Submitted Photo J.L.Lomax Elementary School students visited Georgia Olive Farms.

LAKELAND – J.L.Lomax Elementary School students recently learned an olive is a fruit and not a vegetable. 

And that olive trees can reach up to 49 feet in height. 

These were among the interesting facts learned by gifted/catalyst students at J.L. Lomax.

Third-, fourth- and fifth-grade gifted students at Lomax are participating in a multi-disciplinary educational unit that covers personal finance. 

During the unit, imaginary identities choose jobs from classifieds, buy houses from ads and even are susceptible to “fates” of good and bad luck that involve extra expenses or income, school officials said. 

Because of the overall monetary and mathematical relationship of the unit, the teacher set up a field trip to the Georgia Olive Farms where students could learn about agricultural job opportunities that come from growing one type of produce, school officials said.

Georgia Olive Farms in Lakeland started in 2009 and produced their first crop of olives in 2011. The company is a member of the Georgia Olive Growers Association with the goal “to promote, encourage and educate others about the growing of olive trees in the State of Georgia.”

Before traveling to the olive farm, a parent sent in samples of four different types of olives including garlic-stuffed green olives, feta-stuffed green olives, pimento-stuffed Spanish olives and Kalamata olives, school officials said. 

Overall, the olive experience was interesting and fascinating, school officials said.