The Mistake that Funneled Arnold Winsent-Glouchko into Teaching Agriculture
While picking out his sophomore year elective class at Brooklyn’s Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies, Arnold Winsent-Glouchko had but one goal in mind: to choose the easiest option. When his eyes fell upon an elective named ‘Agriculture,’ Arnold thought ‘Bingo!’ Yet, it wasn’t long before his choice came back to haunt him: he had fallen upon his calling. Today, as a senior at Rachel Carson, Arnold is a teaching assistant in Teacher Hannah O’Leary’s Hydroponic Classroom.
But Arnold’s passion did not blossom overnight: When he joined her class, O’Leary noticed that “(Arnold) struggled to connect with school. He wasn’t here very often, and when he was here, he was sleeping.” It got worse. Suspensions, trouble with other teachers, and frequent absences mired Arnold’s education.
O’Leary, however, saw his potential. With her encouragement, Arnold began to take an interest in the Hydroponic Classroom and its accompanying aquaponic system — an enlarged fish tank, which supplies hydroponic systems with nutrients from fish waste. Bit by bit, Arnold began reengaging with school: “The hands-on learning was something that I missed a lot in other classes,” said Arnold. “Here, you see the results.”
For Arnold, NY Sun Works offered an elevated learning experience and a foundation for his post-high school ambitions. In 2022, O’Leary joined the first cohort of NY Sun Works’ Workforce Development Program, which equips students in 11th and 12th grade with a Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) certification. To attain the certification, students must acquire knowledge about technology-based farming, such as hydroponics or indoor garden systems, mastering everything from light and temperature regulation to pest control.
When asked about his favorite aspect of hydroponics, Arnold struggled to provide only one answer. “Taking care of everything is probably the coolest thing. There are so many things that make you feel like an expert scientist,” said Arnold. “Even cleaning, carrying buckets, dumping it out, testing with the little tubes, is pretty cool.”
At the same time as Arnold was finding his feet in class, his teacher O’Leary was feeling overstretched and overwhelmed, especially after seeing dozens of students each day. The school’s three-year long agricultural program also meant that O’Leary had to monitor and remember her students’ progress as they advanced from year to year. While looking for an ideal teaching assistant, O’Leary realized that one of her most troubled students now appeared to be the strongest candidate: “Arnold had changed enough to be able to see those struggling behaviors in other kids, and work with them; to help them grow out of it.”
Beyond his role as teaching assistant, Arnold became Vice-President of the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter and was also pivotal in the creation of a farmer’s market at Rachel Carson, a project he presented with his colleagues at the NY Sun Works Youth Conference in April 2026.
As he looks beyond high school, Arnold keeps many options open, among them being a teacher. After seeing O’Leary’s impact on him and the students he now helps, he remains interested in returning the favor for students with similar potential.
AUTHOR: Anna Lee