISD nurture their students with the proper amount of “chilling hours” to foster the development of knowledge in their students—just like fruit and nut trees develop their flower buds into fruit. And then after the knowledge is acquired, the practical application can occur resulting in a “fruitful” outcome for all.

Forney Education Foundation also understands the value of good gardening and the bountiful outcomes that can happen when proper fostering is utilized for students. Would you like to see how to become a Master Gardener for the students in Forney ISD? Please visit www.forneyisdfoundation.org and see how the chilling hours in and out of the classroom lead to students flowering.