Here’s an idea that should make everyone happy: middle-schoolers growing tobacco in school

Austin Lacy writes:

I read your post on school gardens [see also here]. A close friend of mine taught a grade in which this was part of the curriculum. After he changed grades his successor continued the program, but instead had the middle-schoolers plant and harvest tobacco, yes tobacco. Not sure if the ATF ever caught wind of it, but his reaction to your post is below.

Thanks for sending this along; I genuinely enjoyed the article very much, which surprised me a bit (that a statistics blog should so engage me). However, I do think that both Gelman (and, by extension, Flannagan) miss both an opportunity (to extol school tobacco gardens that provide both a highly salable and potentially lucrative crop and the opportunity to scientifically prove, before the product’s sale, that tobacco is bad for you and stuff) and the larger point (ridiculousness=memorability=good pedagogy). But it’s a good start. I especially liked the idea that the composition of recipes makes one more capable of insights into the Crucible. I assume that same holds true for Shakespeare, and will look to implement a lesson to this effect shortly. And in this school climate, the following conversation could actually get me a raise, rather than a demotion:

Concerned Parent One: Mr. is at it again. He’s doing a unit asking students to devise and compose the perfect recipe for spinach and parmesan risotto. And this right after he insisted that watching DIEHARD 4 was a worthwhile method of discussing effective character development in Romeo and Juliet.

Concerned Parent Two: Yes, but little Jimmy’s recipe IS delicious. And he’s giving extra credit if students devise a way to make their recipe low-sodium.

Concerned Parent One: Well, I guess. And little Suzy HAS been more interested in seeking out genuinely organic produce lately . . .

Eavesdropping School Administrator in Carpool Line: Hmmmmm. I like what I’m hearing . .

.