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How Does Your School Garden Grow?
Volunteers thrive on sharing their gardening passion with kids
August 14, 2019 (originally published on NextAvenue.org)
Students in outdoor classroom at James Henry Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore | Credit: Photo courtesy of Henry Kenney III
If you love gardening and have a desire to share that love with school children, getting on the school-garden bandwagon may be for you. Here are some projects which are making a significant difference in their communities:
How One School Garden Grows
Belchertown Public Schools in Belchertown, Mass. won a 2019 Gro More Good Grassroots Grant through an organization called Kids Gardening. As part of the STEM “Joy in the Classroom Lessons,” Belchertown High School science teacher Louise Levy facilitates the “It Takes a Village to Raise a Meal for a Village” program in afterschool sessions. The lessons focus on how to care for seeds as they grow into crops, so children know that food grows from the ground. Some 880 students from three contingent schools work on the project. The garden, which is in front of Swift River Elementary School, is within walking distance for all of the students.
