We have 4,000 square foot garden on the playground that provides a much needed
context in which to investigate where food comes from. Educating students in
this rich environment helps nurture a child's curiosity about the diversity
of food choices. Students learn to care for plants and study their life cycles
and habitat through the seasons of the school year. They learn basic safety
and tool use, what makes plants grow, seed saving, harvesting, and cooking with
the produce that comes from their efforts.
There is an emphasis on garden based nutrition (see www.lunchlessons.org) and we have ongoing collaboration with the classroom teachers to incorporate what they learn inside to what is going on outside and vice versa. Under the direction of our garden teacher, Rivka Mason, we provide garden lessons for over 400 students. Classes bring relevance to work done in the classroom as the garden is transformed by the students into a beautiful sustainable food system, worked by them. When children learn to respect and care for the earth, in return, they learn to treat themselves and each other more kindly.
For more
info or to contact Rivka at rivka77@cs.co.
Visit the California School Garden Network website at www.csgn.org
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