By Alexa Liacko
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ATLANTA (WUPA) — Grab a backpack — and maybe a pair of garden gloves — and head to homeroom at Oakley Elementary School, where learning often looks more like a farm than a traditional classroom.
Chickens cluck as students rush to collect eggs. Butter churns as children chant encouragement. Sometimes, there isn’t a classroom at all — just fresh air, soil under fingernails, and lessons rooted in real life.
At the center of it all is Tomanekka Irving, the school’s STEM-agriculture teacher, whose class has become so popular that administrators say families have moved into the district specifically to enroll their children.
“Everybody wants to be a part of her class at some point,” said Uche Ngoddy, the school’s principal. “She is a child whisperer. You don’t deal with discipline in her class because the kids love to be here.”
Irving’s approach blends science, agriculture, and hands-on discovery. Students garden, keep bees, and care for animals, learning through trial and error as much as through success.
“They’re learning success, but they’re also learning failure,” Irving said. “We plant things and they don’t grow. They’re like, ‘What happened?’ So they’re learning to keep going, keep persevering.”
Irving began her career in education, but at one point left the classroom to become a flight attendant. It didn’t take long for her to realize she belonged back with students.
“I instantly missed it,” she said. “I missed reading the stories. I missed seeing the smiley faces. I missed seeing the light bulb. And I came right back because this is where I belong.”
Today, she’s firmly planted at Oakley Elementary, teaching in Union City, with the help of a scaly sidekick, Charlie, a bearded dragon who often joins lessons.
“This is the class where magic happens,” Irving said.
For 10-year-old Caleah Boyd, the magic is practical and meaningful.
“My favorite part about my agriculture class is going outside and picking plants and fruits for the community, and also getting eggs to give to people,” she said.
The energy is contagious. Students shout encouragement while shaking jars of cream into butter.
Throughout the school year, students learn skills they can carry into adulthood, and Irving says that access matters, especially at a Title I school where all students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
“It’s really, really important that they get this opportunity,” Irving said. “This is bigger than me. It’s bigger than the program. This is about our children.”
Ngoddy said the impact of Irving’s program extends beyond the garden beds and chicken coops and into schoolwide behavior.
“Our discipline has decreased at least 30% over the past four years,” Ngoddy said. “And I can say it’s attributed to the kids wanting to come to school. This program is a program that children want to be a part of.”
Beyond agriculture and science, students say Irving cultivates something just as important: confidence.
“She makes me happy when I’m mad or sad,” said Kameron Christion, a student.
“She really actually cares about us,” added Chase Johnson.
A’nilah Wright, 7, said Irving taught her to be brave when she’s scared to try something new.
Irving says caring for students is as essential as any lesson plan.
“I hug each and every last one of my babies, and I tell them that I love them every day,” she said. “I enjoy being the light. I enjoy being the person that they can come talk to in the middle of the day.”
Ngoddy said Irving’s enthusiasm is what makes the difference.
“She’s an excited learner,” Ngoddy said. “And when you’re an excited learner, a lifelong learner, you’re going to pour that into somebody else’s child.”
For Irving, noticing small details, a mood shift, a quiet win, a moment of growth is intentional.
“That’s the difference between the end and the beginning,” she said.
And in her classroom, where children are watered with encouragement and planted in possibility, Irving believes the harvest is clear: confident, kind students growing into future leaders who give back to their communities.
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