A big thanks to our friend, retired Albany school district teacher George Benson, for a link to a television report about a school garden initiative in Kansas City, Mo. Please take a look.
Quite hearteningly, educators talk about many of the same reasons that we offer for growing plants, and especially edible plants. It can foster eating healthier foods because students are more likely to try things that they’ve had a hand in growing. The hands-on experiential learning can build teamwork. Starting a farmers market at the school, something that’s under consideration, can create opportunities to learn about business and marketing. The garden contributes to culinary classes. It supports work in reading and math.
“Growing academically, growing socially, growing emotionally, growing physically—it is all captured in that garden,” says Mark Williamson, executive director of DeLaSalle Charter High School, the school in the TV news account.
That’s a pretty wide array of teaching and learning to connect with a single tool or a single activity. Our experience says is really is true.
By the way, Garden Club: the Summer Edition meets a couple more times at Myers Middle School before the new school year begins. We’re there on Tuesday evenings and would love it if you would join us. We’ll gather from 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow and then from 5 to 7 p.m. until we switch to our after-school schedule.
—Bill Stoneman
